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British graffiti artist Banksy, who’s been in the news quite a bit lately, is probably the most well-known graffiti artist of all time. He’s also the only graffitist most people know by name. But there is a plethora of graffitists, both talented and not-so-talented, and some of them warrant just as much attention, if not more so, than Banksy. A few that top the list…
1. Lady Pink: Sandra Fabara
The Ecuador-born Sandra Fabara was raised in Queens, NY, and started creating graffiti in 1979, during her years at the High School of Art and Design. She quickly became the only female able to compete with the boys in the graffiti world. At the same time, she was already exhibiting paintings in art galleries. Her starring role in the movie Wild Style in 1982 made a national name for her and earned her a cult following. Since then, her works have been added to the collections of major museums. She now runs a legitimate mural company with her husband Smith, an artist.
2. Xenz: Graeme Brusby
Apparently, Graeme Brusby is “widely considered to be the UK’s most important graffiti artist after Banksy.” He’s definitely one of the most Internet-friendly graffiti artists, with a web site, blog, Flickr photostream, MySpace, and fan forum. Brusby got into graffiti as a teen in the ‘80s, then studied at Edinburgh College of Art. Today, he’s a member of “one of the UK’s most admired graffiti art collectives,” the TCF crew, and is frequently included in collaborations and exhibitions.
3. SABER
The graffiti artist SABER is the creator of a giant work on the sloping cement bank of the Los Angeles River, supposedly the largest graffiti piece ever created. The 1997 piece required 97 gallons of paint, took 35 nights to complete, and is nearly the length of a football field—so large it can be viewed in satellite images. SABER has held a solo exhibition and released a monograph, and he’s put his skills to use working for Harley-Davidson, Levi’s, Hyundai, and Scion, among others.
(Photo from anarchosyn’s Flickr stream.)
4. Tox: Daniel Halpin
Daniel Halpin has gotten a reputation as London’s “most prolific bomber” since his tag appears EVERYWHERE in the London rail system. His tag, consisting of “TOX” and then the last two digits of the year, is the most well-known tag in London. Apparently, 2003 was the apex of his tagging, with virtually every inch of the Metropolitan line covered in “Tox03.” Then, in 2004, he was arrested. His graffiti, arrest, and trial were discussed in a Discovery Channel piece that same year. Despite the arrest, his tags have been spotted at least as recently as 2007.
5. Borf: John Tsombikos
With the help of some friends, John Tsombikos, an art student, left his mark all over D.C., including a five-foot-high face and a 15-foot “BORF,” in 2005. Much of his graffiti involved mysterious phrases like, “Borf writes letters to your children.” There was also a recurring face, which is said to be the face of one of Tsombikos’ friends, who went by the nickname Borf and had committed suicide. In D.C., Borf graffiti was ubiquitous, on walls and pillars and bridges and overpasses. Tsombikos remarked he felt powerful, “like Batman or something,” when he heard people talking about his work. But, in July 2005, Borf came to an end when Tsombikos and two friends were arrested for defacing property.
(Photo from niznoz’s Flickr stream.)
BONUS: For more graffiti fun, check out the Graffiti Project on Kelburn Castle, for which Brazilian artists were brought to Scotland to paint Kelburn Castle. The site has photos, videos, and more.
Know of any other talented, prolific, or otherwise interesting graffiti artists? Tell us about ‘em!
(Click on the images above to see larger versions.)
Shhh…super secret special for blog readers.
Cool Disco Dan tagged all over DC in the ’80s and ’90s.
posted by Patrick on 8-1-2008 at 8:44 am
What about Banksy?
posted by Patrick Kelly on 8-1-2008 at 9:00 am
All right, I’m an idiot. I confess I did not read the entire post, before commenting. But isn’t Sheppard Fairley something of a graffiti artist? Or is he merely a graffiti enabler?
posted by Patrick Kelly on 8-1-2008 at 9:03 am
i generally hate graffiti, but i saw the neckface graffiti that’s linked in my name, and thought it was pretty cool.
posted by jesse on 8-1-2008 at 9:34 am
I’m not sure why a graffiti artists who only makes tags is one I should know. I don’t really care where their “territory” is. I did enjoy, the three actual graffiti artists and not just taggers on the list. I think if you actually paint something, it’s art. Writing your name is vandalism and just makes the area look bad. Graffiti is awesome when it’s used to beautify or express a statement. Not when it’s just used to get your name out there and tell everyone “you were here”.
posted by Mattie on 8-1-2008 at 9:40 am
What about Chaka!!?!?!?!
