NYC Graffiti - Good and Bad

@hhusted fantastic stuff.. unfortunately the only graffiti that I have seen around on some walls in the UES are some ugly squiggles. btw isn't Graffiti outlawed in NYC?seem to remember some kind of controversy surrounding it not too long ago-http://www.nyc.gov/html/nograffiti/html/legislation.html
http://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/qol/anti_graffiti.shtml

Graffiti seemed to be bigger in the 90's, from what I remember of growing up in NYC - I haven't seen much lately. That said, I think that murals/art can be really great, although random squiggles less so. Anybody remember De La Vega? He was very cool - even came to speak at my school!

That's a really nice site, hhusted. Here's another one, where graffiti artists can send photos of their works to be archived:
http://www.riotsound.com/Graffiti/graffiti_sub_home.htm

I'm definitely of the graffiti-as-art persuasion, and will look into some locations where good graffiti art can be seen on-site.

Thanks for the link, @uraniumfish. It's great that the work will live on in archive long after the rain and snow has washed it out...

@Uptowngirl: That law you mentioned in the link is only useful if the graffiti was done illegally.

Here is an except from that law:

"unless the express permission of the owner or operator of the property has been obtained."

If the owner of the building gives the person permission, the artist can create the graffiti. He may not be able to use spray cans to do it, but he can perform the painting. I believe, based on the terms of the law, that the artist can use whatever instrument he wishes, as long as he has permission to do so. If he delibrately does it without permission and gets caught, he can get arrested.

@hhusted thanks for the clarification I was under the impression that all graffiti was illegal though today when I was in the East Village I noticed a colorful mural on the walls of Cafe Veselka and another colorful piece of wall art on the wall opposite it so I guess these are also legal works that beautify the plain walls of buildings in the East Village.

Yep. Also remember what I said in my post. If they get caught. Even if there is a law or ordiance in place against doing graffiti, as long as the person doing it is not noticed, he will continue to do it. Someone has to see the person in the act of doing it for it to be illegal.

There are some graffiti artists that have made the jump over to the high art galleries. "Neckface" comes to mind, but I'm sure there are a few others...

Yeah, Uraniumfish. I do recall an artist, who was into graffiti, became a success as an artist.

@uraniumfish the french artist Fafi and the British artist Banksy are two others whose street art has transcended the boundaries I think..

There is a lot of graffiti in my hood... Usually it appears on the walls that surround empty lots or commercial warehouses, which is probably the reason why it's in limited supply in the city.

Some buildings commission artists to graffiti up the walls, too, obviously.

For a long time there was a GREAT figure graffitied next to the front door of my building and I really felt it was aesthetically beautiful. Recently the building owner decided to spruce up the place and painted the facade a kind of puke green. Not all graffiti is especially attractive, but this one in particular I was sad to see disappear underneath somebody's lame idea of upkeep...

I have noticed graffiti disappearing in certain places. I guess some business owners have seen the ordinance and decided to get rid of the graffiti their own way.