Los Angeles Mermaid Mystery Solved: Bohemia Incorporated Revealed as Creators

The anonymous street art duo Bohemia Incorporated has been identified as the creators of the 'Sirena di Santa Monica' (Santa Monica Mermaid), a styrofoam sculpture affixed to a retaining wall along a Los Angeles freeway. The piece, which depicts a figure swimming against traffic, appeared about two years ago and became a local symbol, evoking the 1968 Situationist slogan 'Under the pavement, the beach.' An investigation by the Los Angeles Times uncovered the artists, who remain anonymous to avoid legal repercussions. The mermaid has survived removal likely due to its inaccessible location or public affection, evidenced by thousands of photographs. The duo, known for graffiti and sculptures that often disappear within months or hours due to municipal removal, described their process as intuitive: 'Assembling the material, sometimes a shape emerges that strikes you.' Their work blends influences from George Segal's plaster casts and graffiti techniques, adding a fourth dimension of time through interaction with the environment. They address existential themes, often featuring the word 'FEAR' in large letters across LA, but also offer hope through pieces like the mermaid and reinterpretations of classical statuary, such as Marilyn Monroe as a 20th-century Venus on the 405-10 freeway interchange.