brand of the typical North American city found useful in ad campaigns and designer bags.

Graffiti is today a genre of respectability that has even found a place with school parent committees. Graffiti, images or lettering scratched, painted or marked on property has been found in ruins of ancient Greece, Pompeian brothels, Mayan structures in Guatemala, Egyptian pyramids marked by Napoleons soldiers in the 18th century, and throughout WWII Europe with the ubiquitous wallpeeping Kilroy was here scrawled by Given the politically subversive and usually anonymous nature of graffiti there is no small irony in the fact that its makers today openly declare their allegiance to the genre and assume an air of legitimacy. In recent history, the graffiti artist identified only by an esoteric tag challenged the eyes and minds of the public with a kind of streetwise propaganda that city officials tolerated only in small doses. When graffiti began to saturate cities starting in the 1970s, it clashed with municipal legislators who mandated fines and gray paint to roll over the work left on school walls, subway cars and in alleys. And yet, as it is with all art forms of the 20th century, the evolution of graffiti art conforms to a pattern: new artistic energies are rapidly absorbed by commercial interests, the art gallery and auction house. Graffiti art has morphed from political swipe and a fearful mark of territory to a familiar American soldiers. The inherent political, broadcasting nature of graffiti appealed to activists and gang members in the late 1960s and 70s in Philadelphia and New York City who marked their territory and bombed the city with their messages on subway cars. The anonymity of graffiti, however, made way for tags or disguised signatures like the well known TAKI 183, a blend of the artists name Demetraki and his street number, 183rd . However, with the spread of graffiti culture there were soon too many inviting walls and trains overwhelmed with graphics and color. Differences in style, musical and Hip Hop inspirations and approaches like the top-tobottoms or the elaborate throw up tag blurred as competitive bombings escalated. Ultimately, the NYC Transit Authority began its own campaign to eradicate graffiti using video surveillance and the Clean Train

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Heather Fraser

Page 390 | Toronto Graffiti

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