Up the wall: "Bay Area Graffiti" transcends urban scrawlBy Juliette Tang
There is some seriously beautiful graffiti in the Bay Area, along with some unbelievably atrocious scribbling as well.
Photographers Steve Rotman and Chris Brennan want you to focus on the beautiful. Their photo book of local street art, Bay Area Graffiti, drops this Friday with a launch party at 111 Minna. The bomb tome offers 208 pages of stunning landscape photos, as well as in-depth artist interviews with major players like JENKS, ABNO, CHUBS, HARSH, NESTA, REYES, CYMES, APEX and more – which "reveal personal stories, insights into inspiration, and harrowing tales of agility, all in the name of getting up."
From Bay Area Graffiti
(The Online Graffiti Glossary, explains "getting up": "Originally, "getting up" meant to sucessfully hit a train. Now it means to hit up anything, anywhere, with any form of graffiti, from a tag all the way up to a wildstyle burner -- although the term implies the process of tagging repeatedly to spread your name. Tagging something once would be getting up, but would not make you an 'up' writer." Etymology!)
Many of the up graffiti writers featured in the book will be making appearances at the launch bash.
Graffiti poses an interesting question about the politics of property and the art of vandalism. The debate on whether graffiti can be defined as "art" is one that has been hashed and rehashed since the time of the ancient civilizations. Seriously. Though the argument hasn't been resolved, it's became an inescapable fact that graffiti is now accepted a fundamental aspect of the urban experience.
From Bay Area Graffiti
Even if some of the graffiti we encounter is little more than a moronic act of violence, there is some truly trascendent work out there as well. And isn't the best argument against bad graffiti not just the act of covering it up, but of offering something beautiful in its place?
Bay Area Graffiti launch party
Fri/6, 5pm-9pm
111 Minna Gallery
111 Minna, SF
www.111minnagallery.com
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Comments (1)
Truly a work of art. The book shows graffiti in the very best possible light. I'd like to correct you on one item though: all the photos in the book are by Steve Rotman. I believe Chris Brennan did the nice layout and design of the book.
Posted by Kaigh Neighn | February 5, 2009 01:06 AM