GRAFFITI
as
ART
In art history “graffiti” refers to the inscriptions,
figures drawing, etc. found on the walls of
ancient ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or
at Pompeii.
Today's usage of the word “graffiti” has evolved to
include any graphics applied to surfaces in a
manner that constitutes vandalism.
Graffiti is often regarded by others as unsightly
damage or unwanted vandalism.
Graffiti has existed since ancient times
Egyptian, Ancient Graffiti on
Monument
Roman, Caricature
of a Politician
Graffiti can be anything from simple scratch
marks to elaborate wall paintings
The first known example of "modern
style" graffiti survives in the ancient
Greek city of Ephesus (in modernday Turkey).
Local guides say it is an
advertisement for prostitution.
Greek, Ephesus Brothel
Advertisement
The graffiti shows a handprint that
vaguely resembles a heart, along with
a footprint and a number. This is
believed to indicate that a brothel was
nearby, with the handprint
symbolizing payment.
HOW DID
Graffiti
BECOME ART?
Modern graffiti in America began in the late 1960s.
Graffiti was used as a form of expression by political
activists . . .
Hex Nixon,
NY, 1973
This popular graffito of the 1970’s reflects the hostility of the youth
culture to the U.S. President.
. . .and for approval or
disapproval of
musicians
Inscription in the London
subway made famous by
photograph for album cover
to Fresh Cream
London, 1967
The “pioneering era” in graffiti art took place between 1969-1974.
The goal of most artists at this point was called “getting up” and
involved having as many tags and bombs in as many places as
possible. It was during this time artists began to move from the
city streets to the subways. They broke into subway yards in
order to hit as many trains as possible, creating larger elaborate
pieces of art along the subway car side. This is when the act of
bombing was established.
1970's NYC
Subway Graffiti
By 1971 tags began to take on their signature calligraphic appearance.
Each graffiti artist needed a way to distinguish themselves. Tags
began to grow in size and scale, as well as complexity and creativity.
Letter size and line thickness became larger giving birth to the
“masterpiece” or “piece” in 1972. Super Kool 223 is credited as
being the first to do these “pieces” by introducing the "fat cap" - an
industrial spray nozzle that widened the arc of the paint.
SUPER KOOL 223
Graffiti artists began to incorporate the use of scenery and cartoon
characters into their work. The use of designs such as polka dots,
crosshatches, and checkers also became popular. Spray paint use
increased dramatically as artists began to expand their work. “Top-tobottoms” emerged at this time, some completely covering subway cars or
trains.
Fab Five Freddy
In 1972, Hugo Martinez founded the United Graffiti Artists (UGA),
consisting of many top graffiti artists of the time and aiming to
present graffiti in an art gallery setting. In 1979, Roman art dealer
Claudio Bruni gave graffiti artists Lee Quinones and Fab 5
Freddy a gallery opening in Rome.
In June 1980 a large avant-garde art
show was held in a former bus
depot and massage parlor near
Times Square. The Times
Square Show featured more
than a hundred artists. Graffiti
artists included Jean- Michel
Basquiat, Futura 2000, Lee
Quinones, and Keith Haring.
Announcement for the Times Square
Show, 1980
The 1980s is considered the Golden Age of graffiti art with the
emergence of “wild style,” an intertwined and decorative
lettering that mixes icons and images from popular culture to
form a complex composition.
Seen 6, marker
on paper, 1985
Wild Style
A difficult to read type of letter with many arrows, angles and
complex connections. It was probably started by the Brooklyn
writers, but no one is really sure of its origin.
In the 1980s, high art was being criticized as too institutionalized and
intellectual. A huge discrepancy existed between art in
museums and the experience of common people.
Art critic Rene Richard highlighted
graffiti art in Art Forum, an
important high art magazine.
Art dealers sought new
artworks to stimulate the art
market. Graffiti became an
art commodity worth
investing in.
Page 35: All works by Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Clockwise from top left: Famous Negro
Athlete #47, 1981, mixed media on paper,
approx. 11 x 17". Gringo Pilot, 1981, mixed
media on seamless paper, 81 x 103" at
widest point. World Crown, 1981, mixed
media on canvas, approx. 60 x 72 "
Untitled, acrylic & mixed
media on canvas by, 1984
Jean-Michel Basquiata-Haitian American artist. He gained popularity
first as a graffiti artist in New York City, and then as a successful 1980sera Neo-expressionist artist. Basquiat's paintings continue to influence
modern-day artists and command high prices. Basquiat died accidentally
of mixed-drug toxicity (cocaine and heroin).
