William Shea (Author, Photographer)
Patrick Lai (Author, Photographer)
Illustrated. 200 pp. (First Edition)
ISBN: 978-0-9778806-9-0
Smallworks Press
Released April 19, 2019
2019 - 2023 Out of Print
Street Art Las Vegas (first edition)
Photographers William Shea and Patrick Lai release the first-ever photo documentary about the Las Vegas street art and graffiti scene with the intention of creating awareness about the unseen talent and hidden benefits that street art contributes to the art community. The 8 x 10 book is made up of 200 pages and consists of 252 high-quality full-color images. The project time frame covers several years, with photos from all parts of the valley and the Life is Beautiful Festival. Introduction by writer and journalist Ed Fuentes.
Street Art Las Vegas is the next installment in what was originally known as the Fade to Gray series. The title has been redesigned to include additional works by prominent street artists that were featured during the Life is Beautiful Festival. Street Art Las Vegas will be available in stores worldwide.
The unseen talent and hidden benefits that street art contributes to the art community is being highlighted in a new book documenting the art form in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Street Art Las Vegas includes murals and other works by well-known street artists, such as Shepard Fairey, Tristan Eaton, D*face and Retna, to creations by anonymous artists and those without a signature style.
Las Vegas photographers William Shea and Patrick Lai spent countless hours researching and photographing street art throughout Las Vegas and surrounding areas, including abandoned mines. Street Art Las Vegas is the culmination of their efforts from July 2012 and through to September 2018, and is scheduled for release this spring by Smallworks Press, an independent publishing company specializing in limited edition, exquisitely printed books focusing on contemporary art and culture.
Street Art Las Vegas expands on Shea and Lai’s Fade to Gray, the well-received first ever photo documentary about the Las Vegas street art and graffiti scene published in 2013. This new work takes into account a new appreciation by the public for the art value of graffiti and street art, particularly with the 2013 debut of Life is Beautiful, the now annual music and art festival in downtown Las Vegas. The three-day event features work by prominent international street artists and has continued to grow, becoming a symbol of unity, optimism and creativity.
Shea says: “With Street Art Las Vegas, we want to continue to show the artistic value and expression of street art against the Las Vegas canvas and create more awareness about this organic art form in a way that hadn’t been captured here before Patrick and I started documenting it. Life is Beautiful created more acceptance and a new lens for street art that had not previously existed, in addition to amazing work by very talented artists. One of the abandoned mine sites is particularly notable in that the art is permanent on the structure. It was made by a cutting torch and can only be removed by demolishing the source. Traditional street art and graffiti can be painted over, hence our earlier Fade to Gray title.” - Nevada Business Magazine
Printing History:
April 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9778806-9-0
Street Art Las Vegas was released in hardcover format with 200 pages.Print Run: 3000 copies
Printed in Shenzhen, China; Bound in Hong Kong
2012 - 2018 Out of Print
Fade to Gray: A Photographic Review of Graffiti Art in Las Vegas
William Shea (Author, Editor, Illustrator)
Patrick Lai (Author, Illustrator)
Photographs. 140 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-9899012-1-5
ProPhoto Press
Released August 23, 2013
PLWS Photography Group was created in 2011 as a privately held photography and design firm that provides a variety of services to the art and publishing industry.
In 2013, William Shea and Patrick Lai released the first-ever photo documentary about the Las Vegas graffiti scene to create awareness about the unseen talent and hidden benefits that graffiti contributes to the art community. The original 8 x 10 book was comprised of 140 pages and consisted of over 200 high-quality full-color images. The project time frame covered 14 months, with photos from all parts of the valley. The book title originated from the gray paint that the city would use to cover up street art considered to be vandalism.
“When we set forth to produce this photographic collection, we felt it was important to point out that the art in this book was produced by street artists and crews. Regardless of those that feel street art and graffiti are nothing more than a destructive force, it is through street art that we can express our artistic abilities, even if we choose to remain anonymous. There will always be people that try to label talent as a crime, but in the end, we arrive at the same conclusion. Street art and Graffiti is art.”
Original Concept:
To create a commercially viable project that brings awareness to the benefit that street art provides to the community.
To broaden the scope of artistic ideas and assist in bringing an end to the zero-tolerance policy toward street art and graffiti that was predominately in-force across the Las Vegas valley by city authorities and agencies.
To produce a collaborative project that promotes artistic growth in Las Vegas.
All photography was donated and free of author royalties and/or payment for services.
Printing History:
August 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9899012-1-5
Fade to Gray was released in paperback perfect bound format, 140 pages.Print Run: 11500 copies
Printed in the United States
April 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9899012-0-8
Fade to Gray was expanded from 140 to 152 pages in gloss hardcover format and included updated murals and new artists from across Las Vegas.Print Run: 12200 copies
Printed in the United States
January 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9899012-8-4
Fade to Gray was reprinted in matte hardcover format and included updated murals and new artists.Print Run: 9,000 copies
Printed in the United States