You might know it for the shopping, Melrose Avenue is one of the main retail areas in Los Angeles. It’s an insanely long street that has everything from the Kardashian’s shop to bargain buys and retro vintage stalls. However, despite the overwhelming amount of merchandise, the murals are the main attraction for tourists. Some of the most legendary Instagram spots in the world are on melrose. There’s even a mural you can only access if you show proof of over 20,000 Instagram followers…(One day…one day…)

Let me run you through your Melrose mural itinerary starting from La Cienega Blvd all the way to Virgil Ave (though you might have to prioritise as LA is a lot bigger than you think and not so friendly to us pedestrian europeans who are used to condensed cities)

• B&W Mural x Retna (Address: 8826 MELROSE AVE)

The artist of this mural known as ‘Retna’ was born and bred in Los Angeles. The New Image Art Gallery  states that his work “merges photography with graffiti style and paint, time with color, couture with street culture, the spiritual with the sensual, and fluidity with grit. Whether his paintings hang in a gallery or wall on the streets of Los Angeles, they serve as a retina through which we view the urban journal of contemporary art.”

 

• Made in LA (Address: 8025 MELROSE AVE)

This one speaks for itself, if you want people to know you’re in LA there isn’t a more obvious mural! The wall is situated on the side of a Cisco Home (a furniture shop), “This gray-on-gray stencil might be referring to the fact that Cisco Home’s furniture and home accessories are homegrown. Yet Angelenos also exploit this popular wall on Melrose to express their hometown pride.”

 

• The Paul Smith Pink Wall (Address: 8221 MELROSE AVE)

The simplicity of this wall is what makes it so iconic. Millions of people have posed in front of it making it very emblematic of LA, especially on Instagram. It has become somewhat of a social media sensation.

• Angel Wings x Colette Miller (Address: 8401 W 3RD STREET)

This mural is found in many different areas of LA and even in other countries such as Mexico, Australia and Kenya. Colette Miller has explained her idea behind the project: “I created the interactive street art angel wings project to remind humanity that we are the angels of Earth”. I love that this mural has a message that can be interpreted in different ways, I see it as a reminder of our impact on the planet.

•  Marilyn Monroe Inspired Mural (Address: 660-698 N Kilkea Drive – Melrose Ave) 

This modern-retro mix is both simple and intricate simultaneously. It’s a mural that demonstrates the ways in which street art has surpassed vandalism and is truly an art form.