Authors: Roger Gastman and Sonja Teri

Publisher: Mark Batty Publisher

ISBN: 978-0-9790486-1-6

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When Roger Gastman was fifteen years old he was first introduced to the Los Angeles graffiti while living in Bethesda, Maryland and often away touring with a band.  From that age Roger began to be very interested in this illegal cult.  Very soon he was trading pictures and stories with writers who were involved in this illegal craze which had taken  L.A by storm. L.A it is fair to say, was one of the first major cities in the world in which graffiti took off in a big way and made it so popular.

Now living in Los Angeles himself, Roger tried to view as much graffiti as possible and gained a great respect for it. He has produced this amazing collection of graffiti images with the help of Sonja Teri.

An interesting snippet of information is to be found in this marvellous book regarding the magazine Can Control which disappeared from the shelves but may well be making a comeback. This should no doubt please many graffiti fanatics.

Mention graffiti to people and many will moan and condemn it as street scrawl which defaces buildings and is carried out  by gangs of youths and thugs usually under cover of darkness.  However as this book shows us  it is an art form which opens our eyes to the cultural doodles that we see painted across walls, buildings and bridges that span our highways.  The artists who create this graffiti refer to these places as “heavens” giving them a ready made canvas to work on. This way they can get their work seen by more people and maybe help to make us more aware that these urban expressions appearing over night in cities and towns, are actually works of art done by individuals, both named and anonymous.

As I browsed through the first couple of pages, I instantly saw hidden meanings in these paintings. Perhaps there are expressions of freedom in their depths and have hidden messages from these artistic people who the author refers to as “ writers”. As I moved through this book I saw other things camouflaged in the many big flamboyant illustrations. I saw faces and hands twisting through letters peeking out at me.  There were arrows and skulls that seem to play a big part in this cultural stamp. Some skulls had crosses on their foreheads - is this perhaps a side to the graffiti scene that reflects religion?

There were some designs that represented war, especially a drawing captured on pages 28 and 29 of a cartoon army man holding what appears to be an explosive device. Another is a very atmospheric painting which seems to be an army of skeleton warriors, you can study this for ages and discover many more hidden creations which you don’t immediately spot.

A few of my personal favourites are the very colourful brash and bright paintings within the first few pages. These stand out at you and shout to get attention. I loved the brilliant blues and greens within the lettering and the faces that appear if you search long enough.

The absolutely marvellous, colourful and brilliant graffiti work on page 108 and 109, took my attention straight away. It is the work of a graffiti artist who has cunningly managed to get his/her artwork onto a wall which in the evening would stand out and catch the attention of passers by. It is one piece of art that people will not fail to miss.

Graffiti is also often seen on vehicles that have been customised although I’m not sure how I feel about that. Perhaps this is one side to the craze that goes too far?

 This book is a stunning attempt at illustrating how beautiful graffiti artwork often is. The pages are bright and vibrant, put together with an excellent layout.  The cover of the book grabs your attention with its gold font and the scenery spread out behind. Great attention has also been paid to the end leafs with fantastic purple and yellow drawings created by Steve Zeitzoff.

 It is obvious that this book has been put together by someone who has a great artistic flair and vision. I really want some graffiti art work on my own walls and will be on the look out for some posters, all because I can’t stop looking at the art in this great book.

I absolutely loved everything about this collection. I think even if you’re not a huge fan of graffiti this book may well convert you, for this really is a fabulous form of art. I’ll treasure this forever along with my other favourite books.

This really has the WOW factor!

The above review was contributed by: Jessica Roberts: Jessica has been a book reviewer for a newspaper and a national women's magazine and is working on a novel. To read more of Jessica's reviews CLICK HERE 

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