Graffiti: Early Oppression Of The Art Community

Graffiti is writing or drawings put on a wall or other surface in a public place. The act of graffiti originated in ancient times, and was used by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Now graffiti is present in most places around the world in order to make a statement. Graffiti has become very popular over the years but is now being seen differently. Like anything associated with the modernization of the arts, graffiti is becoming more prevalent and gaining the acceptance as an actual form of art. While being appreciated by many as a unique expression of social views. One can still recognize early oppression of the raw works that occurred in the earlier ages in today’s art community. Through graffiti, Americans are able to express their own views

Many blacks came from the South to get away from an oppressive caste system, in order to find a place where they could freely express their talents. (Wormser) During this time, blacks moved towards the North to be able to freely express themselves without being inferior to another race. The main way blacks chose to express their personality was through different art forms. Harlem became an art central and was the starting place of many new music types and the development of unique art. Aaron Douglas was an artist that painted murals for public buildings and also illustrated ‘The New Negro’. (Aaron Douglas) By being a very popular artist during the Harlem Renaissance, Douglas’s work was well recognized especially because it is placed on public buildings. This allowed for his artwork to be exposed to a large number of the public. Although Douglas’s work is not considered vandalism like graffiti, the public display of the art is similar to the works of graffiti that began in New York. The works of graffiti is closely related to hip-hop culture that started during the Harlem Renaissance. The start of the new hip-hop culture and the beginning of graffiti moved over to New York and began to grow. Starting in the late 1960s, graffiti came to New York and began a

But each individual artist is different on how and what they create. Some artists just tag their names or create small things that do not necessarily portray a message. Cornbread was one of the first graffiti artists in New York that became widely popular because he tagged his name on to public property. Cornbread started tagging when he was in a juvenile institution when he was 10 and started tagging walls in the streets in 1967. After tagging walls for about two years, Cornbread made an impact and became the world’s first modern day graffiti artist. When his friend, Corn, passed away, people went around screaming “Corn has been shot!” and the press believed it was Cornbread that had died. To ensure that his name did not die, he broke into the Philadelphia Zoo and spray painted an elephant saying “Cornbread lives.” After, he continued to vandalize other public property. His work began to spread and influenced many others to start tagging as well (Admin). For instance, another popular graffiti artist, TAKI 183 started tagging in 1970 (TAKI 183). He became widely known for his name because he would tag anything. He would tag the political campaign posters that were hung