Photo by Coby Gewertz
Chaz Bojórquez was born in Los Angeles in 1949 and has been writing on this city since the late ’60s. In 1969 he stenciled a skull in a wide-brimmed hat on a wall and named it Señor Suerte, “Mr. Lucky.” It became one of the best-known images in LA graffiti. He’s also one of the few writers of his generation to take the work from the street into museums. His paintings are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum and LACMA.
We paid Chaz a visit. He didn’t finish one piece for SPRAY LA. He finished two.
The first is Cry Macho, Clint Eastwood’s 2021 film about a washed-up rodeo star sent into Mexico. Señor Suerte is on it, from a new stencil Chaz cut for this piece.
The second is a two-panel banner from Andor. Chaz covered the stormtrooper’s armor in decals from his own collection, like tattoos or racing sponsors. Around him, Chaz added his own calligraphic lettering, along with hand-painted touches like his red Apache handprint. Chaz calls it ANDOR 2026.