In this issue we get a chance to see two masters of their craft, one from Japan, one from California. The two styles are totally different but they both showcase the passion of the artist, their culture , and the history of where they came from.inline_mediumwraptextright27102833/features/1003_lrap_east_meets_west1003_lrap_01_o+east_meets_west+editor_edgar_hoill_and_artists.jpgTrue

Sammy Ramirez is known for putting together one of the best tattoo events in Mexico. His event was held at Casino Buganvilias in the heart of Guadalajara, Jalisco, located just a few minutes from downtown Guadalajara and the Ospicio Cabañas that houses some of muralist Jose Clemente Orosco's most renowned murals. Artist from all over the world attended the event with plenty for all to see including an art show and live painting by Guadalajara's own, El Peque. Peque was commissioned by El Indio from Tatuajes de Reyes to paint live while spectators watched him create his masterpiece. The three-day event is one of a kind, and tattoo artists showed up to show their works of art in the flesh. Artists included Indio, Julio, Sergio, El Chocky, Paco Arias, Xno, and Cesar. If you missed out on this year's event, make sure you make it to the next one. For more information, visit www.sammytattoo.com.inline_mediumwraptextrightEl Chocky From 9 Vidas27973069/features/1003_lrap_guadalajara_15th_anniversary_expo_tatuajelrap_1003_01_o+guadalajara_15th_anniversary_expo_tatuaje+two_guys.jpgTrue

Crewest is a gallery that supports some of the most talented underground artists from the West Coast and beyond. The gallery's focus is on urban and graffiti art created through painting, sculpture, digital, and print medias. All of the exhibits housed at Crewest deal with what is current and significant within the realm of the urban art experience. This years 6th annual Dia De Los Muertos celebration exhibition, "Top of the Dome VI", featured dozens of ceramic skulls designed by Gregg Stone and transformed by the imagination of today's hottest tattoo artists, painters, sculptors, graffiti artists, muralists, graphic designers and fine artists. This year's Top of the Dome promised to bring an extreme level of creativity meant to inspire and stir the curious nature of the roaming soul in search of interesting and intriguing artwork to call their own. Top of the Dome is not just an exhibition but rather an experience you do not want to miss. In conjunction with the exhibition, featured artist and painter Gregg Stone made an impact with his collection of eerily, beautiful multimedia paintings that reveal his travels through the avenues and byways of border region Hispanic communities. In this years exhibit, Oscar Magallanes did an altar installation to showcase his talent and his love for his family. For more pictures, visit www.crewest.com.inline_mediumwraptextright27975673/features/1003_lrap_crewest_gallery_top_of_the_dome_vi1003_lrap_04_o+crewest_gallery_top_of_the_dome_vi+people.jpgTrue

Growing up in Mexico has left me with more than just fond memories of a culture that is immersed in its deep historical charm. I can vividly remember the ambiance, the weather, the people and the culture, and since leaving I've chosen to revisit my memories by living through great Mexican artists such as Octavio Ocampo. His creations adorn the walls of many homes, estates, tattoo shops and his artwork have been displayed everywhere from grocery stores to galleries all across the world.inline_mediumwraptextright31993170/features/1001_lrap_el_bien_y_el_mal1001_lrap_01_o+el_bien_y_el_mal+bw_art.jpgTrue

I always looked forward to the Day Of The Dead celebration while I was living in Mexico because our neighborhood would transform itself. The streets and our neighbor's home were decorated with Papel Picado in bright colors, the smell of Copal would be soothing the streets while the altars were decorated with marigolds and candles in memory of the special people that have passed away. My family would always gather together to celebrate and remember the friends and family members who have passed away. Our tradition included sugar skulls that would disappear one at a time because my cousin and I would always take them and eat them. I remember my grandma cooking the favorite dishes of the people that had passed away and the bottle of tequila was always on display along with some other things like cigars, playing cars, and my uncles favorite soda Penafiel.inline_mediumwraptextright26327294/features/0911_lrap_dia_de_los_muertos_arte_special0911_lrap_05_o+dia_de_los_muertos_arte_special+dead_celebrities.jpgTrue

Orchestrated by Arte's associate editor, John Jarasa, "Life Inside" chronicles the urban allure of the streets and the little known world of incarceration, showcasing the hidden and oftentimes unexpected beauty of what is collectively considered the harshest of environments. This is outsider art from people inside. In this issue, Life Inside invites us into a world where creativity and artistry offers relief to the disenfranchised.inline_mediumwraptextright31086369/features/0901_lrap_life_inside_lowrider_show_in_prisonlrap_0901_02_z+life_inside_prison+man_standing_in_front.jpeg.jpgTrue

