What is another name for graffiti? What is graffiti: street art

Etymology

Graffiti And graffito derived from the Italian term graffiato ("scribbled"). The name "graffiti" in art history is usually used to refer to images that have been scrawled on a surface. A related concept is graffito, which refers to the removal of one layer of pigment by scratching the surface in such a way that a second layer of color underneath appears. This technology was used primarily by potters, who, after finishing work, carved their signature on the products. In ancient times, graffiti was applied to walls with a sharp object, sometimes chalk or charcoal was used for this. The Greek verb γράφειν - graphein (in Russian - "to write") has the same root.

Story

Wall inscriptions have been known since ancient times, they were discovered in the countries of the Ancient East, in Greece, in Rome (Pompeii, Roman catacombs). The meaning of the word eventually came to refer to any graphics applied to a surface and regarded by many as an act of vandalism.

Ancient world

The earliest graffiti appeared in the 30th millennium BC. e. They were then presented in the form of prehistoric rock paintings and pictographs painted onto walls with tools such as animal bones and pigments. Similar drawings were often made in ritual and sacred places inside caves. Most often they depicted animals, wildlife and hunting scenes. This form of graffiti is often disputed as to how likely it is that such images were created by members of a prehistoric society.

Considered to be Proto-Arabic, the only known source to date of the Safian language is graffiti: inscriptions scrawled on rocks and huge boulders predominantly in the basalt deserts of southern Syria, eastern Jordan, and northern Saudi Arabia. The Safi language has existed since the 1st century BC. e. to the 4th century AD e.

Antiquity

Graffiti in Pompeii

The first example of the "new style" of graffiti was preserved in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (on the territory of modern Turkey). Local guides refer to it as a promotional message for prostitution. Located next to the expensive graffiti, decorated with mosaics and stones, was a handprint that vaguely resembled a heart, a footprint, and a number. This meant that somewhere nearby was a brothel, the handprint symbolized payment.

The ancient Romans applied graffiti to walls and statues, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the classical world had a completely different meaning and content than in modern society. Ancient graffiti were love confessions, political rhetoric, and mere thoughts that could be compared to today's popular messages about social and political ideals. The graffiti in Pompeii depicted the eruption of Vesuvius, as well as Latin curses, magic spells, declarations of love, the alphabet, political slogans, and famous literary quotations, all of which provide an excellent insight into the street life of the ancient Romans. One inscription contained the address of a woman named Novella Primigenia from Nuceria, probably a very beautiful prostitute whose services were in great demand. Another drawing showed the phallus, which was accompanied by the inscription "mansueta tene": "Handle with care." Typical graffiti on the wall of the Pompeian Lupanar:

Anti-Christian caricature found during excavations of ancient Rome and dating back to the 2nd century. The inscription "ALEXAMENOS SEBETE THEON" translates as "Alexamenos worships God"

Graffiti helped to learn some details about the way of life and languages ​​of long gone cultures. Spelling and grammatical errors in writing graffiti speak of the low educational level of the people who lived then, and at the same time help to unravel the mysteries of colloquial Latin. Examples are CIL IV, 7838: Vettium Firmum / aed quactiliar rog. In this case, "qu" is pronounced like "co". The 83rd piece of graffiti found in CIL IV, 4706-85 makes evident the ability to read and write in sections of society that were considered illiterate. Drawings can even be found on the peristyle, restored during the eruption of Vesuvius by the architect Cresens. The graffiti were left by both the boss and the workers. The brothel VII, 12, 18-20 has more than 120 drawings, some of them were drawn by prostitutes and their clients. The Gladiator Academy (CIL IV, 4397) was covered in graffiti scrawled by the gladiator Celadus ( Suspirium puellarum Celadus thraex: "Celadus Thracian makes the girls sigh"). Another image found on the walls of a tavern in Pompeii was the words about a tavern owner and his questionable wine:

Oh master, your lies It corrupts your own mind! Without interfering, you drink wine yourself, Serving water to guests .

In Egypt, on the territory of the architectural complex of Giza, a lot of graffiti left by builders and pilgrims was discovered.

Middle Ages

Graffiti was widespread in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. In one of the largest Mayan settlements of Tikal, many well-preserved drawings were discovered. Viking graffiti, surviving in Rome and Ireland on the Newgrenj mound, as well as the famous inscription of the Varangian, who scrawled his name (Halvdan) in runes on the railings in St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, all these graffiti help us learn some facts from the daily life of past cultures. Graffiti known as Tacherons is not uncommon to be found on walls in Romanesque-Scandinavian churches.

Medieval graffiti in Rus'

Eastern Slavs have a long and rich history of graffiti. 10 graffiti of the 11th century have been preserved in Novgorod. . A large number of graffiti XI-XV centuries is in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv, they contain both drawings and (more often) text. For the most part, ancient Russian graffiti are records on the walls of churches, so their most frequent content is prayer requests to God or saints, but there are also comic texts, and records like “there was such and such”, and folk spells. Many graffiti contain an exact date and are an important historical, linguistic and paleographic source. For Kyiv, where, unlike Novgorod, there are no birch bark letters, graffiti is one of the main sources of information about everyday writing and colloquial speech.

rebirth

Modern history

Soldier in Italy (1943-1944)

Graffiti is believed to be closely related to hip-hop culture and the myriad styles that have evolved from New York subway graffiti. Despite this, there are many other great examples of graffiti. At the beginning of the 20th century, graffiti began to appear in boxcars and underpasses. One of these graffiti - Texino - traces its history from the 1920s to the present. During the Second World War and over the next few decades, the phrase "Kilroy was here", complete with an image, became common around the world. The phrase was used by American troops and quickly permeated American popular culture. Shortly after the death of Charlie Parker (he had the nickname "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti with the words "Bird Lives" began to appear throughout New York. During student protests and a general strike in May 1968 in Paris, the city was flooded with revolutionary, anarchist and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counter-revolutionary"), which were done in the style of graffiti, poster and stencil art. During this time, political slogans (such as "Free Huey", dedicated to Huey Newton, leader of the Black Panther movement) become popular in the US for a short period. Famous graffiti of the 1970s was the famous "Dick Nixon Before He Dicks You", reflecting the hostility of young people towards the US President.

Graffiti in Moscow

Graffiti today is a type of street art, one of the most relevant forms of artistic expression around the world. There are many different styles and types of graffiti. The works created by graffiti artists are an independent genre of contemporary art, an integral part of culture and urban lifestyle. Many countries and cities have their famous writers creating real masterpieces on the streets of the city.

In most parts of the world, graffiti on someone's property without the permission of the owner of that property is considered vandalism and is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is used to spread political and social messages. For some people, graffiti is real art, worthy of placement in galleries and exhibitions, for others it is vandalism.

Since becoming an integral part of pop culture, graffiti has become associated with hip hop, hardcore, beatdown, and breakdancing music. For many, it is a way of life hidden from the public and incomprehensible to the general public.

Graffiti is also used as a gang signal to mark territory or serve as a designation or "tag" for the gang's activities. The controversy that surrounds this type of art continues to fuel the divisions between law enforcement officers and graffiti artists who seek to put their work on public display. It is a fast-growing art form whose value is vehemently defended by its adherents in verbal skirmishes with government officials, though the same legislation often protects graffiti.

The birth of modern graffiti

The emergence of modern graffiti can be traced back to the early 1920s, when boxcars plying across the United States were marked with drawings and inscriptions. However, the origin of the graffiti movement in its modern sense is associated with the activities of political activists who used graffiti to spread their ideas. Also graffiti was applied by street gangs, such as the Savage Skulls (“Wild Skulls”), La Familia, DTBFBC, the Savage Nomads (“Wild Nomads”), in order to mark “their” territory. By the end of the 1960s, signatures began to appear everywhere, the so-called tags, executed by writers from New York whose names were Lord, Cornbread, Cool Earl, Topcat 126. Cornbread writer is often called one of the founders of modern graffiti.

