
State of The World murals on former Farmers and Merchants National Bank Building in DTLA
State of the World
- By Cynthia Lum
The State of the World outdoor mural exhibition in downtown Los Angeles features ten murals by eleven Los Angeles based artists. This temporary exhibition, organized in collaboration with Art At The Rendon and SO/DA Architecture, is currently displayed on a building that formerly housed the Farmers and Merchants National Bank. The building is soon to be restored, structurally retrofitted and turned into a restaurant. State of the World is a COVID safe exhibition providing artists a platform to raise awareness for social causes that are important to them and particularly relevant right now as we navigate the pandemic and address both national and global unrest.
Afrika47 & Keya Tama, Atlas, Augustine Kofie, Brian Ormond, Darcy Yates, Ernest Doty, Jose Prime Reza, LoveyODreams, Nychos, and The Couto Brothers are the eleven artists in the exhibition. Each artist has made his own powerful statement on the current state of the world. Augustine Kofie’s mural titled I AM BECAUSE WE ARE is one of the translations of ubuntu, a Southern African philosophical concept of shared humanity. The idea is that the pain of one is the pain of all. Darcy Yates mother celebrated 41 years of being a RN this year and Yates states that her piece is inspired by our hard working nurses and health care workers who selflessly put themselves in danger every day to help us.
On display through March 2021 at 2001 E. 7th Street. Click here.