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The History of American Graffiti
Unprecedented in scope, The History of American Graffiti is the definitive story behind the most influential art form of the last one hundred years. Tracing the evolution of the medium from its early freight-train days to its big-city boom on the streets of New York City and Philadelphia, and to its modern-day influences, this volume is a compelling look at the key moments, places, and players in an art form distinctly American in flavor yet global in its reach. Featuring behind-the-scenes stories and profiles gleaned from more than four years' worth of interviews with graffiti's most prominent names, as well as its lesser-known pioneers, authors Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon provide an insider's perspective on the history of the medium. Not only do they reveal the most popular trends and styles that have dominated the scene for the last fifty years but they also provide a thorough examination of the regional differences among major American hubs—New York, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Chicago—and under-the-radar scenes in cities like Washington, D.C., Boston, and Miami. All told, more than twenty-five American cities are profiled, making this one of the most comprehensive volumes on the subject. With more than one thousand photographs—the majority of which are seen here for the first time—from more than two hundred photographers, most of whom also created the artwork, The History of American Graffiti captures the look and feel of a genuine American art form with exceptional clarity and detail. An instant classic, this book is the ultimate resource to which aficionados of the art form will turn again and again, and which the uninitiated will regard as the definitive tutorial of all that is graffiti.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2010
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January 27, 2013
Boston has a special place in graffiti history — and not just because one of our early marquee vandals, Popeye, was Jordan Knight of the New Kids on the Block.
While absolutely influenced by New York, the exalted bombers of Bay State renown have always been a breed unto themselves and products of the landscape here. Thirty years ago, Boston's first-generation writers took to trains and walls to fight out the latent race war still brewing from the school busing crisis. Years later, their protégés were skateboarders, hardcore kids, and anarcho-punks — in contrast to taggers in other spots who were shaking paint cans to boom-bap bass lines.
Boston's storied years of beautiful decay are colorfully highlighted in the new street-art masterpiece, The History of American Graffiti. It's no wonder; co-author Caleb Neelon is a Boston-born, Cambridge-based globetrotter who has splashed walls across the world as Sonik. In the process of curating two of the most exhaustive accounts of concrete décor ever produced — the epic international guerilla-art survey Street World, and now American Graffiti — he's amassed a wealth of insight on the region he calls home.
In the first of two Boston chapters, American Graffiti paints the Bean as a hotbed of racial tension and a fertile breeding ground for renegade activity. Coming from mostly black and Latino pockets like Jamaica Plain and Mattapan, the first prolific graf kids became active in the early 1980s to overwrite hate speech that was scrawled on the Red Line trains that ran through Dorchester and Southie. By the middle of the decade, icons like Click and Maze were as visible as all the racial epithets that had covered cars and platforms since the 1970s.
While Red Line bombing in the name of social justice lit the fuse, Boston became especially colorful around the elevated Orange Line, which ran on Washington Street from downtown to Forest Hills, slicing through diverse and blighted neighborhoods like Mission Hill, where a score of early writers hung their aerosol caps. But when the Orange Line trestles were dismantled in the late 1980s, years of hard work and props vanished with them.
"You can date the end of the old school in Boston to April 4, 1987," says Neelon. "After the elevated train came down, none of the rooftop pieces were visible anymore. That history was hidden to so many people for so many years — it's why the old school of Boston never came off in any books."
Luckily there were underground magazines like Skills, which Queens writer Sp.One started — with a friend who worked the late-night shift at Copy Cop — after moving to Boston in the early 1990s. Along with Wombat, Ryze, and a score of punk-show regulars from Boston and the budding scene in Lynn, Sp.One helped rejuvenate a local culture that had largely fallen off.
"When I look back, there were definitely things that were different about what was happening around here," Sp.One tells the Phoenix. "In other places, a lot of people were more into the hip-hop scene. Here, most of us were listening to hardcore and going to shows at the Rat."
Neelon's American Graffiti sketches this second-epoch renaissance as an activist operation with a profound intellectual bent. Graf stalwarts everywhere are sympathetic to revolutionary ideas, but in spots like Harvard Square, where seminal writers like Wombat broke bread and filled black books, the climate was especially radical.
As for artistic integrity, Boston writers aimed to bend any and all boundaries in the 1990s — Ryze even took classes in Celtic lettering at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. At the same time, whereas many writers elsewhere began bombing indiscriminately — hitting as much real estate as possible with quick, colorless "throw-ups" — the commonwealth remained a competitive canvas.
"I was always someone who could do pieces," continues Sp.One, "but in New York I did more highways and trains . . . Boston for me was more about doing productions and more colorful pieces."
