Once an acronym for the Ulysses Guide to the L.A. River, UGLAR has grown to mean far more, and now stands for Unified Group of Los Angeles Residents. Adding ‘works’ to UGLAR to create UGLARworks honors Los Angeles’s unmatched mural heritage and the great era of public works mural projects, such as those done by Rivera, Siqueiros, and others.
UGLAR is comprised of artists Evan Skrederstu, Christopher D. Brand, Steve Martinez, Espi, and Jose A. Lopez. Despite painting together for nearly a decade, the group made the decision to officially name themselves in 2008 when creating a book about the L.A. River, its art, and its denizens. Told from the perspective of a fictitious Angeleno, Ulysses L. Zemanova, “The Ulysses Guide to the L.A. River”(Grimmelbein Kitamura Editions, ISBN: 0979868297) captures an era of unprecedented urban creativity—a time when the concrete riverbed still teemed with graffiti—while exploring the complexities of the river and the life it supports.
The project culminated in an immersive exhibition that brought the gritty beauty of the L.A. River to the halls of the Pasadena Museum of California Art in 2010. Not only did the installation showcase a deep understanding of local cultural heritage, it also presented a keen biological observation of the fragile ecosystem. Yet what truly set the show apart was the fact that UGLAR installed each and every piece of the show by hand. From fabricating the look of the riverbed to building sculptures, all the work was kept in-house and was never once contracted out. What one sees in that exhibition is what UGLAR is truly capable of.
UGLAR has done commissioned work for the L.A. Chamber Orchestra, the Wende Museum, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, and others. The Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal have both profiled UGLAR, and its members Evan Skrederstu and Jose A. Lopez were featured along with Chaz Bojorquez, RETNA, REVOK, and others in PMCA’s Street Cred, a show dedicated to showcasing L.A.’s best and brightest graffiti artists. UGLAR has also done numerous mural projects for L.A. Freewalls, and featured in the show “L.A. Freewalls Inside” at LALA Gallery. www.uglarworks.com
