All the Saints of the City of the Angels Descend Upon Autry

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Author: Caroline Olsen-Van Stone

Social justice, gripping portraits, attribution to saints and the history of Los Angeles come together in J. Michael Walker’s solo exhibition All the Saints of the City of the Angels, which opened last Friday at the Autry Museum of the American West (across from the LA Zoo).

Inspired by LA’s many streets named after saints, 50 of Walker’s 103 “saint pieces” are included in the exhibition. Walker came up with the idea while he was looking through his Thomas Guide and found page upon page of streets that began with “San” or “Santa”-both of which translate to “saint” in Spanish.

“I wanted to see if there was a connection between the name of the saint and the street [that bears its name],” he said.

Walker’s method included dividing each city into quadrants, researching the area as well as the saint for whom each street is named and visiting each street to get a feel for the neighborhood. In each area, he photographed people and local businesses and conducted informal interviews.

The featured pieces are representative of East, West, Downtown and South Central Los Angeles. They are portraits of residents of the neighborhoods the saint streets run through or the saint for whom the street is named. Often, they are a combination of illuminated manuscript-style lettering and period costume, juxtaposed with what the neighborhood looks like today.

“San Onofre” shows an old man with a white beard so long that it covers his skinny body. “San Remo Drive” depicts a saint who looks like Will Smith’s character on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; wearing glowing sunglasses, he is flanked by signs for Edison Security and Bel-Air Patrol that Walker noticed on many of the lawns on San Remo Drive. The connection between San Remo and security is that San Remo was known as a highly “anonymous and unknowable saint,” Walker said.

San Rafael Avenue is actually located in Highland Park, and Walker illustrated this street with a “Crossing Guard-ian Angel,” as San Rafael “appeared in legend as a wise stranger accompanying a boy named Tobias.” Walker considers his LA saints a “loopy valentine to the city of Los Angeles,” aiming to inspire viewers to appreciate the “rich and long history of LA” and the creative ways people have dealt with their various “difficult social histories.”

Walker’s aim to contribute to social change with his work is realized through his study of San Julian Street, which makes up part of Skid Row. It includes 16 beautiful, heartfelt portraits of guests he met through the Los Angeles Men’s Project, an organization that assists homeless people diagnosed with mental illness.

The show is also completely bilingual, coupling the Spanish language with Walker’s Catholic-inspired art, as well as accurately representing LA’s vibrant Latino population.

Because this show is being exhibited as part of the Autry’s Western-themed exhibits, traditional devotional saint pieces from the Center’s permanent collection supplemented Walker’s innovative modern-day saints.

The exhibit features a variety of media to engage visitors, including a professionally-designed soundscape, a filmed interview with the artist and a directory of events happening around LA until the end of the show in September. Visitors can also photograph themselves in front of one of Walker’s signature “Todos los Santos de Los Angeles” frames or go on a bus tour of the saint streets beginning March 8.

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