LA2

GRAFFITI ARTIST

In his early teens, Angel Ortiz, aka LA2, was befriended by the universally acclaimed American Artist Keith Haring. They collaborated on creating artwork together. Haring expressed to Ortiz that he was the most impressive and promising “tag writers” of the increasingly popular NYC Graffiti Artists of the time. Haring and LA2 worked together in the Broome Street Studio from 1980 – 1986. The partnership was recognized by both artists as being an equal one, since their artistic styles complemented each other so well. Ortiz’s thick interlocking lines vitalized and filled out the negative space between Haring’s cleanly drawn shapes. Ortiz’s energy and graffiti-like markings brought freshness and street credibility to Haring’s art. Their association was important to Ortiz both personally and artistically as he never experienced life outside of Lower East Side before Haring.  After Keith Haring died, Ortiz continued to collaborate with Richard Hambleton and Kenny Scharf.