"Carl in Silverlake," 1755 Glendale Blvd
JR is the prolific street artist behind some of the world's most well-known building portraits; you've likely seen photos of his "Women Are Heroes" project in Brazil (giant, black and white images of eyes plastered on hillside neighborhood buildings). He's done countless similar projects in cities across the world—including Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Cartagena and NYC—and in 2011 and 2012, JR brought his "The Wrinkles of the City" project to Los Angeles, pasting striking images of wrinkled, weathered old people living in LA across the city to juxtapose "the image of perfection and regenerated beauty in the 21st century." Carl engages (a little scarily) with passerbys, while most of JR's other subjects across LA look either at each other or off into the city; if you happen to catch him on your way to or from freeway traffic, his look probably mirrors yours. Also, with all due respect to JR, we have to argue that Carl is in fact in Echo Park, not Silver Lake—but we'll concede that the borders are blurry, as always.
You don't need a Getty Center museum guide or a tour of LACMA to find some of the best art in LA: The city has its fair share of secret art adorning buildings, billboards and subway tunnels—all you have to do keep your eyes peeled (and check out our list below) to see undeground art in unexpected, secret places in LA.
Recommended: See more Underground LA
Discover Time Out original video