Arrested for vandalism in July, L.A. street artist now has gallery show

Mid-City Arts, the street-art gallery attached to a spray paint supply store that brought us last year's big tagger-gone-legit debut show by Chaka, has gone the same route with another artist who grabbed the public's attention before being grabbed by the authorities. The show is "Rick Ordonez: Kitty Litter."

Ordonez made his name in graffiti circles as Atlas -- the tag he used for many years festooning the city with large, ornate graphic illustrations. But early this year, his method changed, and he began spraying renditions of cute cartoon kitty cats across the L.A. landscape.

The long arm of the law intervened in July, when investigators with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Transit Services Bureau caught up with Ordonez, 33, and busted him for creating cats on public property, especially on or near the Pasadena Freeway. Charged with six counts of felony vandalism and facing a possible year in prison on each count, he pleaded guilty to one charge in a deal that called for 90 days in county jail, followed by 300 hours of community service and three years' probation.

Read the full story here.

ALSO:

Cerritos mall food court placed on lockdown after fight, reports of gunshots

-- Mike Boehm

Photo credit: Mid-City Arts

MORE COVERAGE FROM TIMES ARTS SECTION:

• 'Cat' tagger pleads guilty to felony vandalism
• Former graffiti painters find an outlet for their art
• Graffiti and street art show to take over MOCA's Geffen Contemporary in 2011

Comments

[tom]

from criminal to artist ahh isnt america grand

[West Valley Dave]

Great. Reward criminal behavior.

[Judy]

By all means, rush to support another tagger artist. The world of private business is his canvas, yadda, yadda, yadda