Street Art and Graffiti

Love it or hate it, Street Art and Graffiti are part of the urban experience, especially in Los Angeles!

Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents (New York, Abrams, 2006) by Nicholas Ganz highlights the often overlooked contingent of female street artists. It is the first comprehensive survey of the work of women graffiti and street artists, featuring the work of over 125 artists from around the world with more 1,000 full-color illustrations. This book is important proof that the exciting and ever-evolving realm of street art is not male dominated as it is often thought to be.

We also recommend Ganz’ 2004 book Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents and Banksy: Wall and Piece, (London, Century/Random House, 2005). This is the best book to-date documenting the artistic exploits of London’s now-legendary “guerilla” street artist. Banksy has painted the walls, streets, and bridges of towns and cities throughout the world and gained international notoriety after surreptitiously hanging his own artworks alongside the great masters in museums like London’s Tate Gallery, the Louvre in Paris, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

You can also check out DVDs on the topic of Graffiti, including the great series Graffiti Verite.