Graffiti As Art

The Blu and David Ellis collaboration entitled “Combo” highlights the graffiti art form by setting in motion. Over the course of the stop motion animation, the viewer sees something that was once considered ‘vandalism’ transformed into something that is at once beautiful and masterfully executed. The results aren’t the work of teenage kids with spray cans doodling on the sides of buildings; these are artists dedicated to their craft creating images that stand alongside more conventional recognized art. As this video clearly demonstrates, graffiti culture has out-grown its underground status and entered mainstream culture as a legitimate form of artistic expression.

For further evidence that graffiti has transcended its fugitive roots, one has to look no further than New York City where graffiti artist have begun to find success on the auction block. One graffiti artist, know as Da Agitator, argues that this move is not unfounded, saying that graffiti is finally being recognized for what it always has been: a legitimate form of American folk art (6). Some artist object to this commercialization of the form for the very same reason, preferring that it instead remain relegated to the streets in its purest form. To be sure, graffiti has begun to blur the line between being a part of culture or bring a part of the larger art world.

Tatum, Wilbert. To Sell of Sell Out: Graffiti Goes on the Auction Block. New York Amsterdam News. 06/22/2000. Vol. 91, Issue 25.