8/6/2019 Tag, You're Art
2/2february 24, 2011 - march 3, 2011 BIRMINGHAM W EEK
A PHOTOGRAPHIC ARGUMENT FOR GRAFFITI AS AN ARTFORM
Tag, Youre Art
At this point, I think its pretty clear that Ithink graffiti is
art. Weve featured Birminghamgraffiti in our SEEN section and on
our coveron more than one occasion, and in an artisticcontext. What
wasnt clear to me u ntil recently,however, was that the status of
graffiti as art wasin question at all. Now, after a Homewood
CityCouncil ruling severely limiting the placement ofa
solicitedwork by the increasingly popular YouAre Beautiful (YAB)
campaign, and the flurryof antagonism that it stirred on local
commentboards, I feel it necessary to clarify a few things.
For years now, world-renowned graffitiartists such as Shepard
Fairey and Banksy havehad their pieces sold in galleries and
hungrilysnapped up by collectors. Prices for works byBanksy have
reached over $100,000. Not that costis the final determinate for
whether something isart. According to George C. Stowers in his
excel-
lent essay on the question of graffiti as art, It hasform,
color, and other base properties as well asan arrangement of these
elements into structuresthat qualify it aesthetically as being art.
The onlyobstacle that has hindered the general acceptanceof
graffiti art is its location and presentation.However, the
instances of acceptance of graf-fiti art by the art world shows
that conventionalmethods of presentation are not a ll that
mattersin determining if something is art. And graffiti artis not
to be disqualified as art simply because itmight appear
unsolicited. In short, graffiti in theform of spray can art is art
like any other workthat might be found in a gallery or a
museum.
And there is the crux of it. Get angry aboutvandalism and
illegality if you want, but dontquestion the artistic credibility
of the work as yousandblast it from existence. I had a chance to
pickthe brains of the shadowy YAB folks about it, and
not surprisingly, they agree.The term graffiti covers such a
huge phe-
nomenon, they say, and people dont really knowwhat all there is
to [it]; tags, bombing, elaborate(master)pieces, stencils, and so
on. A big piecerequires as much skill, craft and knowledge ofthe
medium as an old master sign painter andas much design [skill] as a
typographer. It takesa general understanding of all the intricacies
ofgraffiti to really appreciate what the writer did.This is
something that will take decades for peo-ple to accept, if it ever
is. Theres actually a newgraffiti style that some are calling
postmoderngraffiti. People are going out into the streets anddoing
incredible abstract pieces which if thosewho found graffiti
offensive saw in a museumtheyd actually appreciate. Graffiti as art
is not aneasy idea to grasp; there are unwritten rules thatchange
from generation to generation.
Those angered by the illegal nature of graf-fiti should also be
angered by the HomewoodCity Council ruling. The YAB painters say
thatthey were attempting to make a move into legiti-mate,
sanctioned work, and the decision againstthe artistic status of
their piece has sent themback into the anonymous cover of night.
Theyrenot buying us the paint, they say, but hell, if wehad a
legitimate outlet we wouldnt feel the needto do pieces without
permission. We would liketo do more elaborate, better quality
pieces, withpermission. We thought the council understoodthat. It
was funny to hear them try to threaten anypieces that showed up
without permission withcharges and restitution, because thats how
westarted and what were comfortable with. Theyre
cover story Sam George
not in a position to do that. Illegal night pieces iswhat we
do.
Its not enough to just say graf fiti is art andbe done with it,
so to illustrate my point, I haveenlisted the help of local
photographer and graf-fiti enthusiast Leah Jane Henderson.
Hendersonhas been putting together a compilation of localgraffiti
photographs and has been kind enough toallow me to publish some of
her favorites here.
As a photographer I am slightly obsessedwith documenting parts
of my life, saysHenderson, what I think is beautiful,
significant,catchy and impressionable and graffiti definitelyholds
those characteristics. I love the idea of pub-lically expressing
yourself, putting your thoughtsand impressions up on a canvas for
people to see,whether that canvas is a brick wall or in a
presti-gious gallery. A good graffiti piece takes
planning,sketching, precision and skill, all while performing
quickly and staying in the shadows. Despite thestereotypes that
come to mind, not all graffiti art-ists live in the slums and are
in gangs. This type ofcommunication links and draws people
togetherregardless of age, sex, ra ce, status, linguistics, etc.The
reasons for producing this urban art formdepend on the motives of
the artists, but youreputting your message out there and saying
this isme, this is what I am feeling. Your tag marks yourplace in
the world, it says I was here.
So, without further ado, here are someshots of some amazing
graffiti art, in and aroundBirmingham.
Sam George is the managing editor ofBirmingham Weekly. Please
send yourcomments to [email protected].
You Are Beautiful stencils in a doorway
on the North Side. Photo by Leah Jane
Henderson.
A giant wall mural of various tags on the North Side. Photo by
Leah Jane Henderson.
