Road trips, the first sunsets (and sunrises) of the fall, a few beers, abandoned houses and a group of artists — that pretty much sums up the flurry of activity that took place at Salton Sea recently. The “accidental” lake (engineers originally dug an area for faster irrigation) in the Colorado Desert in Southern California was the setting for friends Eddie Colla, 2wenty, Nite Owl and Caratoes, who all made their mark there with signature work.
Oakland’s Eddie Colla, who recently opened a solo show at Ian Ross Gallery (see our coverage here), stuck up his large-scale wheat pastes depicting powerful black and grey portraits of civilians, seemingly caught in a fight or flight moment. The dilapidated caravans and walls served as a perfect backdrop to Colla’s arresting images. Similarly, Los Angeles-based artist 2wenty’s light paintings showed up against the clear skies of the South California desert at various stages of nightfall. Known for his light work, he “paints” on surfaces and skies with lights and, through long exposure, creates beautiful, ethereal shots of temporary moments. Nite Owl bombed walls with his trademark colorful owl faces and Hong Kong-based Caratoes painted surfaces with her abstract figures and portraits juxtaposed with graphics.
Eddie Colla:
2wenty:
Caratoes:
Nite Owl:
Berlin-based artist 
Australian artist 
Swedish painter Alessandro Battisti, better known as