Bert Green Fine Art

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Gajin Fujita

Bert Green Fine Art and Aardvark Letterpress co-published this limited edition, hand lettered print, "United Streets of L.A." by Los Angeles-based artist Gajin Fujita. As part of the 50th Anniversary print series to commemorate the founding of Aardvark Letterpress in the late 1960s, Fujita executed the first print in the series, with additional prints to follow by several other Los Angeles-based artists.

Aardvark Letterpress has been providing high quality letterpress printing and other related services since 1968. They are a family business started by their father, Luis Ocon, who immigrated from Mexico in 1964. In 2008, Aardvark intitiated a fine art print division, which was expanded in 2014 to produce a regular series of high quality limited edition prints by artists from Los Angeles and beyond. The 50th Anniversary series is a multi year project meant to focus on a small number of accomplished artists working in all media to create a unique, limited edition letterpress print.

Fujita has created a 4-color letterpress print of a stylized US flag, with sakura cherry blossom-shaped, foil stamped "stars" and hand lettering calling out various neighborhoods of Los Angeles in his signature style. The flag design uses traditional Japanese design motifs. As each print is different, all the available prints are shown here. The pattern of the sakura can be seen in the detail shot; they are reflective and read best when seen from an angle.

Gajin Fujita was born and raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, to immigrant artist parents from Japan. His early influences came from the Latino culture of the area, as well as the diversity of greater Los Angeles. He is a member of the KGB and K2S graffiti crews. A graduate of both Otis College of Art and Design and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he studied with Dave Hickey, Fujita is represented by L.A. Louver Gallery in Venice, CA.