Graffiti moves from walls to t-shirts, studios

5/02/08Graffiti used to be nothing more than a few rebellious kids with aerosol cans spray painting their tags on the sides of trains and buildings. While cities are cracking down on graffiti to clean up their image more graffiti artists are moving off the streets and into the studio taking the art world by storm.

Micahel Bartosiak heads the public service organization Graffiti Busters that was started by Mayor Thomas M. Menino 11 years ago, after realizing like many cities, that Boston had a graffiti problem. Since then, the Graffiti Busters have cleaned up more than 12,000 sites throughout Boston. Bartosiak said, "the graffiti problem is not that big of an issue anymore, it is not that severe in Boston." Graffiti violations have changed from being a misdemeanor to a felony, pushing many artists off the streets and into studios. "I enjoy art," Bartosiak said, "but we really have no tolerance for somebody trespassing on someone else's property, especially when the owner doesn't want it [graffiti]."

Rob Larson, once an Emerson student, has been in the graffiti business for 24 years. "I started in the '80s, when everything was starting. One thing lead to another, you get arrested, laws changed here from being a misdemeanor to a felony. Kids out there now can go to prison and I'm not interested in going to prison," he said.

So, like many graffiti artists Larson has made his way into a studio and off the streets. He said, "there is a certain part of you that is lost when you move into a gallery; you aren't asserting your will on someone else's property, but I'm working in a nice little studio in my apartment and it's about the aesthetic and creativity." While, Larson said the adrenaline rush from doing illegal graffiti can be fun, he mostly prefers the studio to what he describes as a "tough world."

"It's different. I'm a different person, people evolve and change; you get older. Better or worse, in some ways it's better, it's [illegal graffiti] a very stressful lifestyle and you are up all night, strained relationships, constantly under stress, stress with other writer's, it can turn violent," Larson said. "Although, not in a way that a lot of anti-graffiti crusaders would have you believe," he said.

Now Larson is mostly doing graffiti on canvas, though, he said a recent graduate from Emerson contacted him about a clothing line and doing a series of shirts. He said he's thought about doing shirts before, when one of his friends started a screen-printing business, but for the most part he likes to keep things simple. "I don't really seek that out. If I did them myself [making t-shirts] I'd be starting my own business, which I don't really feel like doing," Larson said. "I just like doing something, setting a price, and putting it online," he said.

Graffiti has been moving up in the art world asserting itself mainly in fashion. That is how Madison Avenue reaches out to this pop-culture, through the aesthetics of graffiti, in advertising, clothing, and sneaker culture, Larson said. He said Ed Hardy, known for his very flashy tattoo and graffiti style clothing and accessory line,"he started off as an aerosol artist--he is probably the hottest artist in the world right now, like alive," Larson said. "I don't think that's the pinnacle of that, that we have topped out. I think what we have done is opened up new avenues."

Graffiti continues to show itself in the art world, the Museum of Modern Art had a graffiti exhibit last year, Larson said. "It was a pretty a big deal. To me it wasn't even a blockbuster, but the fact that it was there, which is a pretty prestigious place.it's tough to say, but I feel we have just scratched the surface of what is going to happen on a larger realm," he said.

As for graffiti on the streets, Larson said he is unsure of the future with the increase of technology and law enforcement. For the most part, he said, the graffiti he sees around Boston these days is not up to par. "There is a lot of really bad graffiti done these days," Larson said. Still Larson says there are some people out there who have potential to step off the streets and really create a profitable and legal name for themselves.

"Are there people that Impress me and I see artistic merit in? Maybe a layman, I would say 'yea, certainly,'" he said. "There are people I say 'wow that's a beautiful tag,' the way they write their name. You know, taken out of the context of light pole and put on a t-shirt they could sell a million copies, well, maybe not a million, but you know," Larson said.

While, illegal street graffiti is becoming increasingly dangerous for artists to create, the art world, particularly the fashion industry, is becoming the new hot spot to see graffiti. If people still want to take the risk of tagging bridges and buildings, Larson said they should, "do it for real and don't waste anybody's time.