Passenger Trains > Subway graffiti, 30 years later

Subway graffiti is often described as paint thrown up by Vandals, but that's not always the case.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the legacy of former subway graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. He started his art career in the NYC subway. Painting cars.

His work eventually captured the record for work by an American artist at auction. $110 million. Imagine if the subway authority could cut away the panels and sell them.

His contemporaries Rammellzee and Torick Ablack also started on the subway. Cars, tunnels, stations.

Irony!

Paywall https://www.wsj.com/articles/art-from-the-streets-of-new-york-11602266267?mod=hp_listc_pos2

Posted from Android

"Graffiti Artist" is an oxymoron.  It truly disgusts me seeing all those uglied up cars roll by.  Watching a video from a few years back really accentuates how bad it's gotten.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/09/20 18:43 by Deep-Rough.

It is sick, how the "anything goes" media, both mass and social, have glorified these vandals.

Deep-Rough Wrote:
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> "Graffiti Artist" is an oxymoron.  It truly
> disgusts me seeing all those uglied up cars roll
> by.  Watching a video from a few years back
> really accentuates how bad it's gotten.

In the case of New York City Transit Authority subway cars, the graffiti was pretty much eliminated 30+ years ago.  During my time in Albany, NY from 1984 through early 1989, I made many trips to New York City.  The progress made in eradicating graffiti during that time period was truly remarkable.  A great David Gunn legacy.