Spray paint can, the most popular graffiti tool

The period from 1969 to 1974 can be called revolutionary for graffiti. During this time, its popularity grew markedly, many new styles appeared, and the center of the graffiti movement moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to New York City. The writers tried to leave their tags wherever possible, moreover, the maximum number of times. Soon after New York became the new center for graffiti, the media took notice of this new cultural phenomenon. The first writer to whom a newspaper article was devoted was TAKI 183. It was a teenager from the Washington Heights area of ​​Manhattan. His TAKI 183 tag consisted of his name Demetrius (or Demetraki, Taki) and the number of the street where he lived - 183. Taki worked as a courier, so he had to travel by subway frequently. Wherever he went, he left his tags everywhere. In 1971, the New York Times published an article dedicated to him entitled "Taki sparked a wave of followers." Julio 204 is also considered one of the early writers, but at that time he went unnoticed by the media. Other notable graffiti artists were Stay High 149, PHASE 2, Stitch 1, Joe 182 and Cay 161. Barbara 62 and Eva 62 were the first women to become famous for their graffiti.

At the same time, graffiti began to appear more often in the subway than on city streets. Writers began to compete with each other, and the point of their competition was to write their name as many times as possible in all possible places. The attention of graffiti artists gradually shifted to railroad depots, where they were able to complete large, complex jobs with less risk. It was then that the key principles of the modern concept of "bombing" were formed.

Tags in Sao Paulo

Tag example

By 1971, the way tags were played was changing, becoming more sophisticated and complex. This is due to the huge number of graffiti artists, each of whom tried to draw attention to themselves. The rivalry of the writers stimulated the emergence of new styles in graffiti. The artists complicated the drawing itself, trying to make it original, but in addition they began to noticeably increase the size of the letters, the thickness of the lines and use the outline for the letters. This led to the creation in 1972 of large drawings, the so-called "masterpieces" or "pieces". It is believed that the Super Kool 223 writer was the first to perform such "pieces".

A variety of graffiti decoration options came into vogue: polka dots, checkered patterns, hatching, etc. The use of spray paint increased greatly, because the writers increased the size of their works. At that time, “pieces” began to appear that occupied the height of the entire car, they were called “top-to-bottoms”, that is, “from top to bottom”. The development of graffiti as a new artistic phenomenon, its ubiquitous distribution and the growing level of skill of writers could not be ignored. In 1972, Hugo Martinez founded the United Graffiti Artists organization, which included many of the best graffiti artists of the time. The organization sought to present graffiti works to the general public as part of an art gallery. By 1974, writers began to include images of characters and scenes from cartoons in their work. The TF5 team ("The Fabulous Five", "The Incredible Five") became famous for skillfully painting entire cars.

Mid 1970s

Heavily painted subway car. New York, 1973

By the mid-1970s, the basic principles of graffiti art and culture were established. During this time, graffiti was at its peak in popularity and prevalence, in part because financial conditions prevented the New York City government from cracking down on street art through programs to remove graffiti or improve public transport maintenance. In addition, top-to-bottoms graffiti began to occupy entire carriages. The mid-1970s were marked by the huge popularity of "throw-ups" ("throw-up"), that is, graffiti is more difficult to execute than "tags", but less intricate than "pieces". Shortly after the introduction of throw-ups, writers began competing to see who could complete the most throw-ups in the least amount of time.

The graffiti movement took on a competitive nature, and the artists set out to paint the entire city. They wanted their names to appear in every borough of New York. Ultimately, the standards and requirements set in the early 1970s became obsolete, and by the early 1980s, many writers were hungry for change.

Modern graffiti on the wagon

However, at the turn of the 1970s - 1980s, graffiti experienced a wave of new creative ideas. Another key figure in the graffiti movement of these years was Fab 5 Freddy (Fred Brathwaite), who organized a wall-writing group in Brooklyn. He notes that in the late 1970s, the different spray paint techniques and lettering styles that distinguished northern Manhattan graffiti from Brooklyn graffiti began to mix, eventually leading to the wild style. Fab 5 Freddy is credited with promoting graffiti and rap music beyond the Bronx where it originated. With his help, links were established between graffiti and official art, as well as contemporary music. For the first time since Hugo Martinez organized an exhibition of writers in the early 1970s, graffiti has been taken seriously by the fine arts.

The late 1970s was the last burst of widespread bombing before the New York City Transportation Authority set itself the goal of cleaning graffiti from vehicles. Metro authorities have begun strengthening the fences and fences of the depot, as well as the mass destruction of graffiti. The active activity of city organizations often led to the fact that many writers quit doing graffiti, as the constant destruction of their work led them to despair.

The spread of graffiti culture

In 1979, art dealer Claudio Bruni provided graffiti artists Lee Quiñones and Fab 5 Freddy with a gallery in Rome. For many writers working outside of New York, this was their first exposure to traditional art forms. The friendship between Fab 5 Freddy and Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry led to a single called "Rapture" by Blondie in 1981. The video for this song, which also features Jean-Michel Basquiat, known for his SAMO graffiti, shows the audience elements of graffiti and hip-hop culture for the first time. Although more significant in this sense was the release in 1983 of the feature film "Wild Style" by independent director Charlie Ahearn, as well as the documentary "Style Wars" ("Style Wars"), filmed by the Public Broadcasting Service (US National Broadcasting Service) in 1983. The musical hits "The Message" and "Planet Rock" contributed to increasing interest in hip-hop outside of New York. Not only did Style Wars showcase famous writers like Skeme, Dondi, MinOne, and Zephyr, but it also reinforced graffiti's role in New York City's emerging hip-hop culture: in addition to writers, famous breakdancing bands like the Rock Steady Crew appear in the movie, and rap is exclusively used as the soundtrack. To this day, Style Wars is considered to be the most accurate depiction of what was happening in hip-hop culture in the early 1980s. As part of their 1983 New York City Rap Tour Fab, 5 Freddy and Futura 2000 showed hip-hop graffiti to European audiences in Paris and London. Hollywood also turned its attention to hip hop when the 1984 film Beat Street was released around the world, again featuring hip hop culture. During the making of this film, the director consulted with the PHASE 2 writer.

New York, 1985-1989

In the period from 1985 to 1989, the most persistent writers remained in graffiti. The last blow for the graffiti artists was that the subway cars began to be sent for scrap. Due to the tightening of measures taken by the authorities, the art of graffiti stepped back in its development: the former intricate, skillfully executed pieces on the outside of trains were replaced by simplified tags made using ordinary markers.

It can be said that by mid-1986, the New York City and Chicago Metropolitan Transportation Authority were winning the "war on graffiti", and the number of actively working writers was noticeably reduced. Along with this, the level of violence associated with graffiti teams and "bombing" has also fallen. Some writers of the 1980s began to climb onto the roofs of houses and draw there. Famous graffiti artists Cope2, Claw Money, Sane Smith, Zephyr and T Kid were actively painting during this time.

New York train cleanup campaign

This era of graffiti is characterized by the fact that most of the graffiti artists moved their work from subway cars and trains to "street galleries". The New York City Train Cleanup Campaign began in May 1989, when New York authorities simply removed graffiti-laden trains from the city's transit system. Therefore, a huge number of writers had to look for new ways of self-expression. Whether graffiti is an art form has been hotly debated.

Prior to the move to clean up New York traffic, the streets of many cities, not just New York, were untouched by graffiti. But after the authorities began to clean the subways and trains, graffiti poured onto the streets of American cities, where it appeared before an unresponsive public.

Many writers found a way out of this situation by showing their work in galleries or organizing their own studios.