Futura 2000 (born 1955), an internationally acclaimed graffiti artist,
started to paint illegally on New York's subway in the early
seventies. Futura 2000 began painting "legally" as the live onstage backdrop painter for The Clash's 1981 European tour. He
currently is a successful graphic designer and gallery artist.
One of the most distinctive features about Futura's work is his abstract
approach to graffiti art. During the 1980s, the primary focus of
the majority of graffiti artists was lettering, Futura pioneered
abstract, which has since become more popular. Conversely, his
aerosol strokes are regarded as different from those of his peers,
as they are as thin as the fine lines achieved only through the use
of an airbrush.
Lee Quiñones, born 1960 in Puerto Rico and raised in New York, was
one of the key innovators during the early days of New York’s
street-art movement. He was also one of the first street artists
to transition away from creating murals on trains and begin
creating canvas-based paintings.
A film still of Lee Quinones’ graffiti from Charlie Ahern’s “Wild
Style,” 1981.
Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February
16, 1990) was an artist and social
activist whose work also
responded to the New York City
street culture of the 1980s. By
expressing concepts of birth,
death, love, sex and war, Haring's
imagery has become a widely
recognized visual language of the
20th century.
In 1988, he was diagnosed with AIDS. He established the Keith
Haring Foundation in 1989, to provide funding and imagery to
AIDS organizations and children's programs, and to expand the
audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications
and the licensing of his images. Haring used his imagery
during the last years of his life to speak about his own illness
and generate activism and awareness about AIDS.
Keith Haring,
Retrospect,
1989
American popular culture soon made heroes of graffiti artists.
The Graffiti art movement
is also indebted
to the Hip-Hop
culture popular at that
time, which included
rap music, disc
jockies and break
dancing. This
subculture gained
attention in the New
Yorker magazine,
and movies with
graffiti art as a
backdrop.
By the 1990s, Hip-Hop culture had become known worldwide and
accepted as part of mainstream U.S. culture. Graffiti art
became commercialized, appearing in the advertisements of
Nike and Sprite. Marketing strategies targeted at youth culture
reinforce the notion of graffiti as an artistic form of expression
of the younger generation.
Today graffiti art has
become a common element
in modern culture.
Marc Ecko, urban clothing
designer, and advocate of
graffiti as an art form, states
“graffiti is without question
the most powerful art
movement in recent history
and has been a driving
inspiration throughout my
career.”
With the popularity and
legitimization of graffiti
came the rise of video
games depicting graffiti
art as it was in the 1980s.
Mark Ecko's Getting Up
Atari
This game allows players to step into the shoes of a graffiti artist
and features a hip-hop soundtrack. The music, detailed graffiti
patterns, and gritty urban scenes set the mood that's reminiscent of
Manhattan in the golden days.
Gang Graffiti
Gang graffiti appeared in the U.S. in the 1950s. It is the most
unacceptable form of public graffiti because of the
notorious reputation of gangs. These are primitive scrawls
focusing on the gang name or symbols adopted to mark
territory and war zones. They are often simple alphabets
written backwards, numbers marked in sets or letters
intentionally crossed out to send coded messages among
gang members or warn away intruders.
Usually these activities are carried out by junior members within
the gang hierarchy or by newly recruited young members
to prove their worth and courage by entering the territory
of another gang and leaving an insulting mark. They are
selected because they are the most expendable and can be
easily replaced.
MODERN ISSUES:
Graffiti has become an expensive social problem in many cities in the
world. U.S. cities spent an estimated four billion dollars cleaning
graffiti in 1994.
School vandalism is an increasing problem that depletes educational
budgets and delays upgrading plans. Cleaning graffiti in schools
is also a struggle for many teachers, principals, and school staff.
As a result there has been strong advocacy in recent year for
stricter state legislation against “juvenile delinquency” on school
property.
Graffiti can spark “risk-taking” tendency amongst adolescents who do
not think about the consequences of their actions before climbing
on bridges or overpasses and hanging in dangerous positions to
leave their marks.