Week 7: Graffiti is Art

Graffiti is Art by Charles "Chaz" Bójorquez describes some of the history behind graffiti's ties to Latinx people and to Los Angeles. Further, he describes how graffiti has been demonized due to the public perception that it is tied to gangs which he describes is not always the case. Bójorquez shares that what makes something graffiti goes beyond tagging as he states: "I believe that any drawn line that speaks about identity, dignity, and unity . . . that line is talking about graffiti and art" (121). With this, he shows that graffiti is not what people stereotypically think it is, such as tagging, but it encompasses more and means more to the artists who create it. He shares with the reader that graffiti is misunderstood and what lies at the root of graffiti is identity and community.

Additionally, it was interesting to read his analysis of advertisements as being disruptive in the ways that people often perceive graffiti to be disruptive. While graffiti and advertisements take up space in similar ways, advertisements are deemed as more official and acceptable despite them being forced into the faces of unsuspecting consumers. This discussion speaks to the legitimacy that is granted to corporations to impose their own ideas while the ideas of artists such as those who do graffiti art is stifled. On a similar note, regarding commercialization of images and of art, Bójorquez shares some of his thoughts on graffiti becoming recognized as art by official entities such as art galleries. Bójorquez believes that as graffiti does become recognized as art and moves into galleries, some of the qualities intrinsic to graffiti, such as the "raw integrity" that comes with graffiti being in the streets, becomes lost in a different setting which is not as natural given the type of art it is.