Back in the early 1980s, graffiti artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, who started out with regular tagging (SAMO, his signature, meant Same Old Shit, that is, “good old marijuana”), as well as Keith Haring, who managed to make art within art studios, turned to this.

Sometimes the writers painted such complex and beautiful graffiti on the facades of the stores that the store owners did not dare to paint over them. Often such skillful works were performed in memory of the dead. In fact, immediately after the death of rapper Big Pun, huge wall graffiti dedicated to his life appeared in the Bronx, which made BG183, Bio, Nicer TATS CRU. Writers reacted similarly to the death of The Notorious B.I.G. , Tupac Shakur, Big L and Jam Master Jay.

Commercialization of graffiti and its emergence in pop culture

Stencil on the Berlin Wall

After gaining ubiquitous popularity and relative legality, graffiti moved to a new level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant IBM launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco, which featured people spray-painting the peace symbol, a heart, and a penguin (Penguin is the Linux mascot) on sidewalks. This was how the slogan "Peace, love and Linux" was demonstrated. Despite this, due to the illegality of graffiti, some "street artists" were arrested for vandalism, and IBM had to pay a $120,000 fine.

In 2005, Sony Corporation launched a similar campaign. This time, the new PSP handheld game system was advertised. The TATS CRU writing team has done graffiti for this campaign in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami. Given IBM's bad experience, Sony paid the owners of the buildings in advance for the right to draw on their walls. The graffiti was an image of shocked city children playing with a PSP, as if it were not a game console, but a skateboard or a toy horse.

Graffiti has also become used in video games, usually in a positive way. For example, the Jet Set Radio game series (2000-2003) tells how a group of teenagers fight against the oppression of the totalitarian police, who are trying to limit the freedom of speech of graffiti artists. The plots of some video games reflect the negative attitude of non-commercial artists to the fact that art begins to work for advertising. For example, the Rakugaki Ōkoku (2003-2005) series for the Sony PlayStation 2 tells how a nameless hero and his graffiti come to life fight against an evil king who only allows the existence of art that will benefit him. Another video game, Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (2006), refers to graffiti as a means of political struggle and tells the story of the battle against a corrupt city in which freedom of speech is suppressed.

Another game that featured graffiti was Bomb the World (2004), created by writer Clark Kent. This is an online graffiti simulator where you can virtually paint trains in 20 locations around the world. In the game Super Mario Sunshine (2002), the protagonist, Mario, must clean up the city of graffiti left behind by a villain named Bowser Jr. This story is reminiscent of the success of the anti-graffiti campaigns organized by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and similar programs undertaken by Chicago Mayor Richard Daly.

Graffiti image of the 1978 game Space Invaders

Graffiti image of pop star Michael Jackson

Keith Haring is another famous graffiti artist who brought pop art and graffiti to a commercial level. In the 1980s, Haring opened his first Pop Shop ("Pop Shop"), a store where he exhibited his work, which he had previously painted on the streets of the city. In the Pop Shop, you could also buy ordinary goods - bags or T-shirts. Haring explains it this way: “The pop shop makes my work available to the public. This is participation at a higher level. The point is that we didn't want to do things that would make art cheaper. In other words, art remains art."

Graffiti has become a launching pad for artists and designers in North America and around the world. American graffiti artists Mike Giant, Pursue, Rime, Noah and countless others have made careers in skateboard, apparel and shoe design with famous companies like dc shoes , Adidas, Rebel8 Osiris or Circa . At the same time, many writers, such as DZINE, Daze, Blade, The Mac, have turned into artists working in official galleries, and often using other materials in their work, not only spray paint, their first tool.

But perhaps the most prominent example of how graffiti has infiltrated pop culture is the French team 123Klan. 123Klan was founded in 1989 by Scien and Klor. Gradually they turned to illustration and design while continuing to practice graffiti at the same time. As a result, they began to develop designs, logos, illustrations, shoes and clothing for Nike, Adidas, Lamborghini, Coca Cola, Stussy, Sony, Nasdaq and others.

The development of graffiti in the world

South America

Artfully crafted graffiti in Olinda, Brazil

Brazil “is proud of its unique and graffiti-rich heritage. It has gained an international reputation as a place to go for creative inspiration." Graffiti "literally blossoms in every possible corner of Brazilian cities". A parallel is often drawn "between contemporary São Paulo and New York in the 1970s". "Fast-growing Sao Paulo has become a new Mecca for graffiti artists" ; well-known graffiti artist and stencil maker Tristan Manco says that the main sources that fuel Brazil's "vibrant, vibrant graffiti culture" are "Brazil's chronic poverty and unemployment, constant struggle and the poor living conditions of underprivileged people". Compared to other countries, “Brazil has the most volatile income distribution. Laws and taxes change very often.” All of these factors, Manco adds, cause the economic barriers and social tensions that divide an already unstable society to support and encourage “lower-class folklore vandalism and urban sports,” that is, South American graffiti, to thrive.

Near East

At the turn of the century, graffiti is becoming increasingly popular among young people, access to professional paint, specialized publications and videos is emerging. The first graffiti festivals and actions begin to be held.

Materials and technique for creating graffiti

Today, the graffiti artist uses a whole arsenal of tools to create a successful drawing. Aerosol paint in cans is the most important and necessary tool in graffiti. Using these two materials, the writer can create a huge variety of styles and techniques. Spray paint is sold at graffiti stores, hardware stores, or art supply stores, and paint in almost any shade can be found these days.

Many graffiti artists are also interested in a similar art form - stencil graffiti. In principle, it consists in applying a pattern with spray paint through a stencil. Artist Mathangi Arulpragasam, also known as M.I.A. , who became famous in the early 2000s after organizing an exhibition and publishing some color stencils on the topic of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and urban life in Britain, is also known for her music videos for the singles "Galang" and "Bucky Done Gun", where she treats the theme of political violence in her own way. Stickers with her drawings often appear on poles and road signs in London. M.I.A. herself became a muse for many graffiti artists and artists from many countries.

John Feckner, dubbed "the city's chief writer, opposition publicist" by writer Lucy Lippard, is world famous for his huge letter installations, which he stenciled on buildings throughout New York City. His messages almost always pointed to social and political problems.

Anonymous artists

Graffiti artists are constantly under the threat of punishment for creating their work in public places, so for the sake of safety, many of them prefer to remain anonymous. Banksy is one of the most famous and popular street artists who continues to hide his name and face from the public. He became famous for his political and anti-war stencil graffiti in Bristol, but his work can be seen in places from Los Angeles to the Palestinian territories. In Britain, Banksy has become something of an icon of the new art movement. There are a lot of his drawings on the streets of London and in the suburbs. In 2005, Banksy painted on the walls of the Israeli Separation Barrier, where he satirically depicted life on the other side of the wall. On one side, he painted a hole in the concrete through which a paradise beach is visible, and on the other, a mountain landscape. Since 2000, exhibitions of his works have been held, and some of them have brought the organizers a lot of money. Banksy's art is an excellent example of the classic juxtaposition of vandalism and art. Many art connoisseurs approve and support his work, while city officials consider his work to be acts of vandalism and destruction of private property. Many Bristolians believe that with his graffiti, Banksy reduces the value of buildings and sets a bad example.

Punk graffiti developed in Amsterdam: the whole city was literally covered with the names 'De Zoot', 'WoRmi', 'Vendex' and 'Dr Rat'. To capture these graffiti, a punk magazine called Gallery Anus was founded. So when the hip-hop movement entered Europe in the early 1980s, there was already a vibrant and active graffiti culture flourishing.

The development of graffiti in the context of art galleries, colleges, street and underground art led to the re-emergence of art forms in the 1990s that openly express sharp political and cultural contradictions. This was expressed in anti-advertising, the creation of slogans and images that break the conformist view of the world imposed by the media.

