Ruben Rojas and WRDSMTH
Carpe Every Single Diem
Bruce Lurie Gallery
August 9 – September 2, 2025
“Aspire to inspire others and the universe will take note.”
So reads the first piece, ASPIRE2, that greets visitors at Carpe Every Single Diem, a life-affirming collaboration between street artists WRDSMTH and Ruben Rojas at the Bruce Lurie Gallery in Santa Monica.
Talk about serendipity: These two street artists had been friends for years, painting murals together in L.A. and London, and were itching to do a gallery show. Meanwhile, gallery owner Bruce Lurie was independently brewing up a collaboration between the two, unaware they were already thick as thieves. As WRDSMTH (who goes by his last name Brody) puts it with characteristic wit, Lurie “put chocolate and peanut butter together.”
Optimism isn’t just a theme here — it’s a mission. This is a show that wears its heart boldly on its canvas. Carpe Every Single Diem is overflowing with love, color, and calls to action.
“We wanted a show that people would walk into and feel very positive about,” Brody said in an interview with Lurie at the gallery. “And then we threw around some ideas. But when Ruben and I came up with the Carpe Every Single Diem idea, Bruce really gravitated toward it.”
“Together we hope to inspire agency and opportunity,” said Rojas in a phone interview.
Ruben Rojas & WRDSMTH, Carpe Every Single Diem, 2025 Photo: Bruce Lurie Gallery
In a world where street art often screams rebellion, these artists propose revolution through radical kindness. While Shepard Fairey admonishes us to “OBEY,” Brody and Rojas are going for a gentler tack: “Why not choose love instead?”
“Why not look at the lens of love rather than fear?” Rojas asked, his philosophy as straightforward as his “Live Through Love” tagline that’s become his calling card. “There’s a lot that’s triggering anxieties, fears. We want to remind people to respond rather than react.”
Don’t mistake this for sanitized street art. The 20-plus works carry the DNA of the streets. Brody’s The Only Lie exists on canvas in the show after it came to life as a large-scale mural the two collaborated on in East London. Rojas’s “Love” message has graced everything from SoFi Stadium to restaurant walls next door to the gallery.
Brody’s approach is more slyly subtle — think Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer, with an eternally optimistic spin. His stenciled musings pop up on walls worldwide, but in this show, they’re reimagined on what he calls reclaimed material– tin and weathered wood that look like they were plucked straight from an alley and given some gallery sheen.
Ruben Rojas & WRDSMTH, Brooklyn, 2025 Photo: Ruben Rojas & WRDSMTH
Brody’s piece Do displays his tools of the trade (spray can, tape, X-Acto knife) alongside a mantra for creative souls: “Do it for yourself. Do what makes you happy. Do what you love. And then hope what you do resonates with others.”
The exhibit’s centerpiece—two versions of the show’s title piece—illustrates the artists’ collaborative process. Working in sync over several intense hours, Rojas laid down foundations of dripped spray paint – adding water to give it layers and texture – while Brody added his signature typewriter stencils and hand-painted words. One version blazes in yellow, orange, red, and blue with “love” softly receding; its companion glows in black and white with the message boldly prominent. (There is also a print with a mashup of the two).
“Once we got going, it was very visceral and organic,” Brody explained.
Rojas, who turned to art full time in 2018 as a way to work through depression, sees this exhibit as part of a larger evolution. “We’ve lost the art of debate. The divisiveness is at an all-time high. ‘Hey human, we need love,’” he said. “Maybe all our values don’t align, but can’t we accept each other?”
Ruben Rojas, Nightfall, 2025 Photo: Bruce Lurie Gallery
Taking a page from Keith Haring‘s “Art is for Everybody” playbook, he’s put his message on everything from walls to wearables. “Not everyone can see the mural experience, not everyone can afford artwork or prints…but T-shirts and caps they can. What better canvas than the human body?”
His inspiration? Artists who became brands—Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Mr. Brainwash. But Rojas sells hope, not hype.
Not all the art is so earnest. A cheeky piece called Dose of Love—Rojas’s neon-tinged homage to the Rolling Stones‘ iconic mouth logo, comes complete with acid tabs on the tongue’s tip. “Love is my drug of choice,” he mused.
There’s deeper resonance to the show’s timing. The Bruce Lurie Gallery was known as the only fine art gallery in Pacific Palisades before the fires claimed most of its collection and prompted the relocation to Santa Monica. A fellow Palisades’ resident offered Lurie a new space, and suddenly Carpe Every Single Diem became more than a catchy title—but a rallying cry.
“I hope this inspires people in the sense of…Don’t just sit and wait for something to happen. Go forward,” said Lurie.
“I always say that it starts with the individual, then the household, then the neighborhood, then the community, then the city, then the state and the country… The world,” Brody explains. “It’s a ripple effect that I think we’re both trying to do in our work individually.”
It’s hard not to leave the sun-drenched gallery smiling. As the duo’s piece Nightfall reminds us: “Give it your very best every single day. And don’t be so hard on yourself come nightfall.” In 2025 Los Angeles, maybe that’s exactly the revolution we need.
Cover image: WRDSMTH, What You Love, 2025, Photo: Bruce Lurie Gallery; all images courtesy Bruce Lurie Gallery.
Visit WRDSMTH at his website; visit Ruben Rojas on IG.