In retrospect, the Boston crew was damn near anomalous on Planet Krylon — especially in their time — yet their legacy remains vital.
From my Boston Phoenix write-up: http://thephoenix.com/boston/life/117...
While absolutely influenced by New York, the exalted bombers of Bay State renown have always been a breed unto themselves and products of the landscape here. Thirty years ago, Boston's first-generation writers took to trains and walls to fight out the latent race war still brewing from the school busing crisis. Years later, their protégés were skateboarders, hardcore kids, and anarcho-punks — in contrast to taggers in other spots who were shaking paint cans to boom-bap bass lines.
Boston's storied years of beautiful decay are colorfully highlighted in the new street-art masterpiece, The History of American Graffiti. It's no wonder; co-author Caleb Neelon is a Boston-born, Cambridge-based globetrotter who has splashed walls across the world as Sonik. In the process of curating two of the most exhaustive accounts of concrete décor ever produced — the epic international guerilla-art survey Street World, and now American Graffiti — he's amassed a wealth of insight on the region he calls home.
In the first of two Boston chapters, American Graffiti paints the Bean as a hotbed of racial tension and a fertile breeding ground for renegade activity. Coming from mostly black and Latino pockets like Jamaica Plain and Mattapan, the first prolific graf kids became active in the early 1980s to overwrite hate speech that was scrawled on the Red Line trains that ran through Dorchester and Southie. By the middle of the decade, icons like Click and Maze were as visible as all the racial epithets that had covered cars and platforms since the 1970s.
While Red Line bombing in the name of social justice lit the fuse, Boston became especially colorful around the elevated Orange Line, which ran on Washington Street from downtown to Forest Hills, slicing through diverse and blighted neighborhoods like Mission Hill, where a score of early writers hung their aerosol caps. But when the Orange Line trestles were dismantled in the late 1980s, years of hard work and props vanished with them.
"You can date the end of the old school in Boston to April 4, 1987," says Neelon. "After the elevated train came down, none of the rooftop pieces were visible anymore. That history was hidden to so many people for so many years — it's why the old school of Boston never came off in any books."
Luckily there were underground magazines like Skills, which Queens writer Sp.One started — with a friend who worked the late-night shift at Copy Cop — after moving to Boston in the early 1990s. Along with Wombat, Ryze, and a score of punk-show regulars from Boston and the budding scene in Lynn, Sp.One helped rejuvenate a local culture that had largely fallen off.
"When I look back, there were definitely things that were different about what was happening around here," Sp.One tells the Phoenix. "In other places, a lot of people were more into the hip-hop scene. Here, most of us were listening to hardcore and going to shows at the Rat."
Neelon's American Graffiti sketches this second-epoch renaissance as an activist operation with a profound intellectual bent. Graf stalwarts everywhere are sympathetic to revolutionary ideas, but in spots like Harvard Square, where seminal writers like Wombat broke bread and filled black books, the climate was especially radical.
As for artistic integrity, Boston writers aimed to bend any and all boundaries in the 1990s — Ryze even took classes in Celtic lettering at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. At the same time, whereas many writers elsewhere began bombing indiscriminately — hitting as much real estate as possible with quick, colorless "throw-ups" — the commonwealth remained a competitive canvas.
"I was always someone who could do pieces," continues Sp.One, "but in New York I did more highways and trains . . . Boston for me was more about doing productions and more colorful pieces."
In retrospect, the Boston crew was damn near anomalous on Planet Krylon — especially in their time — yet their legacy remains vital.
From my Boston Phoenix write-up: http://thephoenix.com/boston/life/117...
December 1, 2021
I’ve long been fascinated by Graffiti. While some of it appears to be nothing more than vandalism, other pieces are simply magnificent.
Graffiti also seems to have a similar style, all around the world. The Graffiti I see in Toronto is very similar to that of every American city, many European cities, and parts of Asia. Why is it so universal? And why isn’t there a distinct American, European and Asian style?
As modern Graffiti has its roots in America, I picked up “The History of American Graffiti” to find out more. Here’s what I learned from this book of interviews, stories and photographs taken mainly by the Graffiti “Writers” themselves:
1. Graffiti is about self-expression and leaving your mark. Most Graffiti is about tagging and placing one’s “Street name” (e.g., Banksy, Cycle, Dash, Freedom, Iz, Miss 17, Wise, Yes2 – and other nicknames) on subways, trains, walls, bridges, and buildings.
