88

AEROSOL ART ON BORROWED MEDIA

Graffiti writers are the scribes
of our day. They are counter¬
culture calligraphers with a
can instead of a quill. I love
graffiti, as long as it's not on
my garage. I see it as sympto¬
matic of a culture that, at the
leadership level, has little use
for art or artists and relegates
those of us with the most
meager means to virtual out¬
law status. Such an attitude
extends to all that is creative
or provocative of thought. In
1671, Sir William Berkeley,
Virginia's colonial governor,
candidly discussed the dumb-
ing-down of Americans that
today would find little dis¬
agreement in the uppermost
echelons of government: "I
thank God we have not free
schools nor printing, and I
hope we shall not have these
hundred years. For learning
has brought disobedience and
heresy and sects in the world,
and printing has divulged
them and libels against the
government." Top right, LM
(Little-Man) from Philadelphia
posed in front of his piece
painted on a wall in Tijuana,
2002. Left, calligraphy, 1955,
from A to M by Arnold Bank,
an expert in historic "hand-
styles," looks amazingly like
graffiti. Right and below, pho¬
tos by the author of artistic
vandalism in his 'hood.

LOGO, FONT a LETTERING BIBLE

Graffiti gangs challenge each other with skills and art, and many artists have said that if it hadn't been
for graffiti, there would have been a lot more violence. Every city has its "wall of fame" to showcase all
the top talents. If you have a good reputation, you'll be invited to join all the top crews.

' The world of

graffiti has its
superstars and
sages, who won't
be kept inside any
cages. Graffiti
writing evolved
through many
stages, but some
early styles are
lost to the ages."
—Braze

89

Philadelphia-born aerosol
artist Braze came over and
tagged this page. Like
many graffiti writers, he
claims extensive knowl¬
edge of regional "hand-
styles" as demonstrated
here. Far left, his own sig¬
nature in typical old-school
Philly tallprint. Above left,
the Philly "print hand,"
popular in all boroughs,
became a universal style.
Left, a Braze masterpiece
coming soon to a wall near
you. Center left in green,
new-school script evolved
as writers entered the
game after all the stylistic
innovations of the 1990s
had been introduced. West
coast writers took the New
York script and addjethe
ew lunacy," theijvsion
thej^f&üWaffiti