Photo by: Alan Shaffer
Raymond Saunders is a prolific and instrumental artist in the street art movement. His work is often compared to Basquiat, but few know that the same year Raymond was graduating with his MFA Basquiat was born. Saunders' work has consistently dealt with his urban surroundings from his childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to his current city Oakland, California. Saunders is well known for re-working old paintings. One of my favorite stories about Saunders is that he had a piece in a museum show and when he went to go see the piece he felt it wasn't finished so he took out his prisma pencil and went to work...in the middle of the museum...you can image that soon after he started working security kicked him out. Saunders was eventually let back into the museum once they realized he was the artist.
Interesting fact: Basquiat wrote Saunders telling him that he had seen his work and wanted to come visit his studio. A few days after Saunders received the letter...Basquiat committed suicide.
His show is currently at the Lora Schlesinger Gallery in Santa Monica. It's been seven years since his last show in Los Angeles and it surely isn't one to miss.
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