Until now, the art of graffiti is considered illegal, except in cases where the artist does not use permanent paint. Since the 1990s, more and more graffiti artists have turned to non-permanent paints for a number of reasons, but mostly because it would be difficult for the police to charge the artist with such a case. In some communities, such short-lived works last longer than works created with permanent paint, because they often express the thoughts and moods of the entire community. It's like a civil protest of people demonstrating in the street - the same short-lived, but still effective protest.

Sometimes, when many artists in one place decide to work with non-permanent materials, there is something like an unofficial competition between them. That is, the longer the drawing remains intact and does not collapse, the more respect and honor the artist will earn. Immature, poorly thought out works are immediately erased, and the works of the most talented artists can last up to several days.

Non-permanent paints are painted mainly by those for whom it is more important to assert control over property than to create a strong work of art expressing political or other views.

Modern artists use a variety of and often incompatible techniques and means. For example, Alexander Brener used and modified the work of other artists, giving them a political sound. He presented even the court sentences handed down to him as a form of protest.

The means of expression used by artists or their associations vary greatly, change, and the artists themselves do not always approve of each other's work. For example, in 2004, the anti-capitalist group the Space Hijackers created a drawing about how Banksy's controversial use of capitalist elements in his drawings, and how he treats political images.

The highest manifestation of political graffiti is graffiti, through which political groups express their opinions. This method, due to its illegality, has become a favorite among groups excluded from the established political system (for example, the far left or the far right). They justify such activities on the grounds that they do not have the money - or the desire - for official advertising, and that the "establishment" or "ruling establishment" controls the media, preventing alternative or radical views from being expressed. The type of graffiti used by such groups is usually very simple and ordinary. For example, the Nazis casually draw the swastika or other Nazi symbols.

Another innovative form of graffiti was created in the UK in the 1970s by members of the Money Liberation Front. It was a loose association of underground journalists and writers that included poet and playwright Heathcote Williams and publisher and playwright J. Geoff Jones. They began to use paper money as a means of propagating countercultural ideas: they reprinted banknotes, usually featuring John Bull, a caricature of the typical Englishman. Despite its short existence, the Money Liberation Front became a prominent representative of the alternative London literary community, which was located on Ladbroke Grove. This street has always had a lot of humorous graffiti expressing anti-establishment ideas.

Graffiti is used to demarcate the territory, where each group has a certain set of tags and logos. Such graffiti, as it were, show a stranger whose territory it is. Drawings associated with street gangs contain mysterious signs and highly stylized initial letters. With their help, the composition of groups, the names of opponents and allies are announced, but most often these images simply mark the boundaries - both territorial and ideological.

One of the most famous graffiti of the socialist era was the Kiss of Brezhnev and Honecker on the Berlin Wall. Author Dmitry Vrubel.

Graffiti as a means of legal and illegal advertising

Legal graffiti on a grocery store window. Warsaw Poland

Graffiti has been used as a medium for both legal and illegal advertising. The New York-based TATS CRU writing team is famous for doing ad campaigns for corporations such as Cola, McDonalds, Toyota, and MTV. The Boxfresh store in Covent Garden used stenciled graffiti featuring Zapatista's revolutionary posters, hoping that the unusual advertisement would help promote the brand. The alcohol company Smirnoff hired artists to create "reverse graffiti", that is, the artists erased dirt and dust from various surfaces in the city in such a way that the clean spaces made up a pattern or advertising text (reverse graffiti). Shepard Fairey, who came up with Barack Obama's iconic 'HOPE' poster, started out posting campaigns all over America with the phrase "Andre the Giant Has His Own Gang." Fans of the Charlie Keeper book used stencil graffiti of dragons and stylized book titles to draw attention to it.

Many graffiti artists regard legal advertising as nothing more than “paid and legalized graffiti” and oppose official advertising.

Decorative and high art

The exhibition consisted of 22 works by New York graffiti artists, including Crash, Daze and Lady Pink. In an article in Time Out Magazine, exhibition curator Charlotte Kotick expressed her hope that the exhibition will force viewers to reconsider their views on graffiti. Terence Lindall, artist and executive director of the Williamsburg Art and History Center, reacted to this exhibition:

“In my opinion, graffiti is revolutionary. Any revolution can be considered a crime, but oppressed and repressed people want to express themselves, they need an outlet, so they write on the walls - this is natural.

In Australia, art critics have considered some of the local graffiti to be of sufficient artistic value and have defined graffiti as a form of fine art. Australian Painting 1788-2000, published by Oxford University Press, concludes with a lengthy discussion of graffiti's place in contemporary visual culture.

Modern artistic graffiti is the result of a long history of traditional graffiti, which at first were simply scrawled words or phrases, and have now evolved into pictorial expression of thoughts and feelings.

From March to April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris. Thus the French art world adopted a new form of fine art.

Relationship between graffiti and power

North America

Sign of a criminal gang on a road sign. Spokane, Washington

Advocates see graffiti as a way of transforming public space or openly displaying works of art; their opponents consider graffiti an unwanted nuisance or an act of vandalism that requires significant funds to restore damaged property. Graffiti can also be viewed in the context of the standard of living: opponents of graffiti emphasize that where there is graffiti, there is a feeling of poverty, desolation, as well as an increased sense of danger.

Effective January 1, 2006, a law proposed by city council member Peter Vallone prohibited anyone under the age of 21 from owning spray paint or permanent markers. This law caused outrage from the well-known businessman and fashion designer Marc Eco. On behalf of young artists and "legitimate" graffiti artists, he sued Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city councilman Vallone. On May 1, 2006, a hearing was held at which Judge George Daniels granted the plaintiff's claims. As of May 4, 2006, recent anti-graffiti legislation was repealed and the police department was prohibited from increasing restrictions on graffiti. A similar measure was introduced in April 2006 in New Castle County, Delaware, and was formally adopted a month later.

In 1992, Chicago passed a law banning the sale and possession of spray paint, certain types of engraving tools, and markers. The law passed under Chapter 8-4 of the Administrative Code of Public Order and Welfare, Section 100: Vagrancy. A special law (8-4-130) made graffiti a crime and provided for a fine of at least $500, which exceeds the penalties for being in a public place in a state of intoxication, for petty trade and for violating a religious service.

In 2005, the authorities of Pittsburgh created a graffiti database, which recorded different types of graffiti that appeared in the city. With the help of this database, it was possible to find all the graffiti of one writer by the principle of similarity. Thus, the amount of evidence against the suspected artist increased markedly. The first graffiti artist to be credited with creating a huge amount of graffiti throughout the city was Daniel Joseph Montano. He was called the "King of Graffiti" for leaving his tags on over 200 buildings. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison.

Europe

Graffiti eradication units were also set up in Europe, sometimes taking on their duties with unbridled energy. This happened in 1992 in France, when members of a local scout team were so zealous in destroying graffiti that they damaged two prehistoric images of a bison in Mairy Cave, near the French village of Bruniquel. For this, the Scout team was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in Archeology in 1992.

Astronaut. Artist Viktor Ash. Berlin, 2007

19Ž44 logo of Lithuania

In September 2006, the European Parliament raised the need for the European Commission to create new laws relating to the urban environment. The purpose of such laws should be to prevent and limit dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise generated by home and mobile music systems on the streets of European cities.

The Anti-Social Behavior Act 2003 was one of the newest in UK anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, a press release was issued as part of the Keep Britain Clean campaign calling for a tough crackdown on graffiti and supporting the idea of ​​penalizing writers right at the "crime scene", as well as the idea of ​​a ban on the sale of spray paint to persons under 16 years of age. This press release denounces the use of graffiti in advertisements and music videos. According to the authors of the release, the real side of graffiti is very different from its "cool" image.

