Venice Beach boardwalk artist Tony B. Conscious has “retired” from vending in Venice, blaming gang “ownership” of boardwalk vending spaces and intimidation as the reason for doing so.
Conscious notes that it was his plan to “move on” after ten years of vending on the boardwalk at the end of this summer, but direct threats forced him to leave immediately.
Conscious is well known in Venice for his video clips documenting the daily violence that occurs between vendors and the homeless on the Venice Boardwalk. Below is Conscious’ most recent video, in which he documents the brutal beating of a Venice street person. The video is quite graphic, so you may not want to watch it.
