A Different Kind of Art Form

When I saw graffiti on the inside of tunnels or in the subway, I always thought it was unappealing, but after reading about the history of graffiti I see it as a unique art form.  Graffiti has existed in our culture for several decades, the concept of writing on walls can even be traced back to ancient Rome.  However, the graffiti we know of today came about in New York City in the late 1960s.  The first official graffiti artist was Taki 183, who would write his name on subway cars.  This inspired other people to start writing their own names on subway cars in hopes of becoming famous.  Spray-cans are most commonly used when creating graffiti.  Soon graffiti was viewed as an art form.

Graffiti artists, or “writers” as they like to be called, sometimes collaborated on designs and gave feedback on other writers designs.  A common misconception is that graffiti is gang-related, but this assumption is false.  Graffiti allowed kids to creatively express themselves through graffiti.  Graffiti was said to be the visual that went along with hip hop.  The 70s were the golden age of subway graffiti, but since then subway graffiti as almost completely died out.  However, on a positive note, graffiti has been included in art shows and galleries.  Graffiti is considered a major part of the urban environment.  I now see graffiti as a powerful and creative art form and look forward to my next trip to New York City to see some classic graffiti designs.