Essay: History of graffiti since 1960

This essay provides an overview of how graffiti evolved from a medium for youth protest into a art gallery product. Among other things it describes how the introduction of stainless steel carriages helped eradicate graffiti on New York subway cars.

Though graffiti has existed since ancient times, the late 1960s proved to be a pioneering era when graffiti underwent a major change in style and popularity.

The hostility of the youth culture towards the political climate of the time manifested itself in anti-Nixon graffiti. A few years later the anti-establishment punk rock movement began, driven by bands like Black Flag who stenciled their band name and logo on the walls of punk night clubs that would eventually become known for their graffiti. There was a new wave of creativity spreading through the cities and modern graffiti was born.

Towards the end of the 60’s the signatures - or tags - of some of the better known graffiti artists (Top Cat, Cool Earl, and Cornbread) began appearing in the streets of Philadelphia, but by 1970, the center of graffiti culture had shifted to New York City...

To read the rest of the essay on the Finance blog click here