Tribute to London Graffiti Pioneers: Mixed Media on Canvas
Giving Graffiti A Bad Name?
The way that some graffiti has become sugar coated to appeal to the mainstream is vexing to many who pioneered the movement because the very mention of graffiti now often draws reference to threadbare clichés and anti-establishment posturing, neatly packaged rebellion to take away.
We early movers were seen as anti-social vandals and delinquent maniacs in the public perception, the very idea of it being in a gallery or perceived of as art was laughable. The only establishment recognition we anticipated was a kicking from London Transport staff and a nicking from the Old Bill.
No-one went into it with the ambition to do a gallery show or enhance a career. It was purely about getting your name up as often as possible in the finest style on trains using the freehand letter form as a medium, full stop. Much beautiful, diverse and ephemeral art was created, many creative seeds were sown.
The scene evolved and mutated into countless art-forms usually with early graffiti writers at the vanguard, producing groundbreaking new styles, in the studio and on the streets, using both the letterform and spray-can and virtually every other subject matter and medium including stencils, stickers and paste-ups. Somewhere along the line and by degrees a critical mass agreed that yes, it was art.
A new wave were inspired and emboldened and the movement has gone global producing the most amazing diversity, some of it now thoroughly mainstream. Much of this work defies labelling due to its’ endless variety.
No-one can doubt that this scene with it’s innovation and DIY ethic has revitalised an often inaccessible modern art world. What some graffiti writers take issue with is the way the term ‘Graffiti’ has been denigrated now that commercially driven stereotypes and saccharin gimmicks abound.
The street art phenomenon has resulted in a ‘gold rush’ with countless unimaginative imitators taking to the streets to put up what before would have doubtless have stayed on a telephone pad or tee shirt. While they assert that they are claiming space back from corporate control some of it is no more than cynical advertising for their latest print edition or gallery show.
The graffiti scene has always been characterised by anonymity through use of an enigmatic alias, anti establishment attitudes and dangerous clandestine activity. It is this aspect that legitimises much of the genre so even the most tenuous link to graffiti is often ‘spun’ by the PR machine of this new street art establishment keen to ensure their artists place on the bandwagon.
Rather than the street influencing the establishment the establishment seems to be influencing the street.
The Painting
In this painting I have gone back to the gritty roots of UK graffiti, to show where it all started, tags, throw-ups and early pieces on London trains.
The images from New York in the book Subway Art and the film Style Wars had radicalised fertile minds in 1984 where it incubated, mutated and developed through important years of early bombing. By 1986 London writers had become numerous and dedicated enough that most trains were running with live graffiti on them and confident enough to concoct identities and assimilate styles more independently of New York influence, by now using our own indigenous cultural references and attitudes.
This is when our scene really began in earnest as a uniquely London phenomenon rolling on the oldest underground railway in the world. Pieces got bigger more beautiful and more original, raising the bar higher and higher.
This painting is not meant to be a complete list of London’s graffiti pioneers but features many of London’s legends. I’ve painted it from my own personal memories with input from my pal Envy, one of my old bombing partners, and from my experiences of the yards (particularly Loughton) between 1987 and 1989.
Anyone who spent any time in the yards of London in the late eighties will instantly recognise the vintage rolling stock, layers of stains of old tags on the panels, empty cans on the gravel, and spookily quiet atmosphere in this painting.
It’s based on Loughton train yard. Check out the leaves around the outside and the trees to the left, it could be accessed through bushes and this was one of my favourite views of the fronts of the rolling stock as emerging.
I have put people’s tags and throw-ups in the places I remember them hitting wherever possible. I realise there are discrepancies that purists will notice, (I have included certain writers who didn’t actually hit that yard) but it’s not meant to be historically accurate more a ‘dream-yard’.
Featured writers are Robbo 484, Doze, Prime and PIC from WRH We Roc Hard crew. Envy, Jano, Kis 42, Coma and Dsia from CD Criminal Damage, Elk and Drax from WD World Domination, Cast and Fuel (who kindly did his own F throw-up on the canvas) from Cold Crush Dukes, Chane and Grand from YDS Yardies, Tilt, Hit, Rate, Kez, Sham 59, Cop and myself, Elate.
If you look carefully at the ‘stainers’ of old tags you may be able to pick out a few others. …there are many more legends that are missing than there are included!! Massive respect to all….
Many of these writers were either better artists than me back then or more ‘up’ than me and did more pieces on trains than me but I was still there doing my thing on the trains for a good couple of years and I spent a lot of my best memories bombing with some of these guys, who showed me the ropes and took me to yards, the others I looked up to and emulated their work.
The early graffiti scene was however vital to my development and one of the biggest influences on what made me the artist I am today. I can almost feel the crunch of gravel under my feet, surge of adrenalin thumping in my heart and the sickly smell of the paint fumes…
I got the idea for this series of paintings as this was a time in history that most never got to see, so decided to try and get the vibe of those mad days across as well as I could. Anyone who wants to see photos from this era of London graffiti should check out Rocking The City.
Get my RSS feed and get updates to your desktop
