Quit Bombing My Store You Damn Hoodlums!

Though it has been gaining acceptance from more and more people, no modern art form was seen to polarize viewers in the twentieth century as much as Graffiti. Whether you enjoyed its hip hop  roots in New York and Philadelphia, or despise the gang signs that cover up your local stop sign, there is no escaping the stigma of graffiti being a birthplace of illegal art displays.

Graffiti from World War II. Its origins and meaning are still being debated...

Graffiti, as most of us younger folks know it, started in the hip hop culture that emerged in the seventies and eighties in New York. Yet, graffiti has been a common "nuisance" for cultures since even the Greek and roman times. Many people have used it to be humorous, to raise issues about things happening in their city, or to criticize politicians.

Graffiti began to take on an urban life of its own when hip hop culture emerged in New York. Young people began to use it as an outlet for creativity and despite the constant threat of being caught or losing your work to a cleaning crew or another graffiti artist, the movement thrived and moved beyond the big apple. Today it is even being recognized in the modern art gallery's, and being bought by art collectors!

Banksy

Some artist such as Banksy and Keith Haring, made the successful transition from Street art into art gallery pieces and are even well known among those that don't have a pulse on street art today.

Riding BART to San Francisco on nearly a daily basis, I have come to appreciate graffiti as the high art form it should be respected as. That does not mean I condone vandalism, or that I like every piece of graffiti I come across. Just because something is merited as "art" doesn't mean it is good art...Not every person with a spray can can create a memorable piece of graffiti art that stands out. Not every peice is seen as "acceptable" vandalism, and not every work can create something new out of a popular common pop culture phenomenon such as Shepard Fairey has done with his widely seen "Obey Giant."

Obey Giant

Still, this way of making art does come at a price. Street art, unless commissioned, is very illegal and that in itself may be the thrill for some of the artists that continue to do it. Researching the price for being caught can be scary to those artist trying to get their name seen on the local train or large building... here is a list of punishments from California and its view on Graffiti.

Vandalism can be filed as either a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the dollar amount of the damage the vandalism caused, and whether the accused had any previous criminal record. If the damage is below $400 and there’s no prior offense, the penalties are up to a year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. If there is a prior offense for graffiti or vandalism, the punishment jumps to up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $5,000. If the damage is over $400 then the case can be filed as a felony and the accused faces up to a year in jail or a state prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to $10,000; if the damage is valued at $10,000 or more, the fine rises to $50,000 and may be imposed along with time in jail or prison.

I had a friend a few years ago who had gotten caught "Bombing" a local police station. He did three months and had a fine of 5000 dollars. He was forced to drop out of college and immediately had to work full time to pay his fines. Surprisingly he did not quit his graffiti lifestyle, but he did manage to stay away from police stations and the law in general.

Still, despite the legal repercussions, the social stigma, and the need to stay somewhat anonymous (for obvious self-incrimination reasons), graffiti has many benefits to the art world. It is one of the longest American visual arts to still remain relevant almost forty years from its modern invention. It has permeated the Fine arts world, while still retaining its street credibility. It has influenced famous artists over its rebirth, one of the most famous being the self-destructive but brilliant Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 80's (He dated Madonna at her highest fame).

Jean-Michel Basquiat

 Personally my favorite aspect of graffiti are the two values I always admire in the best art works.One is that it catches your attention because of the placement in urban areas and secondly its illegal roots make it antagonistic in nature, a common threshold in the Fine Arts arena. In the book "Graffiti World Street Art from Five Continents" by Nicholas Ganz the author describes how, in his book displaying graffiti artist, he does not separate each artist by country, instead opting to do it alphabetically by continent.

In his words:

"This is because nationality, race and sex have no bearing on the graffiti scene."

In short, I believe he is trying to say graffiti is for the people, by the people.