A rare look into the world of contemporary graffiti culture
On the sides of buildings, on bridges, billboards, mailboxes, and street
signs, and especially in the subway and train tunnels, graffiti covers
much of New York City. Love it or hate it, graffiti, from the humble tag
to the intricate piece (short for masterpiece), is an undeniable part of
the cityscape.
In Graffiti Lives, Gregory J. Snyder offers a fascinating and rare
look into this world of contemporary graffiti culture. A world in which
kids, often, shoplift for spray paint, scale impossibly high places to
find a great spot to "get up," run from the police, journey into
underground train tunnels, fight over turf, and spend countless hours
perfecting their style. Over the ten years Snyder studied this culture
he even created a few works himself (under the moniker "GWIZ"), found
himself serving as a lookout for other artists engaged in this illegal
activity, spent time in the train tunnels in search of new work, created
a blackbook for writers to tag, and took countless photographs to
document this world -- over sixty included in the book.
A combination of amazing "flicks" and exhilarating prose, Graffiti
Lives is ultimately an exploration into how graffiti writers define
themselves. Snyder details that writers are not bound together by
appearance or language or birthplace or class but by what they do. And
what they do is reach for fame, painting their names as prominently as
they can. What's more, he discovers that, though many public officials
think graffiti writing will only lead to other criminal activity, many
graffiti writers have turned their youthful exploits into adult
careers--from professional aerosol muralists and fine artists to
designers of all kinds, employed in such fields as tattooing, studio
art, magazine production, fashion, and guerilla marketing. In fact, some
of the artists featured have gone on to international acclaim and to
their own gallery shows. Snyder's illuminating work shows that getting
up tags, throw-ups, and pieces on New York City's walls and subway
tunnels can lead to getting out into the city's competitive professional
world. Graffiti Lives details the exciting, risky, and surprisingly
rewarding pursuits of contemporary graffiti writers.
