Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles 2001

Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles between Western Ave and 1rst has always been a quirky living outdoor gallery of odd hand-painted signs. This stretch of Beverly was a center of Los Angeles nightlife during the thirties (so an old guy once told me), but the riots of the early 1990′s weren’t kind to the neighborhood. It’s been more than rough around the edges for as long as I’ve been passing through. Between 2000 and 2004 I had a second-floor walk-up studio above a store front-church and bodega that sold magic potions to ward off hexes, Virgin de Guadalupe statuettes, and international phone cards. Here’s a record of one early Sunday morning walk ten years ago. Most of these signs are gone now, but painted over with newer versions of the old themes.