In support of this campaign, 123 members of the British Parliament (including Prime Minister Tony Blair) signed a charter that read: “Graffiti is not art, graffiti is a crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do everything in my power to rid our community of this problem." Despite this, it was in England that the artist appeared, or, as he calls himself, the art terrorist Banksy, who turned the style of British graffiti upside down (highlighting stencil graffiti - for greater speed) and changed its content. His work is full of satire about the social and political condition of Great Britain. Often he draws monkeys and rats.

British city councils have the power to take action against property owners under the Anti-Social Behavior Act. This usually happens to building owners who do not remove graffiti and other types of pollution from protective shields.

"Approved graffiti" in the city of Stroud. Gloucestershire, England

In July 2008, graffiti artists were convicted for the first time for their involvement in a premeditated crime. For three months, the police monitored nine members of the DMP team. They were charged with intentionally causing property damage, estimated at £1 million. Five team members received prison terms ranging from 18 months to 2 years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the punishment have rekindled public debate about whether graffiti should be considered art or a crime.

Some city councils, such as Gloucestershire's Stroud, have set aside entire areas where graffiti artists are allowed to paint. Such areas include underground tunnels, parking lots, and walls that will, legally or illegally, have graffiti painted on them anyway.

Australia

In an effort to reduce vandalism, many Australian cities have set aside dedicated walls and areas for graffiti artists. One such example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located on the grounds of the University of Sydney. Any university student can draw there, advertise something, put up posters or express themselves in any other way.

Proponents of the idea say it reduces petty vandalism and inspires artists to create real art without fear of being caught vandalizing or vandalizing property. Opponents denounce this approach and argue that the existence of legal graffiti sites does not necessarily reduce the amount of illegal graffiti anywhere. In some regions of Australia, "anti-graffiti teams" are springing up to eliminate graffiti in their area. Graffiti groups like BCW ("Buffers Can't Win" stands for "fools don't win") try to stay one step ahead of such teams.

Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint by anyone under the age of 18. Despite this, several local governments have recognized the cultural value of certain graffiti, among which prominent political graffiti. Australia has strict anti-graffiti laws that carry fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.

New Zealand

In February 2008, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark announced a crackdown on graffiti. She called graffiti a crime involving intrusion and damage to public and private property. Legislation passed a little later contained a ban on the sale of spray paint to persons under 18 years of age, and also increased the fine for graffiti from 200 to 2,000 New Zealand dollars. Instead of a fine, the court may appoint a long period of community service. The issue of tagging has been hotly debated since an incident in January 2008 in Oakland, where an elderly homeowner stabbed one of two teenage writers. The youth died and the man was charged with manslaughter.

Asia

Street art in poetic form. Taiwan

Graffiti as vandalism

see also

Literature

• Fedorova E. V., Latin inscriptions, M., 1976.;
• Stern, E. R. “Graffiti on ancient South Russian vessels” // ZOO, vol. XX, 1897;
• Vysotsky S. Kyiv graffiti XI-XVII centuries. - K., 1985;
• Powers S. The Art of Getting Over. Graffiti at the Millennium. - N. Y., 1999;
• Rappaport A. Graffiti and High Art // State Center for Contemporary Art, 09.11.2008.

Documentary and feature films about graffiti

• 1979 - 80 Blocks from Tiffany's is a documentary about the infamous South Bronx gangs of the 1970s. The Puerto Rican community of the South Bronx, former and current gang members, police and community leaders are presented in an unusual perspective.
• 1980 - Stations of the Elevated - the first documentary about graffiti in the New York subway. Composer - Charles Mingus.
• 1983 - Wild Style - a drama about hip-hop and graffiti culture in New York.
• 1983 - Style Wars ("Style Wars") - one of the earliest documentaries on hip-hop culture. Filmed in New York.
• 2002 - Bomb the System ("Bomb the System") - a drama about a team of graffiti artists working in modern New York.
• 2004 - Quality of Life ("Quality of Life") - drama about graffiti filmed in San Francisco. The main role was played by a former graffiti artist. He also contributed to the script
• 2004 - The Graffiti Artist (Graffiti Artist) - a feature film about the life of a young artist, very lonely. His drawings are all he has in this life.
• 2005 - Piece by Piece ("Piece by Piece") - a feature-length documentary on the history of graffiti in San Francisco from the 1980s to the present day.
• 2005 - Infamy ("Notorious") - a feature-length documentary about graffiti culture, which is presented in the stories of six famous graffiti artists and a graffiti lover. A
• 2005 - NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting ("NEXT: Dictionary of Urban Painting") - a documentary about graffiti culture around the world
• 2005 - RASH ("Flash") - a feature-length documentary about graffiti in Melbourne and street art graffiti artists.
• 2007 - BOMB IT is a documentary about graffiti and street art on five continents.
• 2006 - Wholetrain ("Composition") - an art drama about graffiti, friendship, conflicts, and also highlights the life of the low social strata of Germany.
• 2007 - Jisoe - a film about an Australian writer from Melbourne shows graffiti in poor urban areas.
• 2009 - Roadsworth: Crossing the Line ("Crossing the Line") - Canadian documentary about Peter Gibson, an artist from Montreal, and his controversial stencil work.
• 2010 - Innapau - Russian Steel - Russian film about graffiti culture
• 2010 - Exit Through the Gift Shop

A site started by old-school New York graffiti writers in 1998. It got its name from the most popular meeting place for writers in the 1970-1980s - the intersection of 149th Street and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx (where the second and fifth lines of the New York subway intersect). The site was created to document the history of New York graffiti by collecting profiles of a large number of writers and teams from the first and second waves, and publishing articles written by the writers themselves.

The dawn of graffiti: 1966-1971

Initially, graffiti was used by political activists who wanted to convey their thoughts and slogans to the public, and by street gangs who marked their territory in this way. Although graffiti appeared in Los Angeles in the 1930s, among the “cholos” ( Hispanic Indians or mestizos, mostly of Mexican origin, living in the United States - approx. per.), and graffiti painted on freight trains by vagrants could be seen long before colored drawings on electric trains, graffiti in its modern form originated in the 1960s on the East Coast. It began with train writing in Philadelphia, and Cornbread and Cool Earl are considered the pioneers, who covered the entire city with inscriptions and drawings, attracting the attention of not only local residents, but also the press. It is not clear whether by accident or not, but from Philadelphia graffiti got to New York.

Graffiti (Italian graffiti - "inscriptions") - inscriptions and drawings on the walls of buildings, fences, trains, etc., made by hand with paint or markers. Now it is difficult to give an exact definition of this term, since it is quite multifaceted.

Train-writing, train-bombing - (English train wrtining - "letter on the train", train bombing - "train bombing") - drawing on trains, in which often the very fact of drawing is more important for many writers than the quality of the drawings.

Pioneers: 1971-1974

The history of New York graffiti usually begins with an article published in 1971 in The New York Times: it told about a guy named Dimetrius who lived in Manhattan, on 183rd Street. He worked as a courier and traveled a lot on the subway. Taking the pseudonym Taki 183 (Taki 183), he began to leave his signature in different parts of the city. People became interested in what this inscription means, and the journalists decided to find out. Naturally, Taki 183 was not the first writer or "king", but he was the first to be seen and recognized outside of the emerging subculture. Some of the earliest graffiti pioneers include Julio 204, Frank 207 and Joe 136.

Writer, graffiti-writer - (English writer - "writer") - a person involved in graffiti.

Tag, tag (English tag - "label", "label", "tag") - the signature of the writer (his pseudonym), made in one color with a marker or paint. Verb - tag, tag. Occupation - tagging, tagging. Man - teger, teger.

There was also movement on the streets of Brooklyn. There are many active writers. One of the first famous writers was Friendly Freddie. The subway became a kind of communication system: with its help, writers from the five districts of the city learned about the existence of each other, and at the same time, “competition between districts” was born.

