in the late 70's the grafitti scene
was really taking off, and there was hardly an unmarked
blank wall, truck or bus side or subway car to be found in
New York City at the time. The Police were waging an all out
war against grafitti artists as vandals and criminals.
There
was a raging debate over wether it was "Art" or vandalism.
It did not help that most of the artists were poor, young and
people
of color. But there was no denying the talent of some of these
young people and the vibrancy of their typographic distortions.
Still, it's wasn't till Keith
Haring, a white guy, became an activist,
went into the galleries and into marketing his work, that "street"
artists began to get any props. |