Donate SIGN UP
Home > Arts & Literature > Articles > Has graffiti been around for along as paint

Has graffiti been around for along as paint

00:00 Sun 10th Jun 2001 | Arts & Literature

asked Chicken

�

A. Well, the word 'graffiti' actually derives from the Greek word graphein, which means: to write. This should give you some idea of how long people have been trying to make their mark on walls.�It is thought that humans first began drawing on�walls in the Stoneage when they decorated the insides of their caves.

�

Q. What about graffiti as we know it today

A. 'Modern day' graffiti is thought to have developed in the Bronx area of New York in the 1960s. Someone 'tagging' himself 'Taki 183' began marking�every area that he�visited with this tag mark - a graffiti artist's signature. Soon Taki became something of a local celebrity and the inspiration for many other young people. New York quickly became covered with the 'tag' marks of hundreds of individuals.

�

Q. When did graffiti turn into an art form

A. Well, Taki 183 and his merry band of followers were limited by their equipment, they had to make do with the marker pen. It was the advent of the spray paint can that made the�work more eye catching and turned the so called graffiti writers into graffiti artists.

�

Q. Have any graffiti artists�been recognised by the international art world as artists with real talent

A. Keith Haring is probably the most famous graffiti artist. His work soared in value after he abandoned making his mark on public property and�began exhibiting in galleries. Soon gallery owners were fighting to display his wares.

�

Q. How did he become so prominent in the art world

A. Keith Haring was born on 4 May, 1958 in Pennsylvania. At the age of two he�began displaying signs of his artistic genius. Art was the only lesson that really fascinated him in his school career. He went to art college in Pittsburgh, but soon left there for the School of Visual Arts in New York.

�

Keith�loved New York life, he immersed himself in the thriving youth culture and was drawn into the graffiti scene. He once said: 'Graffiti were the most beautiful things I ever saw. The kids who were doing it were very young and from the streets, but they had this incredible mastery of drawing which totally blew me away. I mean, just the technique of drawing with spray paint is amazing, because it's incredibly difficult to do.'

�

In 1980, soon after leaving art school Haring began drawing his own graffiti on the streets. He drew very simple shapes: flying saucers, pyramids, TVs, people, etc. It was his baby figure with rays around that became his signature and his work could soon be seen all over the New York subway system.

�

In 1982 his first legal public exhibition went on show in a New York gallery. Over 4000 people attended and Keith finally became a 'name' on the international art circuit and began exhibiting across the world.

�

Sadly Keith's life was cut short and

he�died of AIDS on February 16, 1990 aged 31-years-old.

�

To ask more questions about art click here

�

By Anna Tobin

Do you have a question about Arts & Literature?