King, king (English king - "king") - a writer who draws more and better than others, a recognized authority among other writers.

Graffiti quickly moved from the streets underground and the pursuit of fame began. At that time, tags were mainly written, and, of course, the main thing was the quantity. Writers rode the subway and tagged in carriages. Very soon they realized that in the depot you can paint a lot more cars, and the chances that you will be caught are less. Thus, a method was born that is still used by all train bombers.

Tag style

After a while, so many people started tagging that it was necessary to come up with a new way to stand out. The first way was to come up with a unique tag - various calligraphic styles began to appear. Writers added strokes, asterisks and other design elements to tags ( many of them are still in use today. ed.). Some badges were just decoration, while some had a meaning. So, for example, crowns were used by writers who considered themselves "kings". Probably the most famous tag in the history of graffiti is Stay High 149: a figurine of a character from the television series The Saint with a joint in place of the letter H.

Tag size

Super Kool 223

Then the changes affected the size of the tags. Writers started making tags bigger. The standard cap was narrow enough that larger tags didn't attract much attention anyway. Writers began making the letters "thicker" and outlining them in a different color, as well as using caps from other spray paints. This is how the "pieces" were born. It is not known who made the piece first, but the Bronx-based Super Kool 223 and Brooklyn-based WAP are most commonly credited. Thick letters gave room for the development of the name. Writers began to decorate letters with circles, strokes, stars and cells. The addition of color and decorative elements was a real breakthrough, however, the pieces continued to strongly resemble the tags from which they originated. Famous writers of that time include: Hondo 1, Japan 1, Moses 147, Snake 131, Lee 163d, Star 3, Phase 2, Pro-Soul, Tracy 168, Lil Hawk, Barbara 62, Eva 62, Cay 161, Junior 161 and Stay High 149.

A piece (English piece - "piece", short for masterpiece - "masterpiece") - a colored drawing made on a wall or on a train, which takes much more time than a flop.

Trow-up, flop - (English to throw-up - "throw", "throw"; to flop - "drop", "flop") - a quickly made drawing, consisting of an outline and a fill of the same color. The letters are usually rounded and the most popular color combination is black and chrome.

Riff 170

Tracy 168

Stay High 149

Style Development

The atmosphere of competition led to the development of modern styles. Topcat 126 is considered the founder of the "Broadway" style ( broadway), which later evolved into huge block fonts and italic fonts. Then Phase 2 came up with rounded letters - "bubbles" ( bubble letters). "Broadway" and "bubbles" were the very first styles in which the pieces were performed, and they became the progenitors of all other styles. Soon, arrows, curls and ligaments begin to be added to the letters. They become more complex and sophisticated and lead to the emergence of a new "mechanical" style ( mechanical style) or, as it is now called, "wild" style ( wild style).

The rivalry between Phase on the one hand and Riff 170 and PEL on the other led to the further development of graffiti. Riff was one of the provocateurs of the "style wars" ( style wars). Flint 707 and Pistol made a huge contribution to the development of three-dimensional fonts and brought depth to the pieces that will be a role model for future generations of writers.

This burst of creativity has not gone unnoticed. Hugo Martinez, who graduated from the sociology department of the New York City College (City College of New York), drew attention to the creative potential of illegal artists of that time. Martinez founded United Graffiti Artists: they chose the best writers who painted on the subway and presented their work in the gallery. It was thanks to UGA that writers were able to get out of the underground. At the Razor Gallery Martinez has exhibited Phase 2, Mico, Coco 144, Pistol, Flint 707, Bama, Snake, Stitch.

In 1973, New York Magazine published an article by Richard Goldstein entitled "The Graffiti Hit Parade", which promoted public recognition of the artistic potential of young talents "coming" from the New York subway. Sometime around 1974, Tracy 168, Cliff 159, and Blade began adding scenery, illustrations, and characters to the typefaces that surrounded the letters. So there were paintings that covered entire wagons ( English whole car - "whole car", "whole car"). The first hole cars were made by AJ 161 and Silver Tips.

Death

Cliff 159

Hondo 1

Heyday: 1975-1977

The main styles were formed sometime after 1974. All standards were spelled out, and the new generation of writers shamelessly used all the achievements of the first wave of writers. The economic crisis hit New York, and no one paid attention to the transport system. This period was the heyday of drawing in the New York subway. At this time, a division began between those who focused on style (style writers), and those for whom the main thing was speed and number of drawings (bombers). Hol-cars could no longer surprise anyone, and the favorite form of self-expression of bombers was throw-ups, they are flops. Throw-ups grew out of “bubble” fonts: these are hastily made pieces that consist of an outline and a sloppy fill. Most of these works consisted of two or three letters.

Writing, style writing (English writing - "the process of writing letters", "letter"; style writing - "stylish writing") - drawing on walls and trains with an emphasis on the style and shape of letters. Later, only painting on walls became more commonly referred to as writing.

Bombing (English bombing - "bombing") - drawing tags, flops, pieces.

Blade

The teams POG, 3yb, BYB TC, TOP, and the flop kings were especially distinguished at that time: Tee, , Dy 167, Pi, In, Le, To, Oi, Fi aka Vinny, Ti 149, Cy, Peo. A real race began: teams and writers competed to see who could make the most throw-ups. The heyday of flops and hole cars came in 1975-1977. During this time, following in the footsteps of graffiti pioneers Tracy and Cliff, writers such as Butch, Case, Kindo, Blade, Comet, Ale 1, Doo2, John 150, Kit 17, Mark 198, Lee, Mono, Slave, Slug, Doc 109 Caine One graced late and suburban trains with stunning Hol Cars.

Details Category: A variety of styles and trends in art and their features Posted on 09.12.2014 18:43 Views: 5054

Today, graffiti is considered a form of street art and one of the most popular forms of artistic expression around the world.

There are different styles and types of graffiti. Graffiti has already established itself as an independent genre of contemporary art and as part of the culture and urban lifestyle. In many countries and cities, writers create real masterpieces on the streets of cities.

Often graffiti is used for political and social messages. However, you should be aware that in most countries of the world, graffiti on someone's property without the permission of the owner of this property is considered vandalism and is punishable by law.
The history of graffiti goes into the deep past. But first things first.

Origin of the term

(from the Italian graffito, plural graffiti) - images, drawings or inscriptions scratched or drawn with paint (ink) on walls and other surfaces. Graffiare (Italian) - "to scratch."
And currently the most popular spray art drawing graffiti with spray paint. In ancient times, graffiti was applied to walls with a sharp object, as well as chalk or coal.

History of graffiti

Everyone knows that wall inscriptions existed in the countries of the Ancient East, in Greece, in Rome.
The earliest graffiti dates back to the 30th millennium BC. These are prehistoric rock paintings and pictographs painted on the walls. The drawings were made in ritual and sacred places inside the caves. Most often they depicted animals or hunting scenes. The Safian language, which existed in the period from the 1st century BC. BC. according to the IV century. n. e., and only survived in the form of graffiti - inscriptions scratched on the rocks in southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia.

Graffiti in ancient Pompeii: a caricature of an official
Ancient graffiti has also been preserved in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (the territory of modern Turkey). Viking graffiti exists.

