FROM STYLE WRITING TO ART a Street Art anthology By Magda Danysz In collaboration with Mary-NoĂŤlle Dana
“There’s no one history of graffiti. It depends on what borough you lived in, what year you were born in, and what lines you rode… The best you will ever get is a personal history of graffiti.” HAZE “All you really see is the art of your own generation.” Leo Castelli
For Antoine
006 About the authors 007 Acknowledgements 009 Foreword 011 Introduction 011 Movement: The Graffiti Internationale 021 Getting up 023 Advertising and the Fame Game 025 Tag and Street Art: from Vandalism to Art
035 PART 1 035 037 039 046 047 048 049
Style Writing History The old-school Pioneers The Birth of an esthetic Language Graffiti and Hip Hop Using an Alias Building a Language of its own Turning an illegal Activity into a respectable Practice 055 FUTURA (2000) 066 QUIK 074 BLADE 080 LEE Quinones 083 PHASE 2 088 RAMMΣLLZΣΣ 094 SEEN 104 CRASH 112 DAZE 118 DONDI 128 ZEPHYR 132 NOC 167 136 DOZE GREEN 138 LADY PINK
156 Part 2 156 The Rise of a worldwide Art Form 157 The Show Frenzy 160 The War on Graffiti 162 The Race for Survival 169 Charles “Chaz” Bojorquez 170 Cholo Style Graffiti Art 172 Street art in China 202 A-ONE 208 MODE 2 212 MARE 139 216 WEST 226 COPE 2
228 Keith Haring 231 Jean-Michel Basquiat 234 SHARP 238 DELTA 240 DAIM 244 LOOMIT 246 JONONE 258 ASH 264 JAY 272 SKKI 278 MISS VAN
298 Part 3 298 The Renewal 298 An explosive evolution 300 Ramifications and Origins 302 Murals 305 Street Art Stencil 308 Street Art Wheatpaste and Print 309 Street Sticker Art 311 Mosaic Tiling 312 Woodblocking 313 Street Installations 313 Video Projection/LED Art 314 Worlwide Repression 318 Getting Inside 320 BLEK LE RAT 326 MISS.TIC 330 BANKSY 333 Barry McGee (TWIST) 340 OS GÊMEOS 343 Shepard Fairey (OBEY) 350 SWOON 353 D*FACE 358 FAILE 364 SPACE INVADER 370 ZEVS 374 KAWS 376 BUFF MONSTER 380 BLU 383 M CITY 386 VHILS 390 NUNCA 394 JR
402 GLOSSARY 412 INDEX
About the authors Magda Danysz isis aa Paris Parisand andShanghai-based Shanghai-basedartart dealer. 17 when Magda Danysz dealer. SheShe waswas 17 when she she opened her first art space. She presented a first show in 1991, quickly folopened her first art space. She presented a first show in 1991, quickly followed lowed by acollective first collective artinshow 1992,artists with such artistsassuch as JonOne, by a first graffiti graffiti art show 1992,inwith JonOne, Sharp, Sharp, Psy, Ash, Jay, or Skki. Since 1999, she’s made it a point to continualPsy, Ash, Jay, or Skki. Since 1999, she’s made it a point to continually prely emerging including D*face, sentpresent emerging artists,artists, including StreetStreet artists,artists, amongamong whomwhom D*face, Miss Miss Van, Van, Shepard Fairey, West and the likes. She has so far presented about 50 shows Shepard Fairey, West and the likes. She has so far presented about 50 shows rerelated StreetArt Artininher hergallery gallery and and inin the the main main art art fairs fairs around around the the world. lated totoStreet world. Since 2001, Magda Danysz has been teaching cultural policies at the Sciences Since 2001, Magda Danysz has been teaching cultural policies at the Sciences PoliPolitiques Institute (Paris), and sits on the board of multimedia cultural art center Le tiques Institute (Paris), and sits on the board of multimedia cultural art center Le Cube, in Issy-les-Moulineaux. She is the co-founder of ShowOff, the Paris contempoCube, in Issy-les-Moulineaux. She is the co-founder of ShowOff, the Paris contemporary art art fair, fair, which which was was launched launched in in 2006. 2006. In In 2007, 2007, she she was was made made “Chevalier “Chevalier des des Arts Arts rary et des Lettres” by the French Culture Ministry. In 2009 she inaugurated a new gallery et des Lettres” by the French Culture Ministry. In 2009 she inaugurated a new gallery space appointed Art Director of space in in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. China.In In2010 2010Magda MagdaDanysz Danyszhas hasbeen been appointed Art Director the AIAI Ling Foundation forfor thethe Arts. She also as an expert in Comof the Ling Foundation Arts. She hasbeen alsonominated been nominated as an expert in pagnie Nationale des Experts (C.N.E.) in France specialized in Street Art and Compagnie Nationale des Experts ( C.N.E) in France specialized in Street Art and Contemporary Chinese Art. Mary-Noelle Dana is a French-American writer and translator, based here and there and everywhere. She a soft spot for thewriter arts in general, and abased thing here for contempoMary-Noelle Dana is has a French-American and translator, and there rary art, screenplays and lyrics in particular. and everywhere. She has a soft spot for the arts in general, and a thing for contemporary art, screenplays and lyrics in particular.
