First Look! Jett Jackson’s Downtown LA Mural Coming to Urban Radish

We’ve been hearing about a gigantic mural that’s coming to Urban Radish, Downtown LA’s Arts District artisan grocery store. So we were especially excited when Keri Aivazis, Urban Radish’s proprietor, invited us to visit the artist at work.

Holding a cigarette on top of a bourbon and Diet Coke in a plastic glass, Jett Jackson welcomed us to the studio she’s using in the Santa Fe Art Colony, a row of converted industrial buildings near 25th St. and Santa Fe Ave.

“This is only half of it,” Jett said, pointing to the long canvas pinned to the wall behind her. “The rest is rolled up. I wish you could see it all.”

Jett was part-way through her Downtown LA mural, a fantasia of urban Los Angeles, reaching back to the time there were vineyards in what is now the Arts District, and incorporating iconic buildings, bridges, graffiti and street art. We picked out Jett’s homage to works by Gronk, Shepard Fairey and Banksy, as well as other street artists, some of whose most significant art has since been lost to coats of paint and real estate development.

Jett’s mural is finely textured and detailed, and she’s chosen saturated colors that match the vibrant produce offerings at Urban Radish.

The mural will be unveiled (with appropriate festivities) at Urban Radish on October 15, 2014. We can’t wait.

Jett Jackson waves us in.
Jett Jackson waves us in.

Top image: Artist Jett Jackson (l) and Keri Aivazis of Urban Radish in Jett’s studio. The mural-in-progress is on the wall behind them. Photos by Adam Leipzig.

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