What did ancient people write about? Approximately about the same things that they write about now: about love, about politics and about other vital things. They wrote the same way: with grammatical and spelling errors. There are inscriptions like "Vasya was here." There is nothing new under the sun!
And how were things with graffiti in Rus'? Wonderful! In Novgorod there are 10 graffiti of the 11th century, and in Kyiv (Ancient Rus') there are about 300 graffiti of the 11th-15th centuries. are located in the Cathedral of St. Sofia. They talk about the political events of that time.
Graffiti appeared in its modern form at the beginning of the 20th century. - in the New York subway, and then on boxcars and in underpasses. Since then, graffiti has become a part of pop culture and has become associated with hip-hop, hardcore, beatdown and breakdance music. For many, graffiti is a way of life, hidden from the public and incomprehensible to others. Political activists used graffiti to spread their ideas.
By the 1970s, graffiti had grown in popularity, and new styles began to emerge. The first writer to come to prominence was TAKI 183, a teenager from the Washington Heights area of ​​Manhattan. His tag TAKI 183 consisted of his name Demetrius (or Demetraki, Taki) and the number of the street where he lived - 183. Taki worked as a courier, and wherever he went on the subway, he left his tags everywhere. He got a lot of followers.
Gradually, the manner of tags became more complicated, new styles of graffiti began to appear, and the movement itself acquired a competitive character.

More complex tag
In this regard, the city authorities began to fight graffiti artists. After all, not all works were skillful enough, and graffiti began to be identified with the clogging of city streets - scribbles on the walls were equated with garbage, landfills and desolation. A lot of money was spent on fighting graffiti. But at the same time, sometimes the writers painted such complex and beautiful graffiti on the facades of the stores that the store owners did not dare to paint over them. In some countries, special places were allocated for writers on the streets, in underground passages, etc., where they could express themselves calmly.

"Legal graffiti" in the city of Stroud (England)
The question of whether graffiti is an art form began to be seriously discussed. Meanwhile, graffiti began to gain more and more space: it began to be used in computer advertising, in video games, in the design of skateboards, clothes and shoes.
Graffiti has spread all over the world. Today Sao Paulo (Brazil) is considered the capital of graffiti and a place of inspiration for writers from all over the world.

Graffiti in the city of Olinda (Brazil)

How about in Russia?

The mass movement of modern graffiti in Russia dates back to the 1980s. In 2006, an international graffiti festival was held in St. Petersburg. And in large cities of Russia, annual graffiti festivals are held. Let's talk about one of them.

Snickers Urbania (SNICKERS URBANiYa) is an annual youth festival of street culture. The festival was first held in 2001, it includes the main areas of street culture: extreme sports, graffiti, breakdance, beatbox, freestyle. Its goal is to give today's youth a chance to express themselves and their talent, as well as to provide an opportunity to try their hand at professional equipment for extreme sports. The festival was held in the largest cities of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Samara, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, as well as in Kazakhstan - in Almaty.

BombART platform
In the early 1980s stencil graffiti was also born. It is created by cutting out shapes from a hard, dense material. The finished stencil is applied to the canvas and spray paint is sprayed over it with quick, light and precise movements. This technique has become popular due to its fast execution.
The most important tool in graffiti is spray paint in cans. Use rollers for paint and stencils, brushes, markers, wax rods, crayons, etc.

Graffiti in the modern world

Basically, graffiti is done on the streets (walls of buildings, underground passages, garages, payphone booths, parked cars, asphalt pavement in yards, etc.); in transport; in entrances and on stairs (including apartment doors, mailboxes, etc.); in the interiors of institutions.
Very slowly, but graffiti begins to acquire the status of a socially neutral phenomenon and is perceived as an integral element of the modern metropolis, a mass cultural phenomenon. It loses the meaning of protest. The language of graffiti is becoming a universal code of urban communication.

Types and styles of graffiti

Tagging is a quick application of the author's signature on the surface. A separate signature is called a "tag" (from the English tag - label). Taggers are not very interested in the meaning and aesthetics of their creations, the main thing is to leave as many "autographs" as possible. Often tags are incomprehensible to people who are not privy to the details.
Among writers, tags placed in hard-to-reach, but prominent places are valued. The team tag is called "single".
The inscriptions are usually applied using paint cans or thick markers. Experienced writers can write a tag in 2-3 seconds.

wilde(English Wildstyle - wild style). The main feature of this style is the intricate plexus of letters, sharp corners, fragments and arrows. The name of the style was given by the nature of the drawing: wild, incomprehensible, since often the letters are so intertwined and many extraneous elements are introduced that readability becomes zero. 3D Wildstyle is distinguished from the wild (volume is added to the regular wild).

Style Wilde
blockbuster(Eng. Blockbuster). Just large letters without weaves and graphic frills. Usually mono- or two-color. Often, rollers are used to draw them, since very large surfaces need to be covered in a short time.

blockbuster
bubble(English bubble letters - inflated letters). All letters are rounded, become similar to each other and turn out to be puffy, like bubbles.

Graffiti is now universally recognized as part of youth culture, but in the 70s, when the New York experiments were just beginning, everyone watched the daily tattooing of the city and could not imagine what it could lead to. Someone saw in it only vandalism and degradation of the city. But for the writers who risked their lives, and the youths, filmmakers, and ultimately the curators who admired him, graffiti was an art form. Galleries and museums only caught up with this view in the early 80s, when graffiti became part of the art boom era.

By the mid-1970s, many subway cars were covered with top-to-bottom designs (from top to bottom, also called “masterpieces”), due to which it was impossible to see what was happening outside from the subway car. For writers, this was a golden time, it was then that the most nimble and prolific could become “kings” by going through “all-city” (the whole city - author's note.), Writing their name on all five districts of New York. Mayor Lindsay declared the first war on graffiti in 1972, a protracted start, slowly culminating in May 1989 when the last graffitied train was finally taken out of service.

Today, the graffiti is being solvent-erased from the windows of subway cars, and yet it is still alive and well on the outskirts of the city. And largely thanks to the Internet, which is teeming with graffiti sites, it has become a worldwide phenomenon.

Beginning (1969)

Ivor L. Miller, author of Aerosol Kingdom: Subway Painters of New York City: People have been writing symbols on walls since time immemorial. But it's safest to place the origins in New York in the late '60s, when the younger generation provided an artistic response in the public Black Power protests and civil rights movements. Undoubtedly, something new appeared with the introduction of paint cans, under the influence of psychedelic posters and with the advent of color television. The Manhattanville Projects, which was north of 125th Street in West Harlem, was where a very important writer named TOPCAT 126 lived.

Sharp: TOPCAT 126 came from Philadelphia in the late 60s, possibly 1968. He started tagging in the streets, then joined up with Julio 204 and TAKI 183 and together they started a fire

.C.A.T. 87: In the late 60s, I saw small letters with the name TAKI 183 all over the place, JOE 182 and Julio 204. One day I was playing on 182nd street and JOE 182 came out. He was one of the hottest writers back then. He said, "Look what's in the papers!" There was a cartoon drawing of a guy catching a drawing on the wall and saying, "Are you JOE 182?" And the writer answered him "No, I'm his ghost." Because no one could catch him. He was a very mysterious person.

MICO: We started in different areas, but we all had one thing in common: we all wanted to be famous. I started painting at East Flatbush in 1970. Then I slowly got to know people from all four districts. Everyone went to the writers' bench on 149th Street and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. And there was another bench for the Brooklyn writers on Atlantic Avenue. In Washington Heights, it was the benches at 188th Street and Audubon Avenue. We just went out for a walk, looked at our work, and anyone could come up and get our autograph. C.A.T. 87 was from Washington Heights. TRACY 168 was from the first generation. COCO 144 usually resided at 144th Street and Broadway, hence the number 144.

LEE: I met a lot of people sitting on a bench on 149th Street. At that time it was very easy, everyone came and poisoned stories.

I grew up in the Bronx. My friend FJC4 and I were delivering legal documents around Queens - his father was a lawyer and during these walks we took out markers. We never thought that we would see our tag again, but on the way back we came across the same train and someone was already putting a new signature next to our tag. It was like communication. At that time, New York was plunged into darkness. We had beefy veterans returning from Vietnam, we had military protests and we had street gangs.

