When Miguel Rodriguez approached a tattoo artist friend with the idea of a Los Angeles-themed back tattoo, the artist was intrigued but a little wary.
Rodriguez, 45, proposed a massive mural that would cover his entire back and include some of Los Angeles’ most iconic landmarks, including the 6th Street Bridge, Union Station and, as a surprise, Oceanwide Plaza, more recently known as the Graffiti Tower.
The tower, which spans nearly the length of Rodriguez’s back, is Apple Valley tattoo artist Eric Reyna’s largest tattoo to date, and the black-and-grey piece is a nod to Reyna and Rodriguez’s hometown of Los Angeles.
“He pushed me a lot and made me do it in a way, and I really like it,” Reina, 31, said of the idea. “It will take several sessions to complete the tower because there are a lot of small details.”
Rodriguez has lived near the building for years, watching it transform a collection of abandoned skyscrapers into a canvas for street art. The buildings were originally part of a multibillion-dollar project to transform a corner of downtown Los Angeles with luxury apartments, hotels, retail stores and restaurants. Construction on the buildings has been stalled since 2019, when the Beijing-based developer ran out of funding.
Earlier this year, graffiti artists began adding their artwork to a nearly completed high-rise building directly across from LA Live’s Crypto.com Arena, and it quickly became a spectacle.
For Rodriguez, the towers are part of Los Angeles, a place that welcomes wanderers and artists from all over the country chasing their dreams.
“The tower is iconic,” Rodriguez says, “it’s part of the culture of Los Angeles.”
This spring, 24 floors of an unfinished high-rise in downtown Los Angeles were covered in graffiti, a sight that has now become a tattoo.
(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)
The tower has seen multiple arrests and paragliding attempts, troubling officials who have tried to stop graffiti artists from leaving their own mark on the building. In February, the city dedicated nearly $4 million to removing the graffiti and securing the building, which is now surrounded by a tall metal fence.
The graffiti has sparked lively debate among Los Angeles residents about the line between art and vandalism, and in May, the unfinished development was put up for sale.
Reina, who runs Ink Heart Tattoo Shop with his wife, Jack Reina, has already faced backlash after posting the piece on social media.
“Some people are outraged by this, others think it’s the coolest tattoo ever…” [N]”Not everyone understands the process of getting a tattoo, and I’m just trying to be kind to them,” he said.
Reina first got into the world of body art through street art, after his older brother encouraged him to channel his artistic talents into tattooing, and he began tattooing friends and family at home before starting to tattoo professionally.
Reina has already completed most of two towers, with one more to go. The stenciling of the towers took six hours, and the first tattoo session took five hours.
Rodriguez, who said he has “countless tattoos,” including the Dodgers logo on his head, is no beginner. He was injured after falling down some stairs and sat for eight hours during his final session before undergoing surgery. He still has surgery and a long recovery, but he said that won’t stop him from getting his tattoos done.
While the tower’s future is uncertain, the structure in its current form will live on in Rodriguez’s memory.
It’s a canvas as unique as the building itself.