The Writing’s On The Wall
Reone. Image courtesy of Wallspankers.com
Graffiti. The word is simple, the reaction is mixed. The apprehension is usually from the sharp-slanted words that are obscene to a grown man. Some graffiti artists lay off the insulting characters and instead go for the heart. When an insinuating graphic is tagged on the side of a brick building, it becomes a kind of two-faced structure; the artistic and ordinary, the normal and sporadic. It is harsh beauty from any angle. It is the bastard son of oil and watercolor. But still… art.
In the high-end world of brand-names, there began an onslaught of shirts and track jackets, purses and clasps, all depicting “graffiti”–but in reality it was little more than italic writing in pretty colours (incomparable these brand name styles to the artwork on building walls from Wallspankers , a showcase of different artists “spanking walls” with ingenious and original works of art). After perusing the sides of unsuspecting buildings and gathering information about the art, these brand name designs just don’t give the graphic styles justice.
But there does seem to be some hope for the honestly interested in this dark art.
James Rodriguez (aka “Sexer“) and Luis Lamboy (aka “Zimad“) have become the creators behind Graf Limited, a new clothing label that showcases wearable graffiti graphics. Different collages of graffiti and original graphics make the online collections groundbreaking. Zimad writes about how graffiti is a changing, if not fluid design. “From beginning to present, each and every one of my works is different from the one before, you can easily see the transformation from graffiti artist to something a little more different, maybe a little controversial, maybe a bit a conformist.” From the concrete wall to the sellable tee shirt, the graffiti artists turned retailers have begun to bridge the gap between graffiti and graffiti design.
At Art Work Rebels on Market Street in San Francisco, Jason Kundell showcases amazing works in art, on tee shirts and on bodies. The graffiti-artist-gone-clothing-designer (and tattoo artist) has made quite a name for himself while touring the world with his designs and otherwise enjoying the success of the moment. Although the “graff” artist has mostly become a tattoo prodigy, his clothing designs are nothing short of making a statement (that can be peeled off the skin, washed, and hung on a hanger afterwards. In other words, not a tattoo.)
For a few, graffiti will never be art, design, or anything other than a defacing crime. For others it’s a watered-down version of the real art of graffiti, a marketable approach that looks great with that brand name on the tag. But for that select few, graffiti is a form of art, an expression of the artist and a way of making themselves seen throughout loud cities. The artists have proved diverse, becoming fluent in everything from graffiti artistry to clothing designs and tattoos. Perhaps these kinds of art are what some would render too permanent, too delinquent, and too peculiar. Then again, what would art be if not these things?
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Filed under: Art & Design
Shout out to Zimad!
Cool brother.
Very proud of my boy Zimad…
Shout to my boyz Sexer and Zimad. Bronx Art lives…..