Lee in my opinion is the first icon of graffiti that has opened doors for other writers and the outside world in recognizing the true power of spray paint. The indelible mark he has made in the name of graff can be seen as one of the first writers to take murals to a new heights in the late 70s. He introduced concepts of color combinations, characters and letter formations that were never before witnessed on trains and walls. The trains themselves were transformed overnight from resembling a bathroom wall of scribbles, to frescoes of the freshest burners ever to run on a third rail. The world soon caught on of this emerging force from the barrios of NYC, and who better to be at the forefront for the world to see in videos and movies doin’ his thang than Lee himself – as himself.

Congratulations LEE and nuff respect!
July 24, 2010

I just scoped this recent video on New York Graffiti. It’s a nice little documentary on the logistics of graff and NY style. The video only runs a little over 10 minutes, so it’s not like you have to commit a lot of time watching it. Yep, short and sweet with a cat named Never (the one from NY and not ATL) giving you a guided tour through certain hoods on what it means to be a writer. He points out pertinent information that an up n’ coming writer should know like “throwies over tags and pieces over throwies.” He also gives his own philosophy on what it means to be a writer with a couple skate tricks thrown in for good measure. Just another reason why it is good to stop every once n’ awhile and check out the writing on the wall.

The French are at it again; forever pushing the boundaries of art with no genre or body being excluded.  “But how to do body painting while remaining true to our roots?” asks this new book by graff artists Sore & Keag. Their answer – Guerrilla body painting! They contend that painting a body in your room is to easy, so why not do it along side a moving train? A cacophony of expression that is more live than the naked-ness hanging out on the third-rail.

Wow, Paris is surely burning, with these two guys documenting their special type of porno-graff in 80 pages of straight up heat. You gotta imagine the type of compulsion the people involved feel to go that hard, and what role do these chicks play (girlfriends, prostitutes, art lovers – all the above?) I really couldn’t say for sure, but I am compelled myself to find out. Limited edition run of about 500 copies in French no doubt, so get em’ before they’re gone…

I think there is a direct link between writers and the paint they use that gives them the ability to create very surreal works of art. Ever since paint manufacturers have formulated spray cans that give the writer more control over their pieces, the work produced are more clean, detailed and more vibrant than ever before. This production in Spain sponsored by MTN Colors certainly proves my point. This series of murals brought together a couple of artist from England (Aroe, Roid), France (Ogre, Pablo, Mutha)  and some home grown talent from Spain (Belin, Besdo, Tretze, Frik, Rage).

The style of writing hasn’t changed that much from 20 years ago: still need a character, a dope wildstyle piece and a tight background to make it all gel together. The letters themselves aren’t any more technical that the ones produced by the FBA crew from New York back in the 80s, or backgrounds any more elaborate than the ones created by Vulcan from the same era. L.A.’s Hex TGO was a master of them all back in the day and that was using the industry standards Krylon and Rusto.

The complex valve system in these cans that are being produced from graff writer based paint companies are like a god send to artists that wish to do more complex and detailed work. I would love to see what Hex TGO could do with a MTN or Belton can if he was still in the game and not a born again Christian. I could only see this as the beginning for graff writers the world over to up the ante in terms of competition and style with more pieces like these being produced on the regular.

Nice.

Have my un-prayed prayers been finally answered? Am I now the master of my own painting from paint design to piecing? Well the fine people at Yanko Design surely think so. Operating off of the CMYK color scheme, you would be able to dial a color of your choosing and apply it to whatever surface through this refillable canister. The benefits of this product are two fold: save yourself and the environment from contributing to the costly and hazardous disposal of unused cans, plus you’re saving a bundle in buying cans for a painting.

This design is called “Color Dial Spray.” Designed for the eco-friendly writer who wishes to take spray painting to the next level in conscience piecing . And in the in the infamous words of the former mayor of New York, Mayor Koch – ” to make your mark in society, rather than on society,” is what this invention aims to do.

Tragedy has once again struck the hearts and minds of the graffiti community. The son of legendary graff artist Nicer from the TATS cru was murdered last week.  Services for Bleu Nazario were held on the 14th and was reported to have a pretty big turn out; a reflection of his impact on so many peoples lives. He will surely be missed as he leaves this physical plane, but remains forever in our hearts. A slew of memorials will soon follow with the first ones to be painted by fellow crew members How and Nosm. You can see the production and its progress on this flickr feed. Peace and respect goes out to the TATS and Nazario family, may those responsible  be found and held accountable.

Update on flicks 7/25/2010: Bio, Dmote, Ces

It is safe to say that this whole graffiti thing has gone full blown with various cottage industries cropping up all over the globe catering to regional artists. Although these products are readily available with the advent of the internet, they are primarily designed for their local niches in mind. The product in question I’m referring to is spray paint and all of the brands that have cropped up within this past millenia: Belton-Germany, Ironlak-Austrailia, Sabotaz 80-Russia, and Beat-Italy. What this means for the North American graffiti artist is a wider range of products to choose from, but an expensive habit to maintain; most of these are over the counter and un-rackable, not that I would ever advocate theft ;}.

But now there is a domestic alternative to expensive art enthusiast driven imports, the Blubber spray paint company! Not that they are entirely new to the game, but something that I have recently discovered. Having originated back in 2004, they strive to bring awareness by the formulation of art parks and eco-friendly products. The name comes from its originator – graff artist Aero who is originally from Hawaii and obviously has some affinity for whales. The color line is very limited, like in the high teens compared to MTN Colors or Beat whose paint range is in the low hundreds.

I do have to applaud their efforts though in bringing graffiti back home in terms of spray paint for North American artists, but it seems like they have an uphill battle ahead of them in terms of  competing with other brands,  marketing (virtually non-existent) and selection. In the upcoming North American tour of Meeting Of Styles, Blubber Colors is a featured sponsor in which writers can experience the can control first hand and will help expose the company to their target audience of graff writers.

It’s that time of year again for the graffiti ‘tour de force’ known as the Meeting of Styles the tour is currently underway in Europe and will be in the U.S. starting with the East Coast the 10th of September. Originating in Wiesbaden Germany, the Meeting Of Styles was created in 1997 as a meeting point for writers the world over to come and celebrate graff culture. The demolition of the meeting site in Germany launched the idea to make it an international tour; creating a comprehensive network of artists the world over. In the spirit of cooperation and promotion, since 2002 MOS has launched over 75 events in sixteen countries across Europe, Russia and America. These events have sponsored hundreds of graffiti artists from all over the world and throughout the years have attracted more than 100.000 spectators, providing a focal point for urban street culture and graffiti art to reach the larger community.

This year they are featuring a shirt to commemorate the event by one of my favorite writers Aryz. He collaborated with another writer from Spain to create a shirt to generate revenue in order to fund the event. In the future they hope to be corporate sponsor free by gaining enough money from online donations and sales from their store.

U84DDPYHEQNZ

The pen manufacturer Pilot scored a major hit with writers when they introduced the jumbo marker that features a seriously sized chisel tip and refillable base. Now they’ve decided to take marking to the next level by allowing you to create fonts manually to be uploaded to your computer via scanner, camera or webcam. The great thing about this is the editing features that gives you greater control in shaping the width or flow of your letters. When you are done with the editing process, you have your own personalized font to work with and you can compose an email using their online features

The selection involved for each one of these established artists is based off of their dedication to the game of graff and innovations in their respected art. A token of my appreciation is a 30 second video of their finest work in my opinion with varying themes that cater to their individual style. Hope you enjoy.