Santa Monica, Calif.— Robert Berman Gallery is trading its traditional look for something more subterranean. This Saturday, the gallery opens "Will Rise," an exhibition featuring original pieces by 11 members of the legendary L.A. graffiti crew Angels Will Rise. To make the work seem more authentic, each artist was given six four-by-four-foot panels, which will be installed floor-to-ceiling on three walls of the gallery to achieve the effect of a subway tunnel. Says show curator Brett Aronson, "A lot of gallery shows take the aesthetic of graffiti and try to put it on a canvas, but that disrupts what graffiti is by taking it off the wall. Obviously, the gallery is not a concrete outdoor wall, but the concept was to try to represent that."

Artist Marquis Lewis, who goes by Retna, says, "I came from the school of thought that graffiti was supposed to be on the street; it wasn't supposed to be in a gallery. But the gallery setting allows graffiti artists to explore avenues they normally wouldn't because they are rushed or they fear getting arrested."