Mear One (born 1971 as Kalen Ockerman) is an American artist based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, known for his often-political street

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

art. Mear One is associated with CBS (Can't Be Stopped – City Bomb Squad) and WCA (West Coast Artist) crews. As a graphic designer, Mear One has designed apparel for Conart, Kaotic, as well as his own Reform brand. Mear One has designed album covers for musicians such as Non Phixion, Freestyle Fellowship,

Alien Nation ''Alien Nation'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Rockne S. O'Bannon (later known for '' Farscape''), comprising film, television, and other media productions about alien refugees living on Earth. The series began with ...

, Limp Bizkit,

Busdriver Regan Farquhar (born February 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Busdriver, is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles, California. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, Milo, Nocando, Open Mike Eagle, 2Mex, and Ra ...

and

Daddy Kev Kevin Marques Moo (born 1974), better known by his stage name Daddy Kev, is an American DJ, Grammy Award-winning audio engineer, record producer and executive from Los Angeles, California. He is the owner of Alpha Pup Records and the founder of Low ...

Early life and education

Ockerman was born in 1971 in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

Career

A street artist and graffiti writer in

for over 20 years, Mear's partners have included Skate One, Anger, Yem, and Cisco CBS. In 2004, Mear joined artists

Shepard Fairey Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989 he designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campai ...

and

Robbie Conal Robert "Robbie" Conal (born 1944) is an American guerrilla poster artist noted for his gnarled, grotesque depictions of U.S. political figures of note. A former hippie, he is noted for distributing his poster art throughout a city overnight us ...

to create a series of "anti-war, anti- Bush" posters for a street art campaign called "Be the Revolution" for the art collective ''Post Gen.'' In September 2012, Mear One painted a temporary street mural in

Hanbury Street Hanbury Street is a street running from Spitalfields to Whitechapel, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs east from Commercial Street to the junction of Old Montague Street and Vallance Road at the east end. The e ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, entitled '' Freedom for Humanity''. It depicted suited men seated around a table, under an

Eye of Providence The Eye of Providence (or the All-Seeing Eye of God) is a symbol that depicts an eye, often enclosed in a triangle and surrounded by rays of light or glory, meant to represent divine providence, whereby the eye of God watches over humanity. ...

, playing a

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

-like board game that rested on the backs of bent-over naked figures, with a background of industry and protest. A local councillor likened it to antisemitic propaganda in pre-war Germany, referencing what he saw as its stereotypical depictions of Jews, together with its reference to finance and the

monetary Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are ...

and

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

associations of the Eye of Providence. The

Mayor of Tower Hamlets The mayor of Tower Hamlets is the directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council in east London, England. The first election for this position occurred on 21 October 2010, taking on the executive function of the borough counci ...

, Lutfur Rahman, said: “The images of the bankers perpetuate anti-Semitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions.” In April 2014, Mear appeared with fellow graffiti-muralists Cache, EyeOne, and Alice Mizrachi at Brown University as part of the panel ''Bottom-Up Place Making: Graffiti-murals and Latino/a Urbanism'', hosted by the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and moderated by

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

urban theorist, graffiti writer, and professor, Dr Stefano Bloch. In 2015, he was a judge on Oxygen Channel's "Street Art Throw Down" hosted by poster artist

Justin Bua Justin Bua is an artist, author, speaker and entrepreneur. He currently lives in Texas and is best known for his lyrical narrative paintings of musicians, DJs and similar characters who help define the urban landscape. As an artist "for the peopl ...

References

External links

Mear One website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mear One 1971 births Living people American graffiti artists American graphic designers American poster artists