I hesitate to even upload this crap to my site, but eventually the buzz about some artist rings so loud in my ears I have to do something. The above mural is typical of Can Two, who are doubly dammed for working in a medium that, to date, has produced exactly one artist worth more than ten seconds of your time, and for making his work “kid friendly”. Stylized, aribrushed, illegible text, uninspired color choices, urban hip-hop caricatures, sloppy composition. Instead of Bombing the Suburbs, how about we tar and feather the graffiti artists?
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Methinks someone has issues with tagging. While I agree that most graffiti is just what it implies, colorful and often illegible vandalism for the walls. I have to say that there are in fact some very talented artists who have worked in this medium. Examples are Banksy, Lady Pink and Dondi. Not to mention the fact, graffiti in general, like so many other art movements, began as a way for people to express their political and environmental views. The early renderings of art on cave walls, political charactictures in Rome and what we now see has urban sprawl are all creations of man trying to express themselves; therefore, should not just be dismissed because some amateurs came along and fogged up the essential meaning.
So, while Can Two offers little visual stimulation for me I appreciate a genuine representation of the art form he has chosen to represent in the manner it deserves.
Lady Pink and Dondi are mediocre. I would add Shepard Fairey, famous for the Andre (the giant) Has a Posse meme and the iconic Obama poster, as a great artist who also does graffiti/stencil art.
sorry James, but i agree with “the lala man”.
have a good look through this site (among others) and i would be surprised if you did not recant.
http://www.woostercollective.com/
Hi Cristophe,
I keep my eye on the WoosterCollective site and others, but overall I’m just not that impressed. For example right now their homepage shows some abandoned cars with “DECAY” and “VISUAL POLLUTION” written on them with drab lettering. Really, what’s the point? Is that supposed to be humor? Political statement?
-JM
‘Urban Mural Art’ has it’s place, but private-property–without the owners’ permission–isn’t it.
Calgary, where I live, has an idiotic grafitti bylaw, whereby the OWNER has to clean the tagwork up, or be fined and, hence, is screwed twice. Apparently, the Bylaw Department (headed by Bylaw Bruce–a man too fat to pass the PARE test and become a real cop) would rather not confront Indian Posse, or Fresh Off the Boat/FOB-Killer taggers.
Fair warning to anyone thinking of tagging, or otherwise ‘decorating’ MY property: I’ll smash your fingers with the poll of my axe; if you go to the cops, you can explain what you were doing in my yard.
*sigh* You know James it’s a pity. It’s a pity when somebody creative slates a specific artform for not being “art” simply because they do not understand it. I always thought that’s what separated us from “them”. Or are you creative? Are you just another one of the endless critics who pass judgement but cannot draw a straight line? I don’t know – but I hope not. Other than that your choices on this site are indeed good, and I am with you on many of the things you’ve shown here
Do you not like calligraphy? Most GOOD graffiti is experimentation with letter forms and colour. There is more to calligraphy than just “script style” letter forms from yesteryear. And Banksy? yawn yawn. Yet another person citing banksy as being the be all and end all of “urban art”. It may interest you to know that way back in the day Banksy started out as a normal graffiti artist, but was not so good with the artform – so resorted to stencils. Mentioning Banksy just shows your ignorance about an art movement – it’s like me mentioning ACDC as representing rock music as a whole, then point blank refusing to listen to anything else, closing the book and smugly saying “well that’s THAT done and dusted”
Would you be more accepting if it obviously said “James Maybe” or something you could relate to? But then again since when did art become good solely because one can “relate to it”. Personally i can’t relate to Cubism, but I still like it, and can see the skill involved in it
Please do not take this as me having a go at you, or trying to somehow undermine you, I live in an area which, if it were not for the plethera of colorful LEGAL graffiti murals, would be drab, boring and not worth living in – so I can see the value that good legal street art can add to urban culture.
Adam – I am sorry for your property and I agree – worthless tags defacing somebody’s property are just that – worthless. The problem with the graffiti art scene, is that it is mainly young kids who are responsible for damage such as this, the older graffiti artists who take their time producing well executed legal murals are not usually responsible – I feel they are not being represented here. But you are right, worthless taggers should be sent to a juvenile court.
P.S
Dondi and Lady Pink’s days are over 30 years old. Lets face it art buffs, the scene has moved on since then. It’s no longer about 70/80s New York and the subway trains. Have a look at Daim from Germany, or Okuda from Spain. Two artists which are worth mentioning. The quality and variety of modern “graffiti art” far outstrips the childish scrawlings of somebody like the then 20 year old “lady pink”
Hi andres,
Given your message and a number of others I’ve received via email and facebook, it’s clear that my dislike of most street art is an issue for people. I’ll write more about that soon. Meanwhile, whenever you have an artist who rises way above others in terms of notoriety, you can decide to be a contrarian and go, That’s just fake crap that sells to the dumb masses. But you have to be honest, even if that means embracing the already popular from time to time. Right now, Banksy *is* just about the be-all end-all of urban art. If he works better with stencils than directly by can, so what? So he’s not a “normal” graffiti artist. Again, so what? He’s talented, prolific, original, and able to make political statements with subtlety and humor, something almost no one else on the scene seems capable of.
Cheers,
JM
I find your website to be a great “gallery” for fantastic talent and inspiring work. However, I am disheartened to hear that you consider street art to be “just fake crap that sells to the dumb masses.” Similar things could be considered of the art praised on your website. Much of it is nothing more than an attempt to baffle with attention-needy color, unimportant and invaluable symbols, and meaningless technical talent. They lack culture, they lack passion, they lack basic truths, they lack passion. Art should be for the people, not squandered away from those deemed “unworthy.” Today, art is too often sanitized and packaged. It has been stripped of its edges, of the imperfections that create beauty. We can only praise that which does not offend, being to afraid to experience something genuine and meaningful. Do yourself a favor, be messy. Life is so much more fun that way.
“The more technique there is, the less there is.” -Picasso
Also, read Berger.
F*ck this website, you know nothing about graffiti art. Graffiti art takes more time to plan out, let alone carry out, than the stupid little Play-Doh you probably work with and call “art”. CanTwo is a graffiti legend, and his pieces always make someone who understand graffiti (clearly not this James Maybe guy) smile. F*ck you and f*ck your fruity-ass gay little website. CanTwo will live forever ya’ dumb bitch.
I love that Can 2, Lady Pink and Dondi are mediocre, and yet you’ve got a pen sketch of a squirrel pulling a peanut with eyes, out of a peanut shell with eye sockets on your page. Maybe we should tar and feather all the prissy conservative art snobs like James Maybe who refuse to accept or appreciate newer massive art movements? Granted, chicken scratches on telephone poles is not complex, but Can 2 is certainly not mediocre or sloppily composed, neither are Lady Pink and Dondi.