Graffiti Grows Up

5Pointz artist studios, Long Island City

Everywhere you look there are examples.  From Shepard Fairey's iconic Obama poster-turned-sticker-turned-t-shirt to Banksy's Simpsons debut on Sunday evening: graffiti artists, formerly known for their guerrilla tactics and brushes with the law, are going mainstream with gallery shows and national labels, and not just in America.

It's hardly the first time that graffiti has been recognized as a serious contemporary art form, as fans of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat will be quick to point out.  But with today's globalized digital culture, it may be the first time that the trend has become truly widespread, as opposed to being a localized phenomenon in metropolitan areas.

The legal system, however, has been slow to get the memo.  On more than one occasion, the police have used high-profile gallery openings to haul artists into court.  Opponents argue that graffiti "has an adverse effect on the quality of life" and "can be a precursor to more serious acts of crime and violence," but these are unsubstantiated claims.

Personally, I can't imagine how much duller a morning commute on the 7 train would be without views of 5Pointz.  Graffiti enriches the urban experience, providing many young people with the most vivid encounters they have ever had with art.  Graffiti speaks the vernacular tongue of city residents who have never been to an art museum because it's too expensive, or because the works on display leave them cold.  It is a shame that young artists, inspired by the examples of predecessors who have been innovators in the contemporary art scene for the past thirty years, mostly lack suitable legal outlets for their work.  If we value art as a cultural phenomenon, we need to do our best to change this.