He cause over half a million dollars in damage, and after serving 5 months in jail he got arrested for writing Chaka on the elevator on his way to the courtroom. In Handcuffs!!!
posted by Red on 8-1-2008 at 10:04 am
aren’t you forgetting Keith Haring? his images are so overly merchandised now,but at the time he was the Man!
posted by nancy on 8-1-2008 at 10:12 am
Roadsworth does some interesting modifications to public spaces, I’d definitely put him on the list.
posted by Matthew Gallant on 8-1-2008 at 10:16 am
what about Paul Curtis (aka Moose)- the revers Graffiti artist?
posted by kristy on 8-1-2008 at 10:30 am
what about COST and REVS. they used to stick paper up all over NYC with COST and REVS. They werent so much into paint but they were a fixture in NYC from the 1980’s until the late 1990’s
posted by Sam on 8-1-2008 at 10:37 am
I may be dating my self here, but what about TURK 182 ??????
That guy got into everything in NYC, even the Mayor’s Big Apple display.
posted by bucsfan on 8-1-2008 at 12:22 pm
Fab 5 Freddy
posted by Stuart on 8-1-2008 at 2:26 pm
I’m with Jesse. I used to see neckface tags all over Brooklyn in 2003-2005. My favorte was th huge tag on top of a building that could be seen from the F train. That guy was everywhere.
posted by Jason on 8-1-2008 at 2:38 pm
Jean-Michel Basquiat
posted by little tikla on 8-1-2008 at 6:39 pm
Before all of them, there was TAKI 183. If you don’t know who that is, you don’t know anything about graffitti.
I also second neckface and Revs.
posted by JudgeIto on 8-1-2008 at 7:04 pm
Where’s COPE at you nerds?
posted by Unit-oner on 8-1-2008 at 7:13 pm
Yes, neckface’s stuff is all over Brooklyn and Manhattan, and I was anticipating seeing his name on this post.
posted by Chuck on 8-1-2008 at 7:24 pm
How could you not include Cope2?
posted by Famicoman on 8-1-2008 at 7:29 pm
What about David Choe?
posted by Richard on 8-1-2008 at 7:44 pm
How about…
Cope2?
Zephyr?
Seen?
Daim and the entire Stick Up Kids Crew?
Tasek?
Seak?
Loomit?
There are plenty of artist just as if not more deserving.
posted by glassbox on 8-1-2008 at 8:03 pm
I think Daim (daimgallery dot com) would be a worthy addition to the list as his work is nothing short of amazing.
posted by Alex on 8-1-2008 at 8:16 pm
You mean street art, not graffiti - street art is art on the street, graffiti is an entirely other world and you’ve only got two (Lady Pink & Tox) examples of graf work. I disagree with a couple of folk being here, I think more people should know about (amidst plenty of others) Nick Walker, Cheo, Sickboy, Soker, Zesk and Fiction, but I’m biased because I’m Bristol based. I do love Xenz to death, so it’s nice to see him talked about.
posted by Natali on 8-1-2008 at 9:11 pm
Where is Banksy?????
posted by Bhazem on 8-1-2008 at 10:49 pm
Where’s DAIM at?! Just google ‘daim’ in google images and you’ll see. ‘Should add him to the list ;)
posted by iEternal on 8-1-2008 at 11:32 pm
A must to check out is Graffiti Research Lab. Throwies!!!
posted by Katey on 8-2-2008 at 12:19 am
thats a great list of artists..
i have a gallery of street art on my website..i wish i knew the artists..they are really amazing.
posted by alex on 8-2-2008 at 2:35 am
Don’t forget Twist (Barry McGee).
