Graffiti

Right from the jump; it’s all here. FUTURA 2000, the Bronx, graffiti, street culture, 50 years of art history…, like there are few art forms, and an artist for that matter, that represent a particular era (and the transcendence of said era to move through the years) quite like FUTURA. He and graffiti go together, even though FUTURA didn’t linger in graff for too long. He took the freedom, the expression of it, and took it with him. I think that is an important part of the lore of the great FUTURA; his is a story of taking the essence of a thing and moving it through his life, applying it to all endeavors while not repeating the act to…

Ah, its nice to have a little color talk here on the podcast. Dublin, Irelands’ ⁠ACHES⁠ is a theorist of color. He combines a multitude of ideas and styles into his work, whether graffiti, murals, painting, graphic design, all into an aesthetic that is deservedly his and one of the more unique in the street genre. When you see an ACHES, you know its him.

Currently on view at BEYOND THE STREETS in Los Angeles is PINK CLOUD, a bit of a Hall of Fame line-up of artists that have been featured in Juxtapoz including 2x cover artist Todd James. As part of the show, Todd has works on paper available for sale, which you can get RIGHT HERE!

On the occasion of his latest book, Monumental Graffiti, Rafael Schacter sat down with our good friend Doug Gillen of FifthWallTV to talk about just that, his love for graffiti and his book that “focuses on the material, communicative, and contextual aspects of these two forms of material culture to provide a timely perspective on public art, citizenship, and the city today.” 

The perks and drawbacks of being a masked figure are roughly the same: nobody can know you. While this anonymity frees graffiti artists like GATS (Graffiti Against the System), it also means the painter has had to connect with their audience beyond a personal identity. Over decades of painting city walls, warehouses, underpasses, and highways worldwide, GATS has built a community that instantly recognizes the bearded or toothed mask as representing the artist’s presence. In their newest solo exhibition with Harman Projects, Midnight, GATS recontextualizes the familiar masked face with a sense of play and irreverence, leaning into the freedom of being a masked figure themselves.