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To all those who, in one way or another, helped me complete this project; on my own it would have taken another 10 years at least: Jamie Camplin, Henry Chalfant (for his kindness and above all his eye), Thierry Froger, Patrick Lerouge, Henk Pijnenburg, Nicola Scavalli, Paulo and Domitilla Von Vacano. For backing me up, whatever the whim or concept: Landry Ajavon, Roxana Azimi, Florent and Nils Aziosmanoff, Colette Barbier, Pascal Béjean, Luc Bellier, Delphine Benchetrit, Natacha Bensimon, Florence Berès, Maximin Berko, Patrick, Viviane and Irina Berko, Laurent Boudier, Bruno and Helen Bouygues, Yves Bouvier, Aldo Cardoso, Philippe Cohen, Axelle Corty, Jean-François Debailleux, Alexndre Dubourg, Valérie Duponchelle, Sylvie Dupuis, Nathalie and Max Fischer, Romain Flageul; Michèle and Jean-Jacques for their open-mindedness as they, later on, caught up the train; Freddy Jay, Fabien Gago, Martin Guesnet, Jacques Halperin, Didier, Sophie and Fiona Imbert, Aurélien Janillon, Jacques and Katia Judeaux, Patricia Keever, Patricia Kishishian and Jean-Claude, Eléonore Lambertie, Nicolas Laugero, Alexandre Lazarev, Nicolas and Delphine Ledoux, Pierre Levy, Maï Lucas, Stéphane Magnan, Nicolas de Montmarin, Arnaud Odier, Christine Ollier, Arnaud Olliveux, JeanMichel Paillès, Philippe Peuch-Lestrade, Bounmy Phonesavanh, Eric de Remeaux, Eric Rodrigue, Jean-Marc Salomon and Daniella, Willem Speerstra, Vanna Teng.
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From left to right and top to bottom: Tag, STAY HIGH 149 Tag, JULIO 204 Train, PHASE 2 Tag, CORNBREAD Tag, TAKI 183 Tag, CORNBREAD PHASE 2 in action STAY HIGH 149 and a two-colored Saint character Train, PHASE 2 Tag, KILROY
The Beginnings Frank Shepard Fairey, aka OBEY, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, where he lived until he turned 17. He confesses: “I wasn’t really exposed to graffiti, but I did get into skateboarding and punk rock.” His parents are not too happy with his school results and convince him to apply to the Rhode Island School of Design. And though his true ambition is to become a professional skateboarder, his application is accepted. “But I’m glad I went there, because when I got there, we were pretty close to New York. Seeing graffiti and seeing that you’re not the next Warhol from doing a piece across the Bronx expressway, just getting your name out there. That inspired me.” In class, he practices serigraphy. During his Providence years, he also discovers sticker culture.
Shepard Fairey (OBEY) Year of birth: 1970 Place of Birth: Charleston, South Carolina, USA Starting Point: 1989
During his working hours as a vendor in a skate shop, he improves his stencil technique, and sells his t-shirt creations on the side. In 1989, while he’s still in school, he creates, more or less by accident, André The Giant, the icon that will accompany his artistic career. “One night a friend was staying over and I was making a bootleg Clash shirt or something. He was bored and wanted to learn how to do that. So I flipped through the newspaper to find something for him to practice on and came across an André the Giant. I said, ‘Why don’t you do this?’ So it just started as an inside joke.” He also produces Xerox stickers from the image, handing them out to his friends. Thus is born an invasion that rapidly becomes massive.
Influence(s): Skateboard and punk cultures as well as Hip Hop Style: Giant wheatpastes, sticker art Distinctive feature(s): André the Giant icon, political activism
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The “Aha!” Moment Into the Art World In 1990, Fairey writes a manifesto to support his process, which he connects to Heidegger’s phenomenology concept: “The process of letting things manifest themselves’: Phenomenology attempts to enable people to see clearly something that is right before their eyes but obscured; things that are so taken for granted that they are muted by abstract observation.” From that point on, he focuses on what he likes to call “Visual Disobedience”. He also uses The Medium is the Message, a slogan borrowed from Marshall McLuhan. In 1992, Fairey graduates from Rhode Island School of Design, in Fine Arts in Illustration.