We attended the much anticipated Ink-N-Iron Tattoo and Kustom Culture Festival this summer at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Some of the best tattoo artists from all over the world that attended the show were Robert Hernandez, Jack Rudy, Real, Tony Salgado, Big Gus, Alan Padilla, Franco, Bob Tyrell, Brian Everett, Tat2 Tony, and Placaso. With more than 250 artists attending the show from 35 different countries we had a busy weekend getting to all the artists that were at the event showing their talents to the thousands of spectators from all walks of life. And it was good to see new faces and new ink at the event. The event was extended with more room for custom cars to be on display and more vendors.inline_mediumwraptextrightThis Issue's Cover Artist Kiki Platas and wife25469180/features/0911_lrap_kustom_culture_festival_ink_n_iron0911_lrap_45_z+kustom_culture_festival_ink_n_iron+guy_and_girl.jpgTrue

Born and raised in Puebla, Mexico, Israel was born into Mexico's graffiti scene. His dad is the legendary old-school graffiti artist, Mosh. Israel began to graffiti professionally when he was 15 years old. His dad used to own a graffiti store where Israel helped out. His dad was also the one that coordinated the Graffiti Expo in Mexico where the elite of the elite would show up and put it down for their crew and country that they were representing. Later on, the artist name Bader was given to Israel after paying his dues in the street scene. Bader is now 27 years old and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Bader's historical graffiti pieces have given him a name in New York since his roots are represented through his artwork. Since his move to New York, Bader has mastered many different skills including airbrushing and tattooing. Bader is tattooing more than ever but still has a crew based out of Brooklyn, New York. If you want to see more of his work, visit him at www.myspace.com/bader_art.

Rick Munoz started his airbrush career at a young age. The environment that he grew up in was what helped him master his craft. With so many airbrush artists in the world, Rick was one of the first airbrush artists to travel to South America and achieve celebrity status. Rick is now back in the United States airbrushing his way to the top by giving back to his community and local Los Angeles schools. We sat down with Rick and asked him a few questions about his trial and tribulations and his reasons for giving back to the community.

Nowadays Tattoo art is more accepted due to the mass media and programs that show Tattoo art as not just an underground form of body modification. We traveled to The Expo Tatuaje in Monterrey Mexico where we got a chance to check the flesh art of some of the best tattoo artists from around the world. The show started off slow, but with artists traveling from all over the world to be part of the Expo, the venue was soon full of tattoo fanatics and collectors.

With the passing of Edward "Chuco" Caballero, the tattoo and art industry got together to publish a book in his honor. The crew from Good Time's Charlie's Tattooland actually got the project started before his passing to try to help him pay his medical bills. The art collection that started as a sketchbook outgrew itself with the overwhelming caliber of artwork that was sent in by some of the best artists from SoCal and around the world. Artists like Freddy Negrete, Jack Rudy, Pint, Horiyoshi III, Tony Salgado, Goethe, Espi, Chuy Quintanar, Tony Uno, Pedro Alvares, Franco Vescovi, Guy Aitchinson, Chee, Danny Boy, and shops like Shamrock Social Club, GTC Tattooland, Por Vida, Dermafilia in Mexico City, and State of Grace are just a few of the collections of artists you will see in the book, making it the best collection ever published and a must-have for your bookshelf.

The 14th annual Guadalajara Tattoo Expo was coordinated by Mexican tattoo legend Sammy Ramrez Hernndez in September. Our good friend Stone, from Japan, was on hand to take pictures and document the great event. The show was filled with tattoo artists from around the world, representing their tattoo shops-including Tattoo Soul, Yellow Blaze, Royal Tattoo, All or Nothing Tattoo, Tinta Distinta, Por Vida, Garage Ink, Tattootlan, Ritual, and Horimitsu.

A sacrilegious pagan ritual that made a mockery of death while uplifting skulls and foods to the dead was the first account from outsiders of the celebration that came to be known as Dia De Los Muertos. The Spaniards documented those accounts when they first came to the new land. But what they had just witnessed was an ancient Aztec celebration dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl ("The Lady of the Dead"). What the Aztecs were doing was not mocking death, but embracing what we will all find after death. For the Aztecs, it was not the end of life, but a transition to the next world.inline_mediumwraptextright"Galie" Ink Addicts San Pedro, CA
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One of the best restaurants in East Los Angeles, Señor Fish, opened its doors for a few artists of different mediums to showcase their work for all to enjoy. There were a few airbrush artists at the show, including Rick Muñoz, Gator Graphics and Johnathan Hernandez, all showing their work. The restaurant's walls were fully covered with creations made by digital and tattoo artist Alex "Sinless" Castro, as well as the mind-blowing pieces of Carlos J. Torres, the colorful pieces of Ivan Godinez, and the very powerful images of Ernesto Vazquez, Steve Correa, Manuel Barillas and Chris Mageno.