During the early to mid 90’s his work was all over SF.
Unbelievably creative stuff.
Also, a very underrated (usually overlooks since they are a band as well) NYC crew, Missing Foundation. Nothing fancy, but their symbol could be seen everywhere from the 80’s on. I still see it around every now and then.
posted by James on 8-2-2008 at 2:46 am
What no Basquiat ?
posted by Jeremy on 8-2-2008 at 3:43 am
“Despite the arrest, his tags have been spotted at least as recently as 2007.”
Plenty of 08s kicking around now ;)
posted by Phear_One on 8-2-2008 at 7:23 am
DOLK, a guy from Bergen, Norway, and a friend of Banksys’ has some really nice stencil designs!
Check out the _dolk_ pool at Flickr for more.
posted by tanketom on 8-2-2008 at 7:41 am
i’m another vote for cool disco dan, although i don’t know if he did anything but tag.
i saw some very cool graffiti in poble nous, barcelona, in ‘02 - photos at laloca.org/photoalbum/2002/graffiti/index.html
posted by jenny on 8-2-2008 at 11:45 am
SEEN
posted by FRUIT PIE THE MAGICIAN on 8-2-2008 at 8:23 pm
That’s pretty cool art.
WHAT ABOUT THIS CAR PARK ART?
How about going a slightly different way with Art in the form of improving a concrete jungle….
I really loved this amazing story with pictures on the Webxact site…
incredible the way they did these paintings
posted by skooldays on 8-3-2008 at 12:07 pm
How do you not have Daim on this list? Seems like this whole article is based on 10 minutes of looking at wikipedia.
posted by proxwell on 8-3-2008 at 7:04 pm
What about Robin Rhode? Doesn’t just draw stuff but does things (and clever things) with the drawings… saw some stuff this week at the ICA in Boston and it’s brilliant.
posted by NFAH on 8-3-2008 at 7:51 pm
BLU from Argentina is one creative dude too…
As far as I know, the only one doing animated graffitis, check out his MUTO video on blublu dot org !
posted by alexbip on 8-4-2008 at 7:37 am
What about De La Vega in NYC?
posted by Derrick on 8-4-2008 at 2:13 pm
weak list. SABER is the best on it. Check out Infamy.
TOX is eh. CAP back in the 80s woulda destroyed TOX. check out Style Wars.
One of the sickest ever is YES. check out Video Graf #4
posted by bunksy on 8-4-2008 at 9:38 pm
Clint Fashion Co. was tagging everywhere here in the 80s.
In Xenz pic is that a girl walking an AT-AT? That is so rad!!
posted by Cardinal_Fang on 8-5-2008 at 1:30 pm
Fafi - France
Misery - New Zealand
both female.
posted by Darling on 8-11-2008 at 11:23 pm
I just realized that I had missed a post by Andréa, so I’m coming aboard late. But what surprised me was the negativity I sensed in some of the comments. Some people added other names and facts, as we were encouraged to do, but some seem pretty critical of Andréa’s efforts. I doubt that any of this blogger’s posts are “based on 10 minutes of looking at wikipedia,” as proxwell suggests. I think it’s great to have the opportunity to share our thoughts, and I thank Andréa for another fun article!
posted by Therese on 8-12-2008 at 12:40 pm
what about Dondi?
posted by elz on 8-13-2008 at 2:32 pm
Scribe out of KC rocks!
scribeswalk.com
posted by doane on 8-13-2008 at 2:39 pm
seconding COPE
BIG seconding REVS
oh and f$%k Keith Haring…. how about LA2?
Also, Deuce7
posted by Ghoast on 8-13-2008 at 2:54 pm
Borf/J.T. quite good IMO!
posted by Chuck Burgundy on 8-16-2008 at 6:59 pm
Another vote for Banksy…
posted by Randy on 8-20-2008 at 4:49 pm
OKER and BICE
running it in London
search us out on google - repine graffiti magazine
posted by repine magazine on 10-19-2008 at 11:28 am