Author: Amy Withey
This article might be a mistake.
Or perhaps it’s just a huge contradiction. Graffiti is not the type of art that’s normally written about in newspapers or art journals. Most graffiti artists remain anonymous or go by pseudonyms in order to protect their anonymity and reinforce the obscurity of their creations. Research about graffiti and graffiti artists can be sketchy and questionable.Just the way it should be.
Even though graffiti is not formally acknowledged, it is known through whispers, urban myth and gossip. There are countless graffiti internet blogs created by aficionados who post pictures of their favorite work. Although graffiti can be associated with bathroom-stall curse words and obscenities scratched on walls, it is so much more than that. Graffiti is a respected art form, with a canvas that can be anything from a little nook of concrete to a giant billboard.
The graffiti “tagger” is not just a criminal—he/she is an artist with a purpose. Neck Face, one of the world’s most popular graffiti artists, is featured on Melrose Avenue and on the pedestrian signs of various streets in Los Angeles. A 23 year-old male who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, he gained lots of attention by slapping stickers of his artwork around Stockton and Lodi. Neck Face eventually moved out to California, where he made his name on the streets of San Francisco and established his studio. He hosted an art showcase in 2004 at the New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles, and the show was widely attended and highly acclaimed.
Neck Face’s works are scratchy, scary depictions of demons with blood spilling out of their mouths and other disturbing, raw, punk-metal creatures. “I like seeing the reaction I get when I make a violent image,” Neck Face said in an interview with BBC. “I like seeing people laugh at my violent pieces, then they look around and wonder if it’s wrong to laugh at it.”
Another world-famous graffiti artist whose work can be spotted around Los Angeles is Banksy. His works are usually poignant satirical, political or cultural commentaries. He’s said to be 37 years old, but this information cannot be confirmed. Banksy’s works originated in London but now they can be seen in cities all over the world. He has several self-published books containing pictures of his works that are on sale to the public. Banksy is known for pulling amusing art stunts such as painting “We’re Bored of Fish” in seven-foot tall letters in the penguin enclosure of the London Zoo, or spraying “This is not a photo opportunity” on touristy photograph spots.
Los Angeles is a very popular city for graffiti artists to promote their work because there are so many prime locations. If you want to see both of these artists’ works and more, trek down to Melrose Avenue to see Banksy’s “No More Heroes” and “I am out of bed…” murals, as well as Neck Face’s demonic stickers. Sometimes great graffiti isn’t easy to find, but stumbling upon it randomly in corners and niches of the world is part of the experience.
It’s important to preserve the mystery of the artists’ anonymity. Banksy said recently in an interview with the New Yorker that “getting your work in the newspapers is a really dumb thing to do if what you do requires a certain level of anonymity . . . All the attention meant I lost some of the element of surprise. A few days after the show in Los Angeles opened I was painting under a freeway downtown when a homeless guy ran over and said, ‘Hey—are you Binsky?’ I left the next day.”
Out of respect for the artists, graffiti should be kept underground, but it can be admired and celebrated everywhere.
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