Isaac Escoto never had a formal art education. He instead turned to the pages of comic books for guidance, a nod to his East Hollywood roots. Born in 1998 to Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, Escoto started painting when he took up graffiti at age 14 under the tag SICKID. Often absurd and sometimes grotesque, his paintings suggest snapshots of video games and have the dark humor of R. Crumb or Robert Colescott. “It’s not necessarily putting a bow on it or trying to romanticize a delinquency or dysfunction,” he told the LA Times. “Instead, I’m just putting out an image saying, ‘This is reality, and it’s not necessarily good or bad.’” Escoto’s latest exhibition conjures Los Angeles during the dark and lawless hour of three A.M. —Maggie Turner