Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Los Angeles Graffiti

Author: Roger Gastman and Sonja Teri

ISBN: 0-9790486-1-3

What can you say about graffiti that hasn’t already been said? That it’s illegal and those who practice it are criminals? That it’s an eyesore? That it contributes to hazardous road and rail conditions? That it is indeed a legitimate form of art and those who practice it are artists? That it is a political statement? That it reclaims common, public space in the interests of ordinary people?

Arguments between the opposing positions will be around for as long as people apply spray paint to walls, rail cars, and any other expansive surface that doesn’t benefit from twenty-four hour security surveillance.

Fortunately, Los Angeles Graffiti, a new book from Mark Batty Publisher, edited by Roger Gastman and Sonja Teri doesn’t engage in any debates. Rather, using a simple design and full color photographs, it allows the varied and evolving world of Los Angeles graffiti art to speak for itself; to offer it’s own defense, or its own indictment.

This work succeeds as a cultural documentation of a popular art form, capturing and preserving images that, by their nature, are transient and in a constant state of flux.

There is beauty in the artwork yes, uses of color, shape, and texture that create dazzling, if not incomprehensible images like the panoramic mural by graffiti writer RIME that covers page 20 and 21.

Other notable pieces include an energetic tag by SEVER on page 54 and the caricature laden collaborative piece by EWOK, REVOK, WITNES, and KRUSH on pages 108 and 109.

While it may be tempting, if not cynical, to think of books like this as a biased attempt to showcase only the best that graffiti has to offer, the editors maintain a balance by refusing to shy away from some pieces that, whether intentionally or not, can only be described as ugly. The hastily scrawled tag by SKREW on page 35 and the undecipherable products of LACMA shown on pages 110 and 111, do nothing to support the claim that all graffiti is art.

Roger Gastman’s short introduction at the beginning, and his interview with  POWER, an L.A. writer and founder of the graffiti culture magazine “Can Control” manage to contextualize the L.A. graffiti scene in general terms like, “L.A. graffiti writers in this huge landmass ended up with their own single scenes.” This may be enough information for someone involved with graffiti art, but leaves the casual reader lacking a clear understanding of what drives, inspires, and appeals to the individuals who risk life and freedom for their art.

Since Los Angeles Graffiti makes no excuses for graffiti, doesn’t bother offer a comprehensive exploration of the evolution of the L.A. scene, and adds nothing to the debate about its merits as an art form, the only thing that’s left is the work itself; over 120 pages of colorful, intriguing, confusing, and always interesting works of urban art.

The above review was contributed by: Christopher Friesen-Writer and Book Reviewer from Canada. To read more of Chris's reviews CLICK HERE