Graffiti means many things for different people. Some people associate graffiti with vandalism and the destruction of property. Others see graffiti as art. Currently, the word ‘graffiti’ is used to describe everything from scribbles on bathroom walls and scratched names on bus windows to gang tags and graffiti-influenced paint on canvas.
However, when people refer to ‘graffiti art,’ they are usually taking about a specific type of graffiti. Also called hip-hop graffiti or New York-style graffiti, graffiti art is closely linked with hip-hop culture and the production of elaborately designed and highly stylized tags, throw-ups, and pieces.
People first recognized graffiti as art during the 1970’s and 80’s when graffiti artists began coloring the NYC subway trains. The subway art movement of the 70’s and 80’s can be traced back to TAKI 183. During the 1960’s, TAKI 183 wrote his name on street signs, subway cars, and buildings across the five NYC boroughs. The mysterious name and number appeared enough for the media to take notice, and as we say, the rest is history.
Inspired by TAKI’s personal fame and notoriety, graffiti writers began writing their names (usually aliases) throughout NYC. Getting-up became a vocation. As competition increased, writers developed identifying logos to make their names stand out and experimented with size, color, and design. This was quickly followed by an emphasis on scale, with the first top-to-bottom subway being painted in 1975.
 |
 |
Graffiti has traditionally been associated with delinquency and disruptive urban street youth. Undeniably, this group has been associated with graffiti production. However, now that graffiti has spread outside the cities and is recognized as a legitimate form of art, people of varying ages, socio-economic backgrounds, heritage, and education participate in graffiti production.
Some advertising and marketing firms now commission graffiti artists to paint walls and to create logos that will appeal to an urban clientele. Museums and art galleries frequently host graffiti artists to paint exhibition walls or showcase graffiti that has been produced on transportable material.
Most writers create graffiti for personal fame and respect. Graffiti is also strongly linked with adventure and risk-taking. Many writers also strive for creative and artistic achievement. These writers often produce graffiti on legal mediums, such as canvas and commissioned walls.
Hip-hop graffiti is often placed in high-risk places. Graffiti can be found on bridges and overpasses, inside abandoned, derelict buildings, and on traveling freight cars. Commissioned hip-hop graffiti can also be found adorning store-fronts and gallery walls, in advertisements, and on commercial products.
Each and every graffiti writer has been given the tremendous gift of a substantial culture and art form which has allowed for their expression and the ability to say things previously unsayable. That's one hell of a debt to carry, but each writer can do something about repaying it. The best way to repay the culture is to contribute something individual and unique back to it.