LA Times Article: Cristian Gheorghiu

From the last post, I was skimming over the Los Angeles Times and found an article on Cristian Gheorghiu titled: “Graffiti Art: A Creative Solution.”

Resembling the graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who painted on public property before crossing into canvas, Gheorghiu was a street graffiti artist known as “Smear” who was arrested multiple times and owes $23,000 in property damages.

Now, he paints legally. However, City Atty. Carmen Trutanich, has filed to sue Gheorghiu for damages for his past endeavors. He was arrested in 2009 for his affiliation with a graffiti group he ran with called "MTA". The group had created a 100-meter wide mural along the basin of the Los Angeles River. Although he had stopped painting with the group, he had been arrested for past affiliation.

In 2006, he crossed into being a serious artist by having his first gallery in San Francisco. Now, his large pieces go for $2500, according to the article. 

                                                            Photo by Los Angeles Times

The Art Emerges

History is important to understand any movement, including graffiti art.

Modern graffiti culture is embedded in a underground movement of artists, hip-hop musicians, and break dancers. New York City commenced the movement in the 1960s.

The city subways were immersed in colorful, intricate, and impressive art. The New York City subways worked as moving murals of these artists through the city.

A PBS film called “Style Wars” (there's a clip at the end of this entry) documented the coming out of graffiti, hip hop, and break-dancing. “Bombing” was a term used by artist to describe their work as being displayed on trains rolling from one side of the city to the next.

During this time, emerged some infamous graffiti artists, including: Phase 2, Dondi, Min One and Zephyr.

A famous artist in the 1980s was Jean-Michel Basquiat who rose to fame through his signature SAMO graffiti but then left the streets for canvases. He died tragically at age 27 from a drug overdose.

And the graffiti art exploded under the hip-hop movement.

This is a clip of the movie "Style Wars"

Venice Beach Graffiti

The sharp-edged script tagging on a Metro train ride into downtown hardly look like art. But, slightly off the boardwalk of Venice Beach, the walls of colorful portraits and creative abundance are hard to miss.

So the question is what is graffiti? It is everywhere – on the walls, freeway signs, in art galleries, on clothes, even in bathroom stalls.

The question baffles me because graffiti is everything. It permeates many facets of life and is interwoven in history. And, it's transformation is ever changing. From the primitive drawing's and scratchings on walls to the more modern-day graffiti, it continues to maneuver its way in society.

The more modern day graffiti is associated with a culture behind the art. It's a part of underground hip-hop, the “B-Boy/Girl” culture. It is also associated with gang territory. It is an expression through pictures and words. It is anarchy. It is a way to make political statements. The definition is relative.

But, the focus here is on the exploration of the culture and art of the modern-day movement.

Although graffiti continues to be stigmatized with crime, there are outlets for graffiti artists. Venice Beach has walls for graffiti artists to outlet their creativity. Every artist needs a permit to paint on the walls. And, every piece is temporary as new artists are continually painting over previous ones. The best part, it's a free permit for the artists.

As the exploration continues, more posts to come soon.