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Graffiti art
Graffiti art (also called Spraycan art and Subway art). A type of painting based on the kind of spraycan vandalism familiar in cities all over the world and specifically in the New York subway system; the term can apply to any work in this vein, but refers particularly to a vogue in New York in the 1980s (several commercial galleries specialized in it at this time and a Museum of American Graffiti opened there in 1989). The best-known figures of Graffiti art are Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) and Keith Haring (1958–90), both of whom enjoyed huge reputations (and prices) during their brief careers, which were ended for Basquiat by a drugs overdose and for Haring by AIDS. Basquiat was a genuine street artist who ‘crossed over’ into the gallery world (although he came from an upper-middle-class family and was not the ‘urban noble savage’ that some of his publicity maintained); Haring had an art school training but adopted a cartoon-like style based on graffiti. Basquiat in particular continues to have a large following; in 1996 a film about his life was released (directed by Julian Schnabel) and in the same year Edward Lucie-Smith wrote that his work ‘possesses immense energy and a vast range of cultural reference … It is perhaps the most fascinating product of the New York art scene during this period’ (Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century). Many critics, however, consider his reputation grossly inflated; Robert Hughes parodied him and Haring as ‘ Keith Boring and Jean-Michel Basketcase'.
Graffiti art had less of a vogue in Britain. In 1996 a young man called Simon Sunderland was given a five-year jail sentence for a campaign of graffiti vandalism in the Sheffield area. However, he was released later that year to take up a place at art college, having found ‘a sense of purpose and direction in his art'. |
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-Graffitiart.html IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art. 1999. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O5-Graffitiart.html |
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Graffiti
GRAFFITIGRAFFITI. From the Italian graffito (scribbling), the practice of drawing symbols, images, or words on private or public surfaces without permission. Ancient Romans wrote graffiti, as have many of the world's cultures. The modern graffiti movement, associated with the hip-hop culture of break dancing and rap music, started primarily among black and Latino teenagers in Philadelphia and New York in the late 1960s. In 1971, the New York Times ran a story about "Taki 183," a messenger who had been writing his "tag," or stylized signature, all over New York, and graffiti took off. "Taggers" and "burners," who painted elaborate "pieces," short for masterpieces, usually wrote on subway cars, which had the advantage of moving their writing across the city. Graffiti elicited strong opinions. To graffiti writers, it was a thriving subculture. To many intellectuals, it was a new and vital art form. To city officials, however, graffiti was illegal vandalism. New York established an anti-graffiti task force and an undercover graffiti police unit and spent many millions of dollars on experimental solvents and train yard security improvements. By the mid-1980s, New York had cut down on graffiti, but by then the art form had spread across the United States and to Europe. A new kind of "gang graffiti" that marks territory and sends messages to rival gangs became common in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. BIBLIOGRAPHYAbel, Ernest L., and Barbara E. Buckley. The Handwriting on the Wall: Toward Sociology and Psychology of Graffiti. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1977. Phillips, Susan A. Wallbangin': Graffiti and Gangs in L.A. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Powers, Stephen. The Art of Getting Over: Graffiti at the Millennium. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. Jeremy Derfner See also Art: Self-Taught Artists . |
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Cite this article
Derfner, Jeremy. "Graffiti." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Derfner, Jeremy. "Graffiti." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801756.html Derfner, Jeremy. "Graffiti." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801756.html |
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Graffiti art
Graffiti art. A style of painting based on the type of spray-can vandalism familiar in cities all over the world and specifically in the New York subway system; the term can apply to any work in this vein, but refers particularly to a vogue in New York in the 1980s (several commercial galleries specialized in it at this time and a Museum of American Graffiti opened there in 1989). The best-known figures of Graffiti art are Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) and Keith Haring (1958–90), both of whom enjoyed huge reputations (and prices) during their brief careers, which were ended for Basquiat by a drugs overdose and for Haring by AIDS. Basquiat was a genuine street artist who ‘crossed over’ into the gallery world; Haring had an art school training but adopted a primitivistic style based on graffiti. Robert Hughes satirized them as ‘Keith Boring and Jean-Michel Basketcase’.
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-Graffitiart.html IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Oxford Dictionary of Art. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O2-Graffitiart.html |
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Graffiti art
Graffiti art A style of painting based on the type of spray-can vandalism familiar in cities all over the world and specifically in the New York subway system; the term can apply to any work in this vein, but refers particularly to a vogue in New York in the 1980s (several commercial galleries specialized in it at this time and a Museum of American Graffiti opened there in 1989). The best-known figures of Graffiti art are Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–88) and Keith Haring (1958–90), both of whom enjoyed huge reputations (and prices) during their brief careers, which were ended for Basquiat by a drugs overdose and for Haring by AIDS. Basquiat was a genuine street artist who ‘crossed over’ into the gallery world; Haring had an art school training but adopted a primitivistic style based on graffiti. Robert Hughes satirized them as ‘Keith Boring and Jean-Michel Basketcase’.
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Cite this article
IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-Graffitiart.html IAN CHILVERS. "Graffiti art." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O3-Graffitiart.html |
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graffiti
graf·fi·ti / grəˈfētē/ • pl. n. (sing. -to / -tō/ ) [treated as sing. or pl.] writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place: the walls were covered with graffiti | [as adj.] a graffiti artist. • v. [tr.] write or draw graffiti on (something): he and another artist graffitied an entire train. ∎ write (words or drawings) as graffiti. DERIVATIVES: graf·fi·tist / -tist/ n. |
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Cite this article
"graffiti." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "graffiti." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-graffiti.html "graffiti." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-graffiti.html |
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graffiti
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "graffiti." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "graffiti." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-graffiti.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "graffiti." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-graffiti.html |
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graffiti
graffiti
•Albacete, eighty, Haiti, Katy, Kuwaiti, Leyte, matey, pratie, slaty, weighty
•safety • frailty
•dainty, painty
•hasty, pastie, pasty, tasty
•suzerainty
•Beatty, entreaty, graffiti, meaty, Nefertiti, peaty, sleety, sweetie, Tahiti, titi, treaty
•beastie, yeasty
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Cite this article
"graffiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "graffiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-graffiti.html "graffiti." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-graffiti.html |
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