Hollywood Blvd - Punk Rules
Mark Vallen 1980
Pen & ink on paper. 9 1/2" x 11"

This is but one of the drawings I made depicting the world-renowned Hollywood Boulevard in the summer of 1980. My pen & ink urban landscape described the celebrated street as I had observed it in the 80s, before it was transformed by waves of gentrification that began in the mid-1990s.

My artwork portrayed an elderly resident waiting for a bus along with a young green-haired punk. Note my inclusion of the legendary Hollywood "Walk of Fame" gold stars on the sidewalk.

Two posters are included in the scene, both were actually plastered all over Los Angeles at the time.

The peeled and ripped broadside on the bus bench announced a May 4th concert by the U.K punk band, Public Image (a riotous mêlée that I attended). The second poster called for a militant demonstration at L.A.'s MacArthur Park on May 1st, International Workers Day.