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On West Farms Road, 1,500 square feet of wall space was set aside specifically for Bronx graffiti artists. This trend has even begun to appear in more northern parts of the borough. In the South Bronx, legendary graffiti artist John “CRASH” Matos runs a similar project: a contemporary art gallery called WallWorks. There’s even a Hunt’s Point Village of Murals Project, an array of street art dedicated to preserving the Bronx culture and bringing art to its residents. In that same neighborhood, you will find a relatively newer mural of black and white spray paint, featuring the image of a 1980s breakdancer doing a backspin - another reference to the hip-hop genre. Not far away on Whitlock Avenue, large pieces decorate the sides of warehouses and garages, showcasing different jazz scenes and a reference to the hip-hop documentary “The Freshest Kids.” It’s also become the go-to place for street artists in the area. Each year, it gets repainted on November 10 - Big Pun’s birthday. Pun was the first solo Latino rapper to be certified platinum. It was created by famed graffiti artist Tats Cru. The Big Pun Memorial Mural is a tribute to the Puerto-Rican rapper who passed away in 2000.
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Celebrating music and hip-hop with artįollowing in the footsteps of its graffiti counterpart, the Bronx murals pay tribute to many different hip-hop artists and the culture around them. Then, in 1986, the Beastie Boys created a graffiti logo for their best-selling rap album. Where skeletons kiss: Bushwick’s street art sceneĪs it happens, the premiere of MTV in 1981 increased the visibility of both hip-hop and graffiti. Graffiti has a similar origin story as young Black Americans used spray paint to create art expressing their desire to be seen and heard. The musical style of hip-hop was created by young, working-class African-American men and women using vinyl records and turntables to craft music that could express what they wanted to say. I’m talking not just physically but culturally. While hip-hop didn’t emerge until the late ’70s (after the birth of modern graffiti), they evolved from the same place. Much of the art you’ll find in the Bronx today pays tribute to another of the borough’s creations - hip-hop. Graffiti and hip-hop Credit: Jules Antonio / CC BY-SA 2.0 These commissioned graffiti pieces paved the way for the rise in popularity of street art. This wave eventually made its way up to the Bronx, where many graffiti artists now make a living with their art - no longer operating under the radar, but being paid to create work on the street or display art in galleries. Art collectors recognized that graffiti was more than just vandalism. In SoHo, the graffiti on the street began to take over the art and gallery scene of the neighborhood. All that remained was what could be found on the streets. But in 1989 the city declared an end to all subway graffiti.
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This allowed the artist more exposure outside of their neighborhood. While graffiti is a staple of the Bronx, there was a time when you could find it everywhere in the city - especially on subway cars. The practice soon became embedded in the culture of the borough as friends and families passed the practice on to one another. Abandoned buildings became the canvas for kids to create their highly visible art. With the South Bronx in pretty extreme decay in the 1970s, graffiti culture grew rapidly. Graffiti is mostly made using aerosol cans and tends to focus on big, bold letters and bright colors. Many people wouldn’t consider someone a graffiti artist unless they were an outlaw, operating without rules or restrictions.
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The difference between the two comes from the focus of the art and the reputation that surrounds them. In fact, graffiti is still very much part of New York City culture. The transition from graffiti to street art didn’t happen overnight. In this post, I’ll describe the history and rise in popularity of the Bronx murals and share the best way to visit them during your NYC visit. But the most significant transition from illegal tagging to public or privately funded street murals is best seen in the Bronx. This art form was present almost everywhere in New York throughout the late ’90s. But you can’t talk about street art without first addressing where its popularity stems from - graffiti. There are entire tours dedicated to it these days. Street art has become something of an attraction in New York City in the past 10-15 years.