Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Lloyd Hamrol's Uptown Rocker, a twenty-two year old art piece that sits on Bunker Hill's 4th street freeway at Lower Grand avenue, is getting some much needed attention.

Workers hired by the Community Redevelopment Agency are giving the 1986 piece a new paint job, bringing back some pop to a colorful work that lately had been looking a little dull.

The CRA's web site describes Uptown Rocker this way:

Six identically shaped 7'h x 18'w silhouettes of painted steel cars sit atop a curved, concrete rocker. Painted either red, green, black, gray, yellow or blue, each car provides a striking contrast to the dark and somber tones of nearby buildings. Hamrol incorporated the curved rocker to break up the straight lines created by the adjacent upright office tower and gridded streets. Although appearing to be balanced, the rocker is actually higher on the side of Grand Avenue than on the side of Hope Street: this slight difference creates a sense of movement when driving by on 4th Street, which Hamrol feels is the best way to view the sculpture.

The piece cost $113,000 and was paid for our of a $500,000 Bunker Hill Public Art fund. Each auto weighs approximately one ton.