Spacejunk and Spreestra gallery take today a close look at 17 legendary graffiti artists who made the Graffiti Story.
Graffiti: the word takes its etymology from the ancient Greek wordgraphein which means to write, to draw or to paint at the same time…
The graffiti movement started in the late 60s in the US with graffiti artists such as Cornbread and Cool Earl in Philadelphia. It is in the 70s that the movement took its rise in New York.
In Europe, we had to wait until the 80s for the movement to appear, especially in Paris, London, Amsterdam and Berlin.
Nowadays, even if the graffiti-art is « everywhere », it is still misunderstood by the public. However it finds its origins in the study of the letter; in the very beginning the first graffiti artists defined themselves – some still do today – as “Writers”.
Rapidly, different graffiti styles appeared, from « Bubble Letters » to « Wild Style », through « flops » or insertion of characters in the works.
From 1978, with the very first art galleries, graffiti artists were ask to « set » their work « on » canvas. Except from archive images of the frescos of these times, these canvases are the only lasting and concrete testimony of the beginnings of the discipline.
Spacejunk offers you the opportunity to be immerged and to see more clearly into the origins of the graffiti and, by extension, of the Street-Art. Come and discover 19 great canvases, produced between 1982 and 1992, from the new-yorker movement main artists. You will also get to see 10 “burners”, theses entirely “graffed” wagons, photographed by Henry Chalfant. In addition, some photographs from these times and images of “Black Book”, graffiti preliminary sketches, will be displayed.
That’s is a unique chance to discover these historical artworks gathered by Willem Speerstra since de 80′s for the Speerstra’s collection. A must see in France for the first time!
Check full recap here
Art & Design Magazine
