MEAR ONE (Kalen Ockerman) has been at the forefront of the Los Angeles graffiti and mural culture for nearly four decades. He is famous for having pioneered the Melrose graffiti art movement in the (late 80s) and is considered by many to be LA’s most prolific public muralist. Early on in his career, MEAR gained (his) recognition for building the bridge between graffiti art and fine art. He was the first graffiti artist to exhibit at the (infamous) 0-1 Gallery on Melrose, as well as at (33 1/3) Gallery in Silver Lake, where Banksy would later debut his first North American show.  He is perhaps best known for constructing powerful narratives with painstaking attention to detail, juxtaposing philosophy, ancient mythology and modern politics to inspire an evolved consciousness. This interpretation of reality is achieved through balanced dialogue between surrealism and the metaphysical, founding a new art movement the artist calls ”Metaphysical Surrealism.” Often acclaimed for being a messianic painter, MEAR ONE helps us envision the sublime spirit of our time – not by escaping reality, but by confronting it head on.

MEAR ONE’s work was part of the landmark Art in the Streets 2011 exhibit at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Orlando Museum of Fine Art & the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, including his most recent solo exhibition at the Museum of Graffiti in Wynwood, Miami. His artworks reside in the permanent collection of the Laguna Fine Art Museum, the Riverside Art Museum, and The Chambers Project, as well as the film archive at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Alphonse Mucha Foundation in Prague.

“MEAR ONE grew up on Hollywood, surrounded by graffiti at every corner. He saw it as the voice of the dissatisfied, a way for people frustrated with the system to make themselves seen and heard. For him, graffiti was freedom—a way to navigate the difficult social and economic landscape of the 1970s. By the early 1980s, he watched as it began to evolve into a recognizable art form.” – Roger Gastman, Beyond the Streets

“MEAR ONE—a prophet in his own country? We might smile, but the comparison is not that far-fetched. He is a subtle chronicler of modern times, producing paintings of a nearly oppressive realism set within a surrealist atmosphere. With their succession of perspectives, details, events, and characters, his works are highly complex but nevertheless a true pleasure to contemplate. The stunning effect of light and the intelligent use of color combine in shadings, draping and mistiness, all of which attest to the patience and ardor that the artist brings to his work. Oil is his best medium. His mission is often to draw us into an awareness of the energy, more or less visible and volatile, that surrounds our humdrum lives. MEAR ONE explores the human condition at its most intangible, spiritual and mysterious. Never moralizing, never pedantic, his paintings simply evoke tranquility, fascination, thoughtfulness and wonder. His mission—to alert us to what really matters in life, and he does so while remaining deeply faithful to his graffiti roots.” – Sabella Augusto, French Art Critic