MTN X Upper Playground Artist Cans

Upper Playground recently announced a collaborative project with Montana Colors to create artist series Hardcore cans by four artists. The third MTN x UP Limited Edition artist can in the series features the collaborative work of El Mac and Retna.

Each of these artists has developed his own distinctive style and technique; Retna is renowned especially for his bold calligraphic brushwork, and Mac for his uniquely stylized painting of lifelike faces and figures; El Mac uses spraypaint and Retna uses spraypaint and acrylic for paintings; oil, acrylic, enamel, pencil, and other mediums on paper, canvas, and wood.

El Mac and Retna have combined forces a number of times in recent years, and have gained increasing attention and applause for the powerful and beautiful murals they’ve painted in Los Angeles and several other cities around the globe.
Last month, they released Alianza, a 96-page hardcover book that highlights their collaborations, along with a selection of individual paintings and photos by each artist, as well as a collection of lifestyle photos, photos of the artists working and their travels, and close-up views of the murals themselves.

Mister Cartoon created a signature can for Montana Colors and Upper Playground’s limited edition artist cans. The first in a series of four, the Mister Cartoon MTN x UP can depicts a stylized vision of LA, complete with downtown storefronts and the Virgen de Guadalupe. Angelo Lospinuso from Montana Colors exclaims,

What I can say about this man? He’s a living legend, from LA to the rest of the world; actually I think he is one of the greatest ambassadors of the West Coast life style worldwide. Words are not enough to express the respect we have for Mister Cartoon!