Robles, Gissel (Week 7: Graffiti is art)

I decided to focus on “Graffiti is Art” by Charles Bojórquez for this week’s essay. Being that he lives in a city where there are ‘multiple languages’ as he expresses, Bojórquez explains his personal experience with graffiti art. He says, “Your voice describes who you really are; it creates your identity. To an artist, your voice (identity) is your artwork” (Bojórquez, 117). To him, graffiti is just that; it is one of the players within the various languages. Graffiti is more than often seen in a negative light because of the ways it is portrayed to be which in result leads the public to the assumption that graffiti is always bad, and debunks any valid reasoning behind the creation of this art. In fact, it helps many young adults gain confidence by being able to express themselves, as Bojórquez mentions, “That is why I believe that tagging and graffiti will NEVER die” (118). Bojórquez started painting using a West-Coast “cholo” style before spray cans were introduced. He gives a run down on the Los Angeles graffiti scene and the history that essentially created a graffiti language in Los Angeles. Placas are what LA gangs write in old english font that includes a headline (name of the gang or street they represent), a body copy (names of gang members), and a logo (the individual in charge name) to pay homage for their neighborhood and has been done for generations on end (118). Moreover, as a Latino artist, skulls are also a heavily influenced in artwork as it is a depiction of more life, and not death that derives from the Aztec heritage. Nonetheless graffiti writers are constantly evolving in many different forms and gaining more acceptance but regardless, “…any drawn line that speaks about identity, dignity, and unity…that line is talking about graffiti and art” (Bojórquez 121).