Graffiti News & Blog

Dunkin’ Donuts Graffiti? Times Square – Good or Bad?

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:43:35 +0000

I was recently notified of a graffiti art project in Times Square featuring a mural made by artists sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. The mural is a picture of the NYC skyline with a large Dunkin Donuts coffee cup in the center.

I’ll be honest, my first impression was that the work was blatant advertising without much g-art value. Particularly if you grab some serious artists, I wanna see them and their creativity set free. Secondly, this piece doesn’t look like graffiti art when you would see it in Times Square (particularly when you could see the real deal in the same neighborhood). So, my initial reaction was not very excited.

However, my second thought was … something along the lines of … Hell Yeah and Thank you D-Donuts!!! Here’s why.

1. D-Donuts would put up an advertisement in Times Square whether it was this piece or not. This time, they let real g-artists work on their ad. Period. They could go to any of the thousands of design studios in the city instead of street artists. But they didn’t. I have to believe the corporate money is flowing to g-artists this time. Anytime corporations recognize the art that is a critical to the culture of the city (NYC), and want to support it financially, I am a fan. A Big fan.

2. D-Donuts is NOT trying to play up some sort of “street cred” they get by using graff artists … as far as I can tell. It’s coffee … in a painting made by some serious artists. Nothing more.

3. Most importantly … see number 1.

Graffiti artists are true artists that convey true complexity, depth, and unique character that is comparable to many artists that are in museums today. I love to see corporations recognize this truth and support those artists.

Peace.

If You’re Near Chicago – Check it this G-Art Show

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:22:41 +0000

I got a heads up from Flash of the ABC Crew out of Chicago about a show on April 16th. Short lead time, but if you’re anywhere near Chicago, this would be a great Graffiti Art show to check out and purchase some of their works!!!

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Even Odds is a collaboration show of Graffiti artists in the Chi-Town area who are still involved in the community they love. These artists have been involved in bringing their unique form of art to the masses. They’ll be showcasing affordable pieces by each artist. Each artist will have on display pieces of their artwork showing the traditional methods that they used in the streets.

Chumbly: A southside artist who loves to collaborate with youths. Runs walls on 25 and St Louis and 23 and Avers were artist come to test theirs skills on metal fences.

Flash: Raised in Logan Square. Has displayed work in LA and Chicago. Involved in Cooperative Image Group. Massive photography collection on Chicago graffiti.

KLTA: One of the first artist to go all city with his unique swirls and dashes.

Loveone: An uptown artist who has completed a mural along the redline with kids and his wife Lea.
Rome: Has displayed work in L.A. and New York. Has also been a judge for the Estria graffiti battles,

Statik: One of the most complete artist to bring what he paints on the wall to canvass.

Teel: Done shows In New York, Florida, Paris and France. Is considered also one of the bigest influence on graff as we know it today cause of the things he has taught his crew and the things they done with the knowledge he has given them

Uneek: UneeK DesigN is the culmination of a Writer serving life as a Carpenter, blending art with woodworking to create furniture, home accents and various works of art. Uneek works closely with local artists on design and fabrication of custom frames with each artists individuality in mind

Step 1: An original Chicago artist who started doing graffiti in 1992. His versatile work is wrapped around human rights and social justice issues.

http://www.artisticbombingcrew.com/
http://www.chicagograffiti.com/forums/
http://theblog.momentumarttech.com/
http://www.romewon.com/
http://www.statikone.net/
http://hugostyle.com/

Video Interview with Kaws

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:26:09 +0000

Nice interview with Kaws.

Big Props To Montana Colors

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:55:40 +0000

From our friends at Streetfiles.org who just signed with Montana Colors. Congrats and great work!

Bold Solution To S.F. Graffiti Problem (?)

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:46:52 +0000

From the San Fran Chronicle, comes the latest I’ve-Got-A-Great-Idea-To-Stop-Graffiti.

The OBVIOUS gap in their plan is as follows:

Get REAL Graffiti Artists with StreetCred to do real pieces so that taggers won’t tag that wall
Don’t use REAL Graffiti Artists if they have “been damaging property” … ex. if they have a criminal record.
Guess what sucka? Lots of artists with real street cred have been snagged by the cops in the past and will have a record. So, get over it. Or just hire the artists who work in studios and galleries and hope for the best.

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San Francisco has its graffiti abatement program down cold. It doesn’t work, of course, but everyone knows the drill.

It goes like this: A tagger spray-paints his name on a wall. Then a property owner, facing a possible fine from the city, paints over the tag. The tagger returns and paints his name back on the wall. And so it goes – over and over.

Clearly, something needs to change.

“The city has a $22 million graffiti problem (that’s what annual cleanup costs are, according to the Department of Public Works) and nobody has done anything constructive,” said Jill Monton, director of programs for the city Arts Commission.

In response, Monton and Ed Reiskin, director of DPW, launched StreetSmARTS, an outside-the-box idea to attack the problem. It is innovative, bold and hip.

Frankly, I’m just not sure it will work, but it is certainly worth a try.

The idea is to pay urban artists to create large-scale, full-wall murals. Property owners and potential artists met this week and Monton says DPW has contributed $50,000 to fund the program.

The hope is that once the wall is painted – with cutting-edge urban designs that graffiti artists respect – taggers will leave it alone.

“It seems there is a kind of understanding that the taggers don’t tag murals,” said Reiskin. “Once the art goes up, the tagging stops.”

Tenderloin merchants have been doing this for the last few years. They contact some of the established artists and pay them to cover a wall on their store. If you pick the right guy, and if the mural measures up, it is considered bad form to tag it.

At least that’s the theory. Gia Grant, executive director of San Francisco Clean City, has been struggling with a mural in the Excelsior district for two months. The mural is a product of cooperation among community groups and young, local artists, yet it’s been hit five or six times by Grant’s count.

“In the past it seems murals were considered sacred,” Grant said.

No one follows the local wall art scene more closely than police Officer Christopher Putz, a graffiti abatement officer. Putz can identify artists from their style, knows all the players, and is respected in the graffiti community.

“We’ve had stuff I thought would never be tagged and it was. I just hope we are not left with any more damaged murals. I am sick of looking at them,” he said.There’s also the sticky question of who is being hired to do murals – at a fee of up to $1,000. Isn’t it possible that some of the people painting murals were running from the police previously?

“I told (StreetSmARTS organizers) before … that these artists should include a criminal background check when they apply,” said Putz. “It would be embarrassing if we were hiring someone who has been damaging property.”

Grant, a realist, says that’s possible.

“If that is the case, I would like to think that we are redirecting artistic energy in a positive direction,” she said.

StreetSmARTS is an ambitious program. Besides hiring artists to create murals there is a program in the public schools, targeting teens to stress what is appropriate public art. Monton says there will also be a “free wall,” which will be turned over to urban artists without restriction.

“If they don’t have to hide,” Monton said, “maybe it will discourage them from climbing up on a freeway overpass.”

Maybe. And maybe the new murals will be respected and left alone.

But, if you ask Putz what keeps taggers from defacing wall murals, he has a short answer.

“There are murals that are up, by well-respected crew, that aren’t touched,” Putz said. “Because if you did, they’d kick your ass.”

Labrona – Canadian Graff Artist Highlight

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:11:49 +0000

I wanted to highlight an artist out of Canada that paints trains and walls but also puts it down on canvas. His paintings tend towards exaggerated portraitures and his style is quite distinct. This guy is prolific and deserves big props.

Young taggers could learn something from him … specifically, if you wanna be known, you can do something other than simple “name writing”. Everyone knows when Labrona put out new paintings without writing his name.

Sample of his work on walls, trains, and canvas below.

Graffiti Artist Arrested At His Own Art Exhibit

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:53:52 +0000

From LAWeekly

C’mon … Montana Paints paid him $1k to be there. My guess is that Montana Paints really paid $1k against his bail. Check out his work below:

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Graffiti artist Jason Williams, also known as Revok, was arrested at an exhibition of his work at a Mid-City gallery and graffiti-art store Sunday, authorities announced.

The 32-year-old, described as a prolific tagger whose moniker has been spotted throughout the region, was nabbed at the 33third shop at 5111 West Pico Blvd. by the Special Problems Team the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department’s graffiti team.

“A probation search of his residence was conducted and several hundred paint cans, spray tips, a fire extinguisher and other implements were found,” states a sheriff’s department release. “In addition to the above, he had a replica LAPD badge, a stolen ‘detour’ sign and digital photos of his graffiti work on his phone.”

Williams was arrested on suspicion of possessing vandalism tools, possessing a counterfeit badge and receiving stolen property. Authorities say he was on probation at the time of the arrest.

Deputies stated that Williams was the star of the Montana Paints-sponsored art show (a flier for the event actually shows Revok as one of many artists) and that he was paid $1,000 to attend. They say he makes money from t-shirt sales and prints and that he was featured in a segment on KABC7 news in recent months.

Audi Uses Graffiti Art In Ad Campaign For New Car

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:39:45 +0000

Audi hired a graffiti artist for an ad campaign for a new Audi A1 Hatchback.

This is the way to get some attention online and offline. If your company is interested in following the lead being set by Audi, feel free to get in touch with me. I work with some artists to address the corporate market. Graffiti art is a highly effective way to target specific demographics. Dig the ad below.

Video of Graff / Tattoo artist Norm

admin — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:16:46 +0000

Nice video / interview with Graffiti Artist and now tattoo artist Norm.

Norm MSK-AWR

See D*Face work in NYC

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:19:04 +0000

No Longer Empty (NLE) is a comprised of arts advocates, curators and artists who orchestrate public art exhibitions in vacated storefronts and properties in New York City. The non-profit organization was conceived as an artistic response to our present economic condition and to revitalize empty spaces and areas around the venues by bringing thoughtful, high-caliber art installations with accompanying programs to the public