For almost a decade Peter Quezada, a prolific self-taught artist, painted murals and lettering on buildings and retaining walls in neighborhoods northeast of downtown Los Angeles. He refers to his work as a "graffiti deterrent" or a "substitute for graffiti," and he targets sites that are favorites of taggers and gang graffiti writers. Often he enlists their assistance and designs his murals to appeal to these youths as well as to discourage them from participating in antisocial behavior.

Highlighting the interplay of contemporary life, mass-media images that confront the public, and the use of physical space in the city landscape, Chicano Graffiti and Murals shows how such art as Quezada's has become the signature of modern urban culture.