LA II

LA II born in Puerto Rico, 1967. Lives and works in New York, USA

Angel Ortiz, also known as LA II, LA2 and LA ROC, (b. 1967) is a self-taught artist from the Lower East Side, the birthplace of New York street art. At the age of ten, his tag “LA2,” short for “Little Angel,” had made its presence on the streets, and three years later, Ortiz was sought out by a young art student at the School of Visual Arts, Keith Haring.

A mix of contemporary geometric, abstract symbols with influences attributed to hieroglyphics and calligraphy, Ortiz’s signature style is, in fact, often a repeat of his street tag LAII / LA2, repeated in a dense, almost overlapping pattern referred to as “High and Tight,” which is then interwoven with geometric patterns and animated characters. Ortiz complimented Haring’s “empty space” drawings by filling out Haring’s drawings. Haring and Ortiz combined their styles to create an overall surface of intermingling lines and designs that is now recognized all around the world.

By 1982, Ortiz and Haring had collaborated on dozens of works for their first show together at the Tony Shafrazi Gallery in New York City. Having dropped out of high school in 1983, Ortiz then traveled around the world working on collaborations with Keith Haring. For over six years, their projects took them around the globe to participate in numerous gallery installations, fashion shows and museum exhibitions. It is widely acknowledged that Ortiz’s style and technique are known to have influenced Haring’s compositions long after their creative partnership waned.  Of his relationship with Haring, Ortiz said, “My relationship with Keith has always been about friendship first and the artistic aspect was and will always be secondary. Keith sought my guidance on how to accentuate his isolated figures and make them have a more complex environment to come to life visually. The collaborations artistically were magical and will never be duplicated”.

Ortiz has worked with dozens of other artists in the art market today, including Richard Hamilton, Kenny Scharf and a number of street artists from his original neighborhood in the Lower East Side, like Delta 2, Ero, and Cindy Shaoul.

Select exhibitions include: Tony Shafrazi Gallery (New York City, 1982) with Keith Haring; Fun Gallery (New York City, 1983) with Keith Haring; Galerie Watari (Tokyo, 1983) with Keith Haring; Robert Fraser Gallery (London, 1983); Special Projects Paint Fiorucci (Milan, 1990) with Keith Haring; Future Primeval Queens Museum (New York, 1990) with Keith Haring; Follin Gallery (New York City, 2001); Clayton Patterson Outlaw Museum (New York City, 2002); Galleria Leonardo Galerie (Bolzano, 2005); Dorian Grey Gallery (New York City, 2011); D’Stassi Art Gallery (London, 2022); and Chase Contemporary (New York City, 2023).  Today, Ortiz’s art can be found in esteemed private urban art collections and in the permanent collections of museums such as the Whitney, MOMA, the Guggenheim and the Louvre Museum, Abu Dhabi. Ortiz continues to live and work in New York City.