2. Graffiti is street culture. This is art form that grew from the conditions of one origin city – New York City. And along with hip hop, break dancing, and DJs, Graffiti was an unfiltered expression of youth culture. It was also a reflection of New York City during the 70s and 80s when NYC was bankrupt and rough.
3. Graffiti generally has a “best before” date. It’s an art of youth and most writers retire young - as young as 18 years old. They trade in their spray paint for college, jobs, the military, or families. And sometimes jail. That said, there are legends who have written for over 20 years.
4. Graffiti has different “Schools” of thought. There is the Philadelphia school of Graffiti and the San Francisco school of Graffiti that incorporates different elements of their cities into their work. But over time these schools meld with New York style – which started and still seems to dominate Graffiti. Will this ever change?
5. Graffiti is organized. Many graffiti artists work in crews. That’s how they could manage many cans of spray paint and take over entire subway trains in an evening’s work.
6. Graffiti is mobile. Much of the great graffiti was done on subway cars and is done on freight cars. It travels far and wide, inspiring those who see it. This is one way that graffiti spreads. Graffiti artists also travel from their native homelands to spread what they know (e.g., New York to Miami) or travel to the “Mecca of Graffiti” New York City, to learn from the masters.
7. Graffiti is flexible. While Graffiti boomed during the 70s and 80s on trains, it soon moved to walls, buildings, rooftop, bridges and delivery vans, and went global.
8. Graffiti is studied carefully and taught. Artists collaborate with each other with younger generations learning from older ones, and “experts” teaching novices. Graffiti artists keep “Blackbooks” or sketchbooks to help artist draft next projects. But what is unique to graffiti is that Blackbooks are as much about other people’s art and signatures as they are about the owners. It’s also common for writers (i.e., graffiti artists) to ask one another to do something in a Blackbook. These lessons were later codified in Graffiti magazines in the 1990s and then spread more widely via the Internet.
9. Graffiti is interesting to the public and traditional media. Many traditional newspapers, magazines, television channels and movies cover and promote graffiti as an art form. This is partly how Graffiti has spread from its origins – largely in New York City - to other parts of America and around the world.
10. Graffiti’s quality continues to improve. Through intense competition for attention the quality of work improves. A good example of this was the rise of “Productions” when Graffiti on walls is a large and ornate enough that it becomes a mural.
11. Graffiti uses technology to improve and travel. A good example of this was the superior quality of European stray paint that help make beautiful productions possible. It has also used the Internet to spread globally.
The book “American Graffiti” taught me a lot. I learned much more about this art form, and it also answered part of my question about why Graffiti looks the same in most places in the world. The best work is still coming from America and most of this from New York City. That’s partly why there is a Universal style seen worldwide. The origin city is still the subject’s main point of reference.
Moreover, the art form is only 50 years old. It’s relatively new and still developing. Perhaps it will evolve into different genres around the world?
That said, I felt that there are some shortcomings with this book. First, it focused on the minutiae of the writers for too long. To get through the book, the reader had to endure literally thousands of names of Graffiti writers who helped make their respective city’s Graffiti known. This was difficult to follow unless you are extremely interested in the individual writers for a highlighted American city.
The photographs were interesting but are generally quite rough. That’s because most of them were shot by amateurs. Perhaps some professionally shot photos could have helped?
I also think more effort could be made to translate the style to what a layperson can understand. Much of the work is done in a code that only Graffiti artists can understand.
"The History of American Graffiti" is a good introduction to the subject - but not a definitive work.
Graffiti also seems to have a similar style, all around the world. The Graffiti I see in Toronto is very similar to that of every American city, many European cities, and parts of Asia. Why is it so universal? And why isn’t there a distinct American, European and Asian style?
As modern Graffiti has its roots in America, I picked up “The History of American Graffiti” to find out more. Here’s what I learned from this book of interviews, stories and photographs taken mainly by the Graffiti “Writers” themselves:
1. Graffiti is about self-expression and leaving your mark. Most Graffiti is about tagging and placing one’s “Street name” (e.g., Banksy, Cycle, Dash, Freedom, Iz, Miss 17, Wise, Yes2 – and other nicknames) on subways, trains, walls, bridges, and buildings.
2. Graffiti is street culture. This is art form that grew from the conditions of one origin city – New York City. And along with hip hop, break dancing, and DJs, Graffiti was an unfiltered expression of youth culture. It was also a reflection of New York City during the 70s and 80s when NYC was bankrupt and rough.
3. Graffiti generally has a “best before” date. It’s an art of youth and most writers retire young - as young as 18 years old. They trade in their spray paint for college, jobs, the military, or families. And sometimes jail. That said, there are legends who have written for over 20 years.
