Graffiti Art

"Risk is essential. There is no growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable."
— Alex Nobel

Graffiti is a mural on the side of a building. Graffiti is a slogan or slur found in a bathroom stall. Graffiti is a scrawl of someone's name or nickname—also known as a tag—on the side of a building. Graffiti is a political or artistic logo stenciled on a post office box or traffic sign. Graffiti is a multi-colored cartoon incorporating its writer's name. Graffiti is in your face. Graffiti is illegal. Graffiti is dangerous.

Graffiti is art.

Modern spray can art originated in NYC subway cars in the late 1960s, where teens used permanent markers to tag their names and the number of the street they lived on. The first known tag belonged to a Greek American boy named Demitrius, a.k.a. "Taki 183."

With the invention of spray paint, graffiti tags developed in size, color and style into an entirely new kind of expression, now known more respectfully as graffiti art (or subway art, or spray can art).

As the form evolved, graffiti artists, or "writers," as they refer to themselves, became more concerned with style, content, and placement than their predecessors had been. Rather than simply scribbling simple graffiti tags all over town, writers competed to "get-up" their impressively elaborate, colorful pieces—also known as burners—in highly visible spaces: the sides of train cars, bridges, billboards. To be a "king" or "queen" required, and still does require, tremendous creativity, radiance, and meticulous craftsmanship.

The drive and capacity to get up complete pieces are what separate the true writers from the taggers. Taggers scribble. Stencilers are an abomination to the craft. A writer is as much a slave to his or her craft as any contemporary painter.

Graffiti is art.
 

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Over the last decade, graffiti's legality has become less of an issue in many cities, namely Chicago and Los Angeles. Many cities foster the talent and heritage of graffiti art, providing commissioned public work, as well as legal yards for writers to work in.

Graffiti pieces still differ most significantly from more conventional art in that they are not quite safe. Burners come to a viewer unexpectedly—from around sharp corners, from the top of a building. This is not to imply that graffiti art has not found a niche in the museum world, only that the inherent nature of the medium thrives on the uncertainty and risk involved. For all its craftsmanship, graffiti is a medium for the brave, and the young-at-heart.

Evolution of Graffiti Art

With the advent of spray paint, the original, monochromatic graffiti tags evolved into throw-ups: dual-color tags with bubble-lettering and simple outlines.

The stamp came next, incorporating straight letters to evoke three-dimensional space.

A piece (short for masterpiece) is a large scale, multicolored, highly complex work. Styles range from rounded, chain-link bubble lettering, to gothic, to computer typeface, to 3-D. A piece will often incorporate cartoon characters, defining symbols of a particular writer, such as vines, hearts, or bullets, and the writer's name.

A particularly high quality piece is called a burner. Burners have crisp outlines with no drips, they are complex and multicolored, and usually tout a unique signature style.

In the past, graffitists worked solo, but as the size and intricacy of burners grew, safety concerns and a desire to "bomb" (i.e., proliferate paintings) prompted graffitists to forge alliances, or crews. Crews are headed by kings or queens who judge prospective members by the quality of their solo pieces, as well as by their loyalty and potential.