Art Crimes The Writing on the Wall

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions Graffiti has since evolved into a pop culture existence often related to underground hip hop music and b-boying creating a lifestyle that remains hidden from the general public

Many favoured painting sites became heavily guarded, yards were patrolled, newer and better fences were erected, and buffing of pieces was strong, heavy, and consistent. As a result of subways being harder to paint, more writers went into the streets, which is now, along with commuter trains and box cars, the most prevalent form of writing. Many graffiti artists, however, chose to see the new problems as a challenge rather than a reason to quit.

Marc Ecko, an urban clothing designer, has been an advocate of graffiti as an art form during this period, stating that "Graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career.

Keith Haring was another well-known graffiti artist who brought Pop Art and graffiti to the commercial mainstream. In the 1980s, Haring opened his first Pop Shop: a store that offered everyone access to his works—which until then could only be found spray-painted on city walls.

Graffiti has become a common stepping stone for many members of both the art and design community in north America and abroad. Within the United States Graffiti Artists such as Mike Giant, Pursue, Rime, Noah and countless others have made careers in skateboard, apparel and shoe design for companies such as DC Shoes, Adidas, Rebel8 Osiris or Circa[

A more complex style is "wildstyle", a form of graffiti usually involving interlocking letters and connecting points. Some of the most common styles of graffiti have their own names. A "tag" is the most basic writing of an artist's name, it is simply a handstyle. Another form is the "throw-up," also known as a "bombing" which is normally painted very quickly with two or three colors, sacrificing aesthetics for speed.