For immediate release
“Legal Graffiti” - A Photography Exhibit by FLINT...
St. George Library, Staten Island, NY. 10301
During regular hours until October 2005

Legal Graffiti

Without being chased by cops, many artists who did graffiti on subways and other forms of public property can now take the time and concentration to implement their original artistry without the fear of being arrested. Flint Gennari (the photographer whose photos you are looking at) is quite an accomplished artist and has been there.

Since the development of modern graffiti took over in the inner city, a number of prospering arts organizations have taken notice of these artistic “fugitives.” An aspiring artist and sociology major named Hugo Martinez noticed the potential of his generation of artists. He became enthused by assisting these struggling artists in making a name for themselves. Over the years he has stimulated the growth of these artists and has become a superstar in the graffiti art world. For starters, he organized graffiti artists under the banner United Graffiti Artists (UGA) and in and out of his Martinez Gallery he front lined many outreach programs over the course of thirty years. His most recent project, called “Project in the Projects,” allows for the beauty of artwork to be reflected off of some of the poorest, run-down housing developments in the city. Over the past few months, Martinez Gallery has helped to invigorate many low-income buildings by taking necessary steps to beautify it with stunning graffiti visuals and decorate it with favorable styles. The resulting experiment involves not just not just simply slapping graffiti on walls but attempting to refurbish and incorporate design elements to renovate such places. With low-cost refurbishing tools, these pioneers of fresh construction continue to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people.

Another major outreach art organization goes by the name of The 5 Pointz, responsible for providing a building complex in which people from all walks of life and backgrounds come and take part in the wonders of graffiti art. After a tenant/landlord dispute resulting in the collapse of the Fun Factory (its previous name) it was reborn courtesy of Meres, the overseer of Five Pointz who proposed to go under a new name and image. With his broadened connections, Meres was able to successfully showcase the best of aerosol works. To date, there have been 600 displays put up thanks to the contributions of writers from Holland, Italy, Paris, Boston, Miami, Canada and Los Angeles and of course the five boroughs.

The object of these programs was to take the best of graffiti art and help clean up the streets. These artists have been accused of vandalism but such acts only come about in their pursuit of harnessing their creativity. Most common folk see the practice of graffiti to be vulgar and crude, completely ignoring the decadent side to the graffiti ritual. Over the years however, thanks to the efforts of such organizations like the Martinez Gallery, the public scope of mind has become more appreciative of this brand of artwork. Terms such as “aerosol art and street art” have come into existence to downplay the vandalism aspects.

On July 16, 2005 Old Timer’s Day, the annual artistic celebration of the nations most professional and long-standing artists came together again. It honors those underground artists who had commenced the revolution and pays homage to them. These urban professionals conduct these events annually in honor of their incredible achievements in the art world. This type of “street artwork” shouldn’t be referred to as graffiti, but instead urban or aerosol art. Old Timer’s Day take place in Long Island City and reflects off of the shadow of the City Core Building. In any event, the spirits of graffiti artists are in full force and many are Old Skool Kings.

On another note, in step with technology, the worldwide web has many sites that cris-cross the graffiti culture. The artists represented on www.149st.com are apart of the New York City Cyberbench that aims at encapsulating the history of artistic writing. Ranging from political activists aiming to promote messages, or graffiti artists marking their territory, the artists of www.SubwayOutlaws.com reads like a who’s who of the culture. One of the newest sites is www.exvandals.com which brings up to date some of the writers and artists that started this cultural phenomenon.

Throughout some still call it vandalizing and the police would like the public to believe that ”any neighborhood that condones graffiti or graffiti looking art is promoting drugs and prostitution” the truth is that modern graffiti is an American Art Form that the young and old are using to express themselves and contribute to. All of their endeavors enable the art to grow, survive and continues to breathe new life into the world.