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LOS ANGELES RIVER SERIES #19
Los Angeles River Series #19
Room With a View
Downtown Los Angeles
Acrylic on Canvas 24”x 30”x 1.5”
Los Angeles River Series #19
(2021)
The North Broadway and Spring Street bridges cross the Los Angeles River approximately one-mile northeast of City Hall in a working-class neighborhood of warehouses and industrial buildings. Here, there are few houses and residents except for the sporadic homeless encampment.
Directly to the west of this scene is the Los Angeles State Historic Park, a brand new 32-acre recreational area. This area is the nexus for possible future large-scale economic redevelopment along the banks of the Los Angeles River, potentially including high-density housing (with distant panoramas of the city center), shops, office buildings and public spaces.
Los Angeles River Painting 19, Room With a View, depicts the current appearance of this scrappy landscape prior to gentrification. The Broadway and Spring Street bridges, concrete engineering wonders from the 1930’s, accompany rusted chain-link fences, railroad tracks and electrical towers in tones of orange, blue, and purple to define the scene. A singular homeless individual has set up a tent beneath the bridge as his residence; the river and downtown skyscrapers his vista. His is a room with a view. By many standards some might abhor this highly industrialized scene; but it is quiet, peaceful, and in a uniquely Los Angeles way, immensely beautiful.
If you are interested in this painting, you can view more details in the
Store. If you would like to learn more about the City of Los Angeles' River Project, explore the links below.
More on the Los Angeles Revitalization Project
An interactive map that highlights a number of the developments planned and occurring along the Los Angeles River.
Home of the Los Angles River Project, an organization dedicated to restoring the vital ecosystem along the river.
