THE GRAFFITI SHOW
Getting the unwieldy cans of color to conform to such elaborate visual agendas requires both variously gauged nozzle caps and disciplined maneuvers of wrist and hand, but the resulting complex gradations of hue and line work well in the service of the aggressive, larger-than-life images. The singing color and granular texture make for an improbably beautiful cross between watercolor painting and TV.
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Graffiti’s radical democracy can be intimidating. All in attendance at the Graffiti Show’s opening night were invited to add their own work to the gallery walls, and scores of exuberant mark makers filled every nook and cranny of the space. They climbed on each other’s shoulders to reach high places on the walls and crouched low to fill space near the floor. In time, with the onslaught of hundreds of hands, discrete letters and pictures and names melted together.
They then posted sternly lettered signs prohibiting possession of alcohol, drugs, or weapons. Tagging was forbidden in undesignated sections of the gallery. The evening’s second round of visitors were not allowed to enter and leave the gallery at will, and many were physically searched for weapons as they purchased tickets at the door. Though the undercover cops the gallery had requested never showed up, the police did assign additional squad cars to the area for the evening, and at least two people were arrested for illegal possession of spray paint.