4. Graffiti has different “Schools” of thought. There is the Philadelphia school of Graffiti and the San Francisco school of Graffiti that incorporates different elements of their cities into their work. But over time these schools meld with New York style – which started and still seems to dominate Graffiti. Will this ever change?
5. Graffiti is organized. Many graffiti artists work in crews. That’s how they could manage many cans of spray paint and take over entire subway trains in an evening’s work.
6. Graffiti is mobile. Much of the great graffiti was done on subway cars and is done on freight cars. It travels far and wide, inspiring those who see it. This is one way that graffiti spreads. Graffiti artists also travel from their native homelands to spread what they know (e.g., New York to Miami) or travel to the “Mecca of Graffiti” New York City, to learn from the masters.
7. Graffiti is flexible. While Graffiti boomed during the 70s and 80s on trains, it soon moved to walls, buildings, rooftop, bridges and delivery vans, and went global.
8. Graffiti is studied carefully and taught. Artists collaborate with each other with younger generations learning from older ones, and “experts” teaching novices. Graffiti artists keep “Blackbooks” or sketchbooks to help artist draft next projects. But what is unique to graffiti is that Blackbooks are as much about other people’s art and signatures as they are about the owners. It’s also common for writers (i.e., graffiti artists) to ask one another to do something in a Blackbook. These lessons were later codified in Graffiti magazines in the 1990s and then spread more widely via the Internet.
9. Graffiti is interesting to the public and traditional media. Many traditional newspapers, magazines, television channels and movies cover and promote graffiti as an art form. This is partly how Graffiti has spread from its origins – largely in New York City - to other parts of America and around the world.
10. Graffiti’s quality continues to improve. Through intense competition for attention the quality of work improves. A good example of this was the rise of “Productions” when Graffiti on walls is a large and ornate enough that it becomes a mural.
11. Graffiti uses technology to improve and travel. A good example of this was the superior quality of European stray paint that help make beautiful productions possible. It has also used the Internet to spread globally.
The book “American Graffiti” taught me a lot. I learned much more about this art form, and it also answered part of my question about why Graffiti looks the same in most places in the world. The best work is still coming from America and most of this from New York City. That’s partly why there is a Universal style seen worldwide. The origin city is still the subject’s main point of reference.
Moreover, the art form is only 50 years old. It’s relatively new and still developing. Perhaps it will evolve into different genres around the world?
That said, I felt that there are some shortcomings with this book. First, it focused on the minutiae of the writers for too long. To get through the book, the reader had to endure literally thousands of names of Graffiti writers who helped make their respective city’s Graffiti known. This was difficult to follow unless you are extremely interested in the individual writers for a highlighted American city.
The photographs were interesting but are generally quite rough. That’s because most of them were shot by amateurs. Perhaps some professionally shot photos could have helped?
I also think more effort could be made to translate the style to what a layperson can understand. Much of the work is done in a code that only Graffiti artists can understand.
"The History of American Graffiti" is a good introduction to the subject - but not a definitive work.
March 26, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. I like to learn about other forms of art, and I thought this book was great for that. This book takes you from every graffiti writer to street artist all over the world. Through the years and how the world of graffiti has changed over time. The book brings you from chronological order - the origins of graffiti and the influence it had on major cities. This art form cruelty had an impact on American culture and will always be apart of it. Although still illegal, today, the excitement towards graffiti and street art stays the same and there are many writers and artists that pursue this art form as a career! The book also includes many photographs. They make the reader really get to see what the graffiti scene was like in the past 50 years. I think this book is great for anyone interested in any types of art. If you like to learn, this book is packed with history of our country and the foundation of street art. Graffiti makes up many urban parts of our country, and I think it is good to learn where it started. If you're an artist, it is great fri inspiration and technical help. Just looking at the pictures is a learning tool, and I found it helpful in some of my pieces!
July 29, 2016
Much as I love Roger Gastman as the chief chronicler of graffiti, the layout and photos of this particular book just didn't do it for me. Gastman's book of LA artist Saber is great. So is his book on graffiti in L.A..
Maybe I just love LA graffiti more than that of other American cities.
Maybe I just love LA graffiti more than that of other American cities.
March 29, 2016
I got bored with the text pretty quickly- it seemed every graffiti writer had a similar story in different cities - but I really enjoyed the photographs of the graffiti and loved seeing how the artwork grew more intricate and colorful over the years.
July 23, 2011
If your fan of graffiti and want to know more about it then run and pick up this book.
April 9, 2015
Super cool history!! LOTS of cool photographs, the book is naturally well-designed. I learned A LOT!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews