Tuesday, October 4, 2011

An Exploration Into New York Style Graffiti


Societies tempestuous history with modern graffiti can be traced along the LIRR tracks into the city. This unsolicited artistic expression surfaced in New York City in the late 1960s. Tags appeared in subway cars asserted by teens with permanent markers, to broadcast their name and street number. Eventually spray paint broadened the colors and scale of New York Style graffiti, earning it the name spray can art.

Subway art emerges from graffiti tags
Taggers were then overshadowed by artists exploring nonconventional canvas’ for their multicolored spray can productions. They quickly realized that the New York City transit system presented the optimal opportunity to broadcast their names on these traveling billboards called subway cars.

In the 1970s, the subway car exterior became the ideal vehicle to promote this growing phenomenon.Subway art emerged and suddenly these pieces were mobile, gaining momentous exposure with every stop. The days of spontaneous wall scribbling had progressed into sketched out compositions of line, form and style requiring technique and skill to execute.

Graffiti as a cultural icon
Although its reckless placement infringed on and damaged others personal property, graffiti had earned its status as a cultural icon. In fact, an impressive collaboration of notorious graffiti artists from Brazil, Canada, Japan and all over the United States have been immortalized and honored 5 Pointz in Long Island City. It is a living collage of graffiti art covering the entire 200,000 square foot exterior. A 5 story, block long complex of a converted warehouse that propels the art of graffiti into monumental proportions.