How graffiti managed to take over the art world

Beyond the streets — A new show explores the evolution of street art, featuring hundreds of large scale works by over 150 contemporary artists.

Graffiti first emerged on the streets of New York and Philadelphia half a century ago as marker tags by young teens with a desire to make their mark. A new art form emerged, and from it styles bloomed, transforming the age-old desire to mark our territory in the most literal way.

Graffiti hit like a bomb, leaving cities covered with the most electric kind of public art: one done for love, not money, at the risk of arrest, fines, and imprisonment. It spread from city to city like a virus through movies like Wild Style and Style Wars, books like Subway Art, and art exhibitions dating back to 1973. It inspired generations of artists from all around the globe to create, innovate, and leave their mark on society in a manner that was nothing short of in your face.

Although New York has largely been scrubbed clean of the art form it unleashed upon the world, “it is still considered the number one graffiti tourism destination,” says Roger Gastman, curator of Beyond the Streets. The exhibition features hundreds of large scale works by over 150 contemporary artists, including Charlie Ahearn, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, the Guerilla Girls, Eric HAZE, Jenny Holzer, Barry McGee, and Dash Snow.

Lil’ Crazy Legs during shoot for Wild Style. Riverside Park NY, 1983. Photo Martha Cooper

Mark Gonzales, Untitled 2019. Courtesy Mark Gonzales

“We are trying to tell tight-knit stories,” Gastman says. “Each artist has large-scale walls, so you can step back and view the artwork. Moving into the gallery, it doesn’t look like graffiti and street art anymore, but it has the energy and techniques that artists honed on the streets and are able to bring into their work.”

Gastman notes that graffiti and street art are always reinventing themselves, pushing the boundaries beyond what was imaginable in the past, continually evolving in order to compete in the age of social media. At its root, there is the appeal for the DIY ethos of the work – graffiti is pop, populist, and punk, and if one may be so inclined, all it takes to get started is a marker and sheer nerve.

“Graffiti is something people grew up with one way or another by seeing a political poster on a wall, seeing something someone wrote in the bathroom, or seeing a carving on a tree,” Gasman says.

“Those are things I call pedestrian graffiti; they are everywhere. Once people realise what something is they become more comfortable with it and a lot of people then want to do it themselves. It is something that has continued to catch on and people love it.”

Dabsmyla, Tenderness, 2019. Courtesy Dabsmyla

Husk Mit Navn. Partners in Crime, 2019. Courtesy Husk Mit Navn

Style wars car by NOC 167 with door open, man reading newspaper. 96th Street Station, New York, NY, 1981. Photo Martha Cooper

Kenny Scharf, “Totemotiki” 2013. Photo Kenny Scharf

Beyond the Streets is on view in Brooklyn from June 21 through August 2019.

Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter


You might like

Children playing in a park fountain, black and white image
Culture

The carnival and community of New York’s block parties

Soul of the Summer — Since attending his first street party in Crown Heights two decades ago, photographer Anderson Zaca has spent his summers travelling across New York’s five boroughs, documenting over 300 in the process.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Three smiling women wearing glamorous dresses and fur coats posing together.
Culture

The Getty Center’s first exclusively queer exhibition opens today

$3 Bill: Evidence of Queer Lives — Running until September, it features paintings, ephemera, video and photography to highlight LGBTQ+ histories, culture and people from 1900 to the present day.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Diverse group of people with various expressions and styles, surrounded by bold text and graphics in dark colours.
Culture

Remembering New York’s ’90s gay scene via its vibrant nightclub flyers

Getting In — After coming out in his 20s, David Kennerley became a fixture on the city’s queer scene, while pocketing invites that he picked up along the way. His latest book dives into his rich archive.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Black and white image showing a group of shirtless men socialising, some laughing.
Culture

A visual trip through 100 years of New York’s LGBTQ+ spaces

Queer Happened Here — A new book from historian and writer Marc Zinaman maps scores of Manhattan’s queer venues and informal meeting places, documenting the city’s long LGBTQ+ history in the process.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Close-up view of a woman in a vintage pose, with flowing hair and an outstretched hand, set against a hazy, scenic background.
© Peter Palladino, courtesy of the Peter Palladino Archive.
Culture

Remembering Holly Woodlawn, Andy Warhol muse and trans trailblazer

Love You Madly — A new book explores the actress’s rollercoaster life and story, who helped inspire Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Crushed Burger King cup, playing card, caution tape on cracked pavement.
Culture

This photographer picked up 1,000 weed baggies in New York and documented them

0.125OZ — Since originally stumbling across a discarded bag in Brooklyn, Vincent ”Streetadelic” Pflieger has amassed a huge archive of marijuana packaging, while inadvertently capturing a moment as cannabis went from an illicit, underground drug to big business.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Huck is supported by our readers, subscribers and Club Huck members. It is also made possible by sponsorship from:

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.