LA's 'cholo Da Vincis' brought Chicano culture to the boardroom. Now they have a Netflix doc
LOS ANGELES - There was a time in the recent cultural history of Los Angeles when tattoos were strictly the markers of bona fide gangsters, when graffiti was vandalism - little more - and when going downtown at night was considered a definite no-no.
Today, arm sleeves of elaborate ink are embraced by media moguls and suburban moms alike. Graffiti as a form can command handsome corporate commissions by its most heralded artists. And downtown LA became known as a playground of art walks, stellar restaurants and whisky bars.
This remarkable transformation in the city's cultural DNA is due in part in two figures who've not gotten nearly as much credit as they're due: photographer-director Estevan Oriol and "tattooist to the stars" Mister Cartoon. In the early 1990s, the artists set up shop as S.A. Studios at a complex of warehouses on the edge of downtown Los Angeles' skid row. There they began fomenting a cultural movement.
By bridging the gap between cultural gatekeepers and the urban landscape, Oriol and