The Queen Mary in the city of Long Beach, California, was home to some of the best "flesh art" pieces from around the world during the annual tattoo convention the International Ink- N-Iron Festival. With more than 300 artists representing 25 different countries and 30 States, no wonder this gathering of artists is considered one of the best in the world.

The Seventh Letter is a crew of collected masters who meticulously design and exhibit their art throughout the city of Los Angeles, California, in a quest to dominate the world of graffiti. Composed from the union of Msk and AWR, these artists of concrete and Krylon have not only made their mark, but they have taken corridors such as this one and have set up an unofficial museum as masters in their trade.

It's 2008 and we've made huge leaps and bounds since the revamp of Lowrider Arte. To start off the New Year, we decided to dive deep into the heart of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, to expose not only a great culture, but also a talented group of artists that'll give the best a run for their money. I was really impressed with the quality of the art that I saw in Guadalajara and elsewhere in Mexico.

Osiris does it again by collaborating with some of the top artists known worldwide like the new shoe design by Zachariah "Zack" Johnsen from Brooklyn, New York. Osiris is also dropping a few new OG Abel-designed shoes since the first pair that were dropped have flying off of the shelves. Check out the complete Canvas collection at www.osirisshoes.com. If you like to see more of Abel's and Zack's art check out there websites, www.ogabel.com and www.zenvironments.com.

Osiris does it again by collaborating with some of the top artists known worldwide like the new shoe design by Zachariah "Zack" Johnsen from Brooklyn, New York. Osiris is also dropping a few new OG Abel-designed shoes since the first pair that were dropped have flying off of the shelves. Check out the complete Canvas collection at www.osirisshoes.com. If you like to see more of Abel's and Zack's art check out there websites, www.ogabel.com and www.zenvironments.com.

For the first time ever, Lowrider Arte successfully put up its first art showcase featuring the work of more than 30 artists. Included in the event-part of Lowrider Magazine's Super Show in Las Vegas, Nevada-were special appearances by famed airbrush artist Fonzy, plus Gerald Mendez, "Shadow," Jose Lopez, Joe Ruiz and the "Candy Man.

Metal TapestryIn this issue, we concentrate on Maxima Imagen Custom Paint owner Edgar Rodriguez, who has set up shop in La Puente, California. Like many airbrush artists, Edgar has mastered many forms of expression, including painting, leafing, pinstriping, murals and custom hand lettering. If you need to get your ride, bike or boat pimped out, hit him up at (626) 712-5919.

Shoe culture has reached an all-time high and shoe aficionados around the world are always vying for the position of top dog. But what makes a shoe unique varies from limited number runs all the way to color ways that are hard to get. From Dunks to Pradas, the numbers usually work in opposite relation as the less they make the more they cost.
But shoe connoisseurs are going far beyond the corporate realm of waiting for these custom colors and designs. These days, collectors are taking the shoe game into their own hands and creating shoes that reflect their inner desire to display, flaunt and memorialize their thinking pattern.Thus is the case with the shoes that you see now. Each of these shoes were run off of base model Pony shoes. With a little bit of thinking and the collaboration of the right artists, we have created what are some of the hottest shoes on the market.
Each set of shoes were given to their accredited designer (see captions) along with some direction. We set off to create shoes that paid tribute to the male and female icons that we felt were deserving. Thanks to Pony Shoes for providing the actual canvasses. For more information visit www.pony.com.
Each of the shoes displays art like never seen before and when it comes to bragging rights in the department of limited edition runs you'll be sad to know that these are all just one-offs. Until next time, keep your minds sharp, the creativity flowing and let's all bring art to that next level of insanity.

Illustrators have long had the job of creating the artistic images that we see. Most people think that all of the work is now done on computers and that there's no need for fine white paper and the luster of a graphite pencil. Though much of the work today does utilize the computer, most artists still start the creative process with a few sheets of white paper and a fancy $5 pencil.

When Lowrider Arte teamed up with Crewest in Alhambra, California, it was the perfect blend of metal, art, paint and creativity. It was their intention to put on a show that would be like no other, and the end result was a display and show which utilized old and worn automotive hoods as the centerpieces and canvases for the one-day show.