C.A.T. 87: I was in the Savage Nomads gang. We had the Saints at 137th Street and Broadway, and the Young Galaxies were based at 170th. But I was C.A.T. 87 and guys from other areas saw my name and instead of trying to beat me they asked for autographs.

Jeff Chang, author of Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation: Many gangs had graffiti writers, especially the biggest gangs like Black Spades, Savage Skulls and Ghetto Brothers. They marked the territory and painted the vests of the participants. At the same time, there were graffiti teams that moved separately from the gangs and could cross their territorial boundaries. After all, the gangs have outlived their usefulness and graffiti writers can be considered the harbingers of a new era.

MICO: We didn't call it graffiti in the early seventies. We just said, "Let's go paint tonight." Graffiti is a term coined by the New York Times and it denigrates the art because it was the colors invented by the youth. If it was invented by the children of rich and powerful parents, they would brand it as avant-garde Pop Art.

Hugo Martinez, founder of United Graffiti Artists: In 1971, when CAY 161 and JUNIOR 161 painted the wall from top to bottom at the 116th street station. This moment is significant. And Norman Mailer wrote about it in The Faith of Graffiti, which was the first book that was dedicated to graffiti. Around 1971, CAY 161 also painted the angel wing on the Bethesda Fountain, in Central Park. Everyone was talking about it. It was at that moment that the Puerto Ricans took over the Bethesda Fountain.

You need the largest and most dangerous place for your drawing to be recognized as the most. I wrote my name in white paint on the angel wing at the Bethesda fountain and a lot of people said, "Wow, how did he get in there and do that?" I pulled myself up on one wing and climbed in.

Richard Goldstein, author of "The Graffiti 'Hit' Parade": I liked the idea that graffiti is defacing surfaces and recreated it in a different way. It was a very creative approach, about how it brings a new look to old spaces, abandoned buildings, dilapidated underground passages and turns them into real centers of energy. I found Hugo Martinez who was a student at the time and he introduced me to a couple of the kids in the thread. They were all from Washington Heights. And I started to look at the social component of it all. This allowed people to unite, create teams. And all this had its own jargon, there was a competitive spirit between the districts.

Style War (1971)

Jeff Chang: Your name is your brand and writing your name is like printing money. Quality (aesthetic style) and quantity (number of trains and walls you've made) are the primary ways a brand can grow in market share. If you are the biggest name in a lane or district, then you are king. After the New York Times printed the Taki 183, there was more competition, which contributed to a more rapid change in style.

LEE: It was a reflection of the great side of capitalism, where everyone wanted to have the largest portfolio of stocks or bonds, or the fastest or the most expensive car.

MICO: In 1971, I was one night at the Sheepshead Bay septic tank, which is the tunnel where trains stop for rush hour. And we found the names PAN 144, COCO 144, and ACE 137 on some trains. The paint was still fresh. It opened our eyes to how the whole city could be made.

: I lived near the IRT, and there was a sump between 137th and 145th street, between stops. We made our way there every Saturday and Sunday morning and destroyed the trains inside and out. We then called my style a hit (from the English - hit): just a signature in one line.

MICO: "Hitting" (from English - hitting) was just a way to get up, light up around. The more hits you did, the more famous you became. "Murder" (from English - killing) or "bombing" (from English - bombing) were a little more diverse. It meant painting the neighborhood walls with hundreds of hits from MICO, MICO, MICO and killing a subway car. Or you could make a full-fledged piece (from the English - masterpiece), a really big piece that you planned from the sketch.

I was the first to start using a stencil. It was a COCO 144 stencil with a crown on top. I was trying to build up speed and I was drawing my name around that way a lot faster.

MICO: The letters became more elaborate, larger and longer. Each tried to outdo the other. I was engaged in social and political work and unfortunately I had no competition in this area. One of the most important moments in my career, I consider the formation of United Graffiti Artists.

Hugo Martinez: I conceived United Graffiti Artists in 1972 as a collective that could provide an alternative to the art world. I saw this as the beginning of American painting, among other things, long before it all appeared in Europe. These children were full of hippie ideas about love, peace, freedom and the democratization of culture, the revision of the goals of art. They represented the triumph of the salt of the earth over private property.

MICO: It was an association of the best writers from different areas. You could become a member if you were good enough, then you were invited for an interview. I had my first exhibition in Soho, at the Razor Gallery. The first canvas I sold to a collector for 400 BAK was a canvas with the Puerto Rican flag. It was an attempt to bring the subway art form to the galleries.

LEE: Most of the writers were more concerned with the development of the elements, they didn't think about coming together on the gallery walls. Young people were interested in creating a brand, literally, on their territory. Such a position looked heroic.

That's all for today
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You can get acquainted with this type of modern visual art in almost any city. The painted walls of houses, fences, sheds will help you with this. And if you do not immediately categorically reject this way of self-expression of young people, but take a closer look at the drawings, you can be sure that everything looks very beautiful.

From antiquity to modernity

The history of graffiti begins in the distant past. After all, our ancestors also made drawings and inscriptions, only mostly on the rocks. And the word "graffiti" in Italian means "scribble".

Modern graffiti originated in the 70s of the 20th century among teenagers and was considered street art. The first graffiti drawings were made in the New York subway. The first writer appeared there, who put his signature under them and the number of the quarter in which he lived: “Taki 183”. By the way, writers are artists who draw in After Taki 183, teenagers appeared in the poor neighborhoods of New York who began to draw on city walls, in porches, and garbage cans. They came up with nicknames for themselves and wrote them in an incomprehensible font.

Graffiti appeared in Russia in the 90s. By the way, along with breakdance. It's all part of hip-hop. The writers did not just draw on walls and fences, they held hip-hop festivals, where they showed their art.

What is graffiti?

This is one of the directions. The latter, by the way, is called street art and has a long list of different types.

In different countries of the world, street art is treated differently. In France, for example, this kind of art is legalized. Right from the train cars, you can see a lot of drawings made in various styles of street art. In Russia, drawing graffiti in public places is a criminal offense, for which a fine or even imprisonment is provided.

But this is in public places, but there are wastelands, abandoned construction sites, dead-end back streets. In addition, sometimes construction companies themselves invite to paint fences around construction sites, and residents of high-rise buildings give graffiti artists freedom of action in courtyards and porches. And then there are the days of graffiti fests and other festivals, various exhibitions of writers, which provide an opportunity to show the art of graffiti in all its glory in public places.

So what is graffiti? To be precise, these are just inscriptions on the walls using a three-dimensional image of the letters of the alphabet. But graffiti is constantly evolving. Old ones are being improved and new original styles of letters are being invented, spray cans are being modernized. Full-fledged drawings have been added to the inscriptions. Now some artists use spray paint to create real works of art.

Graffiti: how to learn to draw

Experienced artists are advised to start by writing their nickname, then it is worth experimenting with the “third” dimension, making the signature voluminous. You can safely add arrows, bubbles, mix paints from different cans. The incomprehensibility and confusion of the drawing will draw more attention to it, and it will help you to feel what graffiti is.

Still, the best advice for those who are starting to graffiti is to first use not a spray can, but a pencil. Draw houses on sheets of paper, sketching some drawings or inventing your own characters.

When you are satisfied with the result of drawing on paper, consider creating a sketch of the drawing, which you will then transfer to the wall.

Over time, you will learn how to make graffiti stencils, accurately use the technique of shadow and bright colors, learn what markers, airbrushes and caps are for, what paint is better to buy and why you should not paint in windy weather. Only knowing all these subtleties, one can clearly understand what graffiti is.

graffiti culture

It turns out that there is such a thing. It includes two main rules. First, a writer never ruins really good buildings. He can create only where it is really required to revive the gloomy and insipid landscape of an industrial zone or abandoned wastelands, backyards.

Secondly, the writer never paints over the drawings of other writers, otherwise this will bring disgrace and hostility to his colleagues.