In the recent LA Weekly’s story about the Seventh Letter Crew there’s a link to their 1989 cover story on graffiti. Together the two articles give a full circle picture of the state of LA graff.

GOING UP IN L.A. by Ruben Martinez discusses the history of graffiti in Los Angeles, delineating the Eastside and Westside divide, growing up with gangstas, and the city’s attempts to eradicate it back in the day. Considering a generation in graffiti can be as short as 5 years, this article is already old school. In general it’s a good local history lesson, so give it a read.

Check out GOING UP IN L.A here

One of Los Angeles’ greatest crews- The Seventh Letter- was recently featured on the cover of our weekly newspaper- the LA Weekly.

If you live in Los Angeles or have seen BOMB IT then you’ll be familiar with the fresh work of masters Retna and Revok featured. The story “THE RISE OF THE SEVENTH LETTER” also includes more dope pictures of the crew’s work and interviews with Eklips, (founder of AWR, MSK, and Seventh Letter), Revok, Retna, Saber, Rime, Zes, and Push.

Discussing the state of graffiti in Los Angeles today and city officials and law enforcement’s efforts to combat it RETNA explains,

“There’s nowhere for kids coming up to get good. New ideas haven’t been allowed to flourish since the ’80s. We love our city, and it’s wrong to think that graffiti is out to destroy something. It’s just the opposite. Maybe it would result in better pieces if you don’t have to worry about getting shot at or sent to jail. But [in reality] a big part of the story is the ‘performance’ and the effort it takes to get your paint together and sneak out of the house, climbing stuff. The effort of what it took to get the art there, just for the recognition. It will happen with or without the city’s help. We’ve already been to jail and paid the fines.”

“I want to do art that you can’t avoid — not that you have to seek out, …I’m about painting walls and being out in the city, interacting with people on a daily basis”- REVOK

Read the full story THE RISE OF THE SEVENTH LETTER in the LA Weekly here

Don’t forget to check out the slide show of the Seventh Letter’s July 6th- 10th Barcelona show “LETTERS FIRST” too. You won’t regret it!

USA Today wrote about KET’s graffiti case recently and law enforcements growing efforts across the US to combat graffiti.

From the article “More complain about cities used as a canvas“:

“In New York, the KET case shows how badly authorities want to wipe out graffiti — and how difficult it is to do so. ”

“The case is part of a new war on American graffiti, that long-controversial hybrid of art and vandalism. But fans and critics agree on this much: Never has so much been done to fight graffiti, and never has there been so much of it.”

You can read the full article here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-07-17-graffiti-artist_N.htm?POE=click-refer

Listen directly to KET speak on the issue here:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/gallery/2007/n070717_graffiti/flash.htm

KET, a talented artist and graffiti historian, is facing jail time for graffiti. While there is so much injustice happening all over the world, and at times it can make us feel hopeless- it is important that we stand up together and fight injustice when we see it happening in our own backyards.

America is filled with too many prisons and our society would rather lock people up than provide them with a descent education and affordable housing. Ket is an educated and accomplished individual who has contributed a lot to the graffiti movement over the years. It is ridiculous to think that he could be forced to spend years in jail for spraying paint in a public space.

If we continue to allow police to search and seize graffiti artists computers and photos, we all risk the same happening to us one day. Graffiti is not a violent crime and we must resist any attempts to make it a felony. Art is NOT a crime, and KET is not a criminal! Support your brother in arms now!

Come on out to the Art Benefit for KET’s legal defense on August 1, 2007 at the Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn! Bidding on artwork begins online on July 26th at: www.thewallsbelongtous.com

For more info on KET and his legal battle please visit: www.supportket.org

This is a guest blog by an old friend of mine – Gilbert Mercier – who has documented much of the national travesty that was and is Katrina – not just the hurricane but also the abject neglect on the part of the federal government. (we hope this to be the first in a long series of guest blogs on various graffiti related topics)

To view some of Gilbert’s Katrina graffiti photos go to our flickr site - they are pretty amazing – more will be uploaded in the coming weeks.

Katrina’s Graffiti by Gilbert Mercier

I split my time between Los Angeles & New Orleans, my house is in Uptown, and most of my Victorian house is rented.

Before Katrina came to town, I made sure all my tenants were evacuated (I was in Toronto at the time), a good friend of mine boarded the house…. Then we just hoped for the best.

Needless to say my level of anxiety and frustration was running high. I came back to NOLA as soon as “ they” reopened the town from the lockdown (a little bit before in fact) to find a war zone atmosphere.

My house had very little damage…. I decided to do a proper and detail photo essay to illustrate the incredible failure and incompetence at all government levels (local, state and mainly federal) of the handling of a disaster that was mostly man made to start with.

All the words on walls specially fascinated me as an expression of so much pain and anger.

Three very different kinds of graffiti quickly appeared in New Orleans after Katrina. (more…)