Shepard Fairey’s first exhibits take place in 1999, mainly in the United States. During his travels, he implements systematic poster or sticker invasions wherever he goes, on his way to show works in a large number of underground galleries in Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Francisco, San Jose, but also in Tokyo, Stockholm and Birmingham. In 2004, his career takes off and he starts participating in more important projects such as the traveling exhibition Beautiful Losers, or for solo shows in Paris at the Magda Danysz gallery and in New York, at Jonathan Levine’s. In 2006, the book Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey is published. It covers about twenty years of activism. By then, Shepard Fairey is already a legend and even headlines the New York Times’ Art section in 2007. His career becomes worldwide with his active participation during Barack Obama presidential campaign.
His urban invasions of stunning proportions expand. He spends more and more time in San Diego and, in 1996, integrates Obey into his work, which turns into his signature out on the street: “The whole idea about people having to confront their obedience instead of whining about the situation they’re in and being obedient talking about”. Just then, his work is also published in the underground magazine for the first time. And because he can’t make a living off his posters, he opens, with some friends, a communication agency, applying his creativity to corporate brands. His area of expertise is guerilla marketing, and he moves to Los Angeles shortly after, in 1998.
After his many years spent pointing out the various Administration excesses, particularly during the Bush presidency, Shepard Fairey signs the poster for Obama’s HOPE campaign. Featuring the future president’s portrait, the poster is what art critic Peter Schjeldahl then defines as “the most efficacious American political illustration since ‘Uncle Sam Wants You’”. More than 300,000 stickers and 500,000
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posters are distributed during the campaign, with an important fundraise. The portrait, totally in line with his work, lands on the cover of Time Magazine, before being picked up by numerous media worldwide. In January, 2009, the HOPE portrait is acquired by the National Portrait Gallery. And that same year, the Institute of Contemporary art of Boston invites Shepard Fairey to an important retrospective exhibition.
ry, creating new stickers with ANDRÉ. Then quickly his imagery evolves with a mix between ANDRÉ’s face and iconic images. He does stickers such as the Hendrix Afro with ANDRÉ’s face, a KISS version of ANDRÉ, Neal Armstrong’s first moonwalk with ANDRÉ’s face inside the helmet, etc. “As an artist, I want to make graphics that are cool. I’m satisfying a few different things. I’m satisfying my desire to pursue the aesthetic that I enjoy as well as the concept behind the whole thing, so, you know, whatever. Sometimes all those elements can’t be perfectly seamless. There’s contradictions in everything. Just that I even sell clothes is a bit of a contradiction since I’m making fun of conspicuous consumption.” With his work, Shepard Fairey is one of the pioneers of the graphics-related art, and proud of the reciprocal contributive relationship between graphics and his creativity. His body of work is both strong and increasingly complex, with different reading levels.
His giant murals, in addition to his regular projects, have taken him from New York to Providence, Philadelphia, Charleston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach and San Diego, via Paris, London and many other cities across the globe.
Style During his first period, the iconic face of André The Giant defines Shepard Fairey’s style, and is featured in all his pieces. “I simplified the ANDRÉ face, into an icon figure, for a more serious effect, because I didn’t want it to reference something as silly as wrestling. I looked at it as the Orwellian big brother face.”
The simplicity of his shapes is key in the work he puts up in the street, in terms of accessibility and impact. Wheatpasting is his weapon. He puts up posters of impressive sizes in the most unexpected locations, following an important tradition in the writing world. But he takes things one step further. “I’m not just a graffiti artist. This thing has, at least I hope, a greater degree of social relevance than most straight-up graffiti, even though I am into being a punk and an antagonist, which a lot of graffiti guys are into. I also think it’s a bit more provocative than tagging. See, I never even wrote graffiti. The
Adapting the stylized icon everywhere, in large-sized posters, either placed in number one next to the other, or as one unique monumental piece. Predominantly in black and white, more rarely with a dash of red, the face is strikingly simple and its message, forceful: OBEY. After that, Fairey quickly enriches his image-
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closest thing to graffiti that I do is spray paint stencils, cause you can get a lot of them around, real quick, and they’re pretty permanent.” Shepard Fairey often points out publicity’s omnipresence and acts like a parasite, creating interference on advertising spaces by sticking his posters over the ads: “Why should it be ok to shove billboards and other types of advertising in public spaces where people have no choice but to look at it, just because you have money?” In addition to his street pieces, he puts time and effort into a more meticulous body of work prepared in his studio, using the same icons, adding more intricate details and turning them into posters which sell at cheaper prices on the web worldwide. In his originals, Shepard Fairey also mixes an amazing amount of various techniques. To wheatpasting he adds, on the same artwork, stenciling, collage, painting, etc., all in an intricate set of references. Music is, still today, a great inspiration. The celebrity portraits he signs all share a certain inner psychology quality. Politics is another of his target subjects. Mao, Nixon and Bush are depicted in their visual environment. Shepard Fairey has the eye of a sociologist, analyzing images and propaganda mechanisms, whether Soviet, Maoist or even American-based, and turning that familiar imagery into a universe of his own.
This page and next double page: Courtesy of the artist, Shepard Fairey (OBEY)
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