Angel Ortiz: Graffiti turned fine art.

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One of the late Keith Haring's peers and personal friends, artist Angel Ortiz (also known as “LA II”, “Little Angel”, and “La Roc”) has begun to emerge as one of the up and coming Puerto Rican artists of the 21st century. His art career has been established for decades now, but rarely has he been recognized for who he is. His images are often replicated and used without permission, and even in the 1982 gallery exhibition featuring him and Haring's work, the gallery mistakenly labeled it as a solo exhibition for Haring and left LA uncredited as the artist.

 Today his work is now being recognized and shown at the Howard Gallery in East Hampton, NY. A strong Haring influence can be seen, but the work is entirely his own trademarks. Bold splashes of color, interlocked lines and patterns, and recognizable characters are some of his style characteristics. This graffiti artist is unique in his own right, and his many tag names can be seen in both urban and fine art settings.

Mark Gettes is now the proud owner of one of LA's works, pictured above.