#davevanpatten

Long Beach, California artist and illustrator Dave Van Patten says most of his inspiration is "pulled from dark humor comics, 1960's surrealism, psychedelic garage rock albums, and modern societal absurdity." In addition to appearing in many other publications Van Patten has self-published several graphic novel "zines" and twisted “children’s books for grown ups.” A prolific muralist, in 2016 and 2017 @PowWowLongBeach shone a fresh spotlight on Van Patten’s work, "allowing his tiny comic drawings to span across entire buildings." In 2018 Van Patten partnered with @addamsartsproject and community leaders to create this intriguing visual at Atlantic Ave and 53rd St in North Long Beach.  @davevanpatten/

Dave Van Patten for Pow Wow! Long Beach.

Inspired by the Native American tradition of gathering to celebrate culture, music, and art, Pow! Wow! was launched by Jasper Wong in 2010. The festival found a permanent home in Hawai’i the following year and met with such success that it has become a model for festivals now staged around the world—providing opportunity for regional mural artists to join in conversation and share walls with some of the stars of the global mural movement. For Pow! Wow!’s 2016 return to Long Beach, CA, local artist Dave Van Patten says he spent 9 days and more than 100 hours painting this mural in Frontenac Ct. at E. Broadway. Embracing absurdity, surrealism, and sometimes disturbingly dark humor, Van Patten has self-published several graphic novel zines and “twisted graphic novels for grown ups.”  @davevanpatten  @powwowlongbeach