b. 1971
Location: U.S.
“Graffiti Art stems from a profound place of intellect & understanding, which incorporates a political opinion & an attitude towards the authorities that be, a form of social resistance, a reclaiming of one’s personal environment & space without the need for permission, it requires that you follow up your opinion with an action, that you vandalize the wall, that you destroy the surface in order to change it, beautify it, rearrange it as you see fit. Sadly, so much of the street art movement has fueled itself on appropriation & a fundamental lack of any original, critical thought, in line with the term retro & is a remake of something else that has roots in a deep, rich history, except it has been diluted, simplified or all together removed for a street goers quick take & perspective, homogenized, gentrified, commercialized, man fuck it, thieves. You can’t repackage and sell my culture back to me. Graffiti was the first art form that took the power of creativity from the institutional elite, the museum, the upper classes and brought it down to a street level in the ghetto where no one else would go except those who were already there. To be a Graffiti artist means you have to take part in this lifestyle, you can’t fake it.” – Mear One
The making of Allegory of Complacency:
