Spray Tagging Graffiti Gallery

Graffiti - Spray Tagging Graffiti Gallery

It doesn't matter where you live in the world, chances are you've seen graffiti somewhere around your local community. It seems to spring up in every culture, although it tends to be more prevalent in big cities.

But is it vandalism? Or is it art? That's a difficult question to answer, mainly because there are so many different types and styles of graffiti. The most basic form of graffiti is "tagging" - which is usually a simple graphic, usually letters, perhaps a play on the creator's initials or nicknames. Often small and monochrome, it's probably one of the most annoying and frustrating types of graffiti, because it is small enough to deface almost any surface, and is almost universally condemned as having no artistic merit.

Graffiti, however, isn't restricted to tagging. On larger surfaces, many graffiti artists employ multiple colors and intricate designs to create their pictures. This is the type of graffiti that starts to cross the line into being artistic. It's this type of graffiti art that is now being showcased in a number of art galleries, both in the USA and around the world.

The other problem with graffiti as art is that the issue is clouded by the location of the art. If some of these stunning designs were created on a canvas, or a wall specially set aside for the purpose, then it would be easier to recognize them as art. Unfortunately most graffiti is placed on private property, without the owner's consent, and so is less likely to be viewed as a welcome addition.

Around the world, communities and governments have become more vigilant in their attempts to reduce the amount of graffiti. In many places there are community groups or government funded teams who guarantee to clean up graffiti in 24 hours after it's reported. Trains in New York were given new coatings that allowed paint to just be "dissolved" off their surfaces.

In my own local area, the sale of spray paint to persons under 18 is illegal, and all spray paints are kept in locked display cupboards. Another area has a team of painters who regularly go around and repaint any fences that have been covered in graffiti. One homeowner I know has had his fence repainted 7 times so far! Over time, however, the amount of graffiti reappearing is reducing, which is a victory for the opponents of graffiti.

Still, simply removing the problem may in fact be a loss to the artistic community in general. If graffiti is considered in its most highly refined form, then are we in fact stopping artistic development in its tracks by making it impossible for budding graffiti artists to practice their craft?

When you illegally deface someone else's property, no matter how beautiful the art you create, you have still committed a crime. Maybe what we need to do is find ways that graffiti artists can learn and practice their craft, without needing to deface hundreds of properties in the process. Some communities now provide blank spaces and invite local graffiti artists to paint them. Others have graffiti walls, where anyone can paint whatever they want.

Maybe there needs to be a shift in the thinking of graffiti artists, so they can discover the value of painting on paper, rather than walls. Would the great painters of the past still be as famous today if they had painted on walls, rather than on canvas? The problem is complex, so finding a solution that makes everyone happy is unlikely to be simple.

1. Gangs claim their turf in Iraq
... served as canvasses for their spray-painted gang art. At Camp ... who photographed it said. The graffiti, captured on film by an Army ... some experts say. PHOTO GALLERY Jeffrey Stoleson, an Army ...
http://www.suntimes.com/o .../cst-nws-gangs01.html

2. CANADA'S ECONOMICS & SOCIETY. Research Papers, Essays, and Term Papers
... is the purpose of this paper which gang members spray-painted their tags work of Lady Pink a year old ... ... and from the and displeased about graffiti in his p Are tagging and graffiti art It challenges ...
http://www.research-assis ...onomics__society.html

3. Marks of Distinction :: Honolulu Weekly
... t paying attention before. Spray cans, US Postal stickers ... their gallery walls. Many seem to disagree that graffiti is a ... that he originally started tagging the name as a joke. That was ...
http://www.honoluluweekly ...marks-of-distinction/

4. Rescue Journal - Oregon Humane Society
... with our burgling, we moved on to tagging .we left our spray-painted messages that told other ... ... Our day of door jimmying, window crawling, and graffiti artistry for the animals ended at about 7:15 ...
http://www.oregonhumane.org/diary/index.htm

5. stavanger graffiti
... year the amount of tagging vandalism has ... asking when the new gallery update was coming ... a church allow a graffiti seminar? In response ... and colorful. Äì Spray paint is not illegal ...
http://www.stavangergraffiti.com/

6. UGO.com Games - Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure preview
... Pressure View the Gallery Send This Page To A ... expanded beyond simple spray paints - a switchover ... to other forms of tagging up subways including ... subways. Purists of graffiti art saw these new ...
http://www.ugo.com/channe ...s/features/gettingup/

7. coolstop > site reviews
... 5/28/05 Description: gallery of "good graffiti ... Ellen Harvey, it's tagging with a twist. Her ... collection of stencil graffiti images" and I don't ... of several years of spray activism by a small ...
http://www.coolstop.com/2 ...s/seek/?seek=graffiti

8. 'Oricl' not ready to let go of graffiti culture - baltimoresun.com
... hide a couple cans of spray paint in her purse ... is perhaps proudest of tagging every steel panel of ... Fox) Jun 20, 2006 Graffiti tags of Kenneth ... Jun 20, 2006 Photo Gallery The Day in Pictures ...
http://www.baltimoresun.c ...l=bal-local-headlines

9. Hexapedia - Graffiti
... be less than with spray paint. Those who use ... pioneer of Spanish tagging Neur Seen TAKI 183 ... ISBN 2-9520-0608-6 Le graffiti dans tous ses Ètats ... Taxie Gallery (France) AT Down ...
http://www.hexafind.com/encyclopedia/graffiti

10. Sir Delux - bio
... comepletely puts most gallery art to shame. It also ... quality consultant that spray painting in poorly ... competitors. As graffiti has grown, the ... the recklessness of tagging which I don't find ...
http://www.sirdelux.com/content/bio.htm

11. new eyes's February 2006 Archives
... Barn art. Trinity Gallery though had a kick ... He's an old school graffiti artist in the line ... written with marker, spray paint, and the end of ... four people I'm tagging kate M jennie W cat ...
http://neweyes.atlblogs.com/archives/2006_02.html

12. PIXELTON Photography Gallery: Grafitti & Tagging Collection
ELTON HARDING'S GALLERY HOME | PHOTO'S | DIGITAL ... Graffiti& Tagging: Tagging: With the intention ... or simply themselves. Graffiti Art on the other ... by one or more talented spray can artists. Where ...
http://www.pixelton.com/photography/cat0041.asp

13. Official Game Review - Tony Hawk's Underground 2
... Author Forums TV and Film Games FunZone Art Gallery Newsletters Official sffworld Game Review Tony ... ... be picked up and thrown. Tagging is similar to graffiti where you can spray a tag onto any flat ...
http://www.sffworld.com/grevoff/29.html

14. Elms Lesters Painting Gallery - Exhibitions
... roots as a graffiti artist, tagging trains in New York. Stash ... group show in 1983 at the Fun Gallery, followed by his first piece ... in the renowned graffiti book 'Spray Can Art' in 1985. He ...
http://www.elmslesters.co ...hibitions/exhs03.html