Graffiti Facts for Kids

Graffiti in Rome, Italy

Street graffiti art

Graffiti is marks, scratching or drawings made on a surface on a public place. It is often created with paint or spray paint (paint that is sprayed from a can). A single mark could be called a graffito but the word graffiti is usually used, meaning that there is more than 1 mark.

Graffiti can take the form of art, drawings or words. When done without a property owner's permission it is considered vandalism. Sometimes it is just a person's name or a rude word. Sometimes it is a public political protest because Graffiti is illegal without permission.

History

A person cleaning up graffiti in Stockholm

Graffiti has been found in very old cities. For example, in the Roman Empire, people wrote messages and drew caricatures on walls. Graffiti is also found in many places. Some people do murals of graffiti rather than just writing one mark in a location. It was used for good instead of vandalism. Probably the simplest graffiti is when a person cuts (or carves) the name of a lover on a tree with a knife.

Today, many graffiti are very complicated mixtures of writing and pictures. They are sometimes made by gangs and applied with spray-paint to buildings, bridges, street signs, and other areas. These are often signed with a tag (in graffiti slang, a signature), which is a shape special.

Graffiti can be thought of as a part of hip hop or street protest. It is often but not always illegal. Some cities have small areas where graffiti can be made. Sometimes graffiti are very beautiful. Some people consider graffiti as not only something bad, but something good, like art. Some people pay graffiti artists to do graffiti on their buildings. In the 1980s, some graffiti artists like Keith Haring became very famous.

Modern graffiti was made famous in New York City in the early 1970s by the children of the working class. They called it "writing," and called themselves "writers." In a 1971 New York Times article, the term "graffiti" was first used to refer to the new urban art explosion that was becoming popular in New York City. This period of the early 1970s is known as the "Original School." Later in the 1980s, the next generation of graffiti artists is known as "Old School."

Images for kids

An abandoned roof felt factory with graffiti in Santalahti, Tampere, Finland
Ancient graffito in the Kom Ombo Temple, Egypt
Ancient Pompeii graffito caricature of a politician
Figure graffito, similar to a relief, at the Castellania, in Valletta
A graffiti piece found in Tel Aviv by the artist DeDe
Knitted graffiti in Seattle, Washington
Spiderweb Yarnbomb Installation by Stephen Duneier both hides and highlights previous graffiti.
One World !
Gang symbol markings on public property, Millwood, Washington
A bronze work by Jonesy on a wall in Brick Lane (London). Diameter about 8 cm.
Graffiti depicting people in a boat in the Museum of ancient graffiti, France
Ironic wall inscription commenting on boring graffiti
Satirical Alexamenos graffito, possibly the earliest known representation of Jesus
Graffiti, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Crusader graffiti in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Viking mercenary graffiti at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey
Graffiti on the Mirror Wall, Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Soviet Army graffiti in the ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin (1945)
Permanent engraving of Kilroy on the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
New York City Subway trains were covered in graffiti (1973)
Graffiti in Chicago (1973)
Graffiti on a wall in Čakovec, Croatia
Graffiti in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Graffiti art in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Graffiti in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Graffiti on a park wall in Sydney, Australia
The first graffiti shop in Russia was opened in 1992 in Tver
Graffiti application at Eurofestival in Turku, Finland
Graffiti application in India using natural pigments (mostly charcoal, plant saps, and dirt)
Completed landscape scene, in Thrissur, Kerala, India
A graffiti artist at work in London
Drawing at Temple of Philae, Egypt depicting three men with rods, or staves.
Inscription in Pompeii lamenting a frustrated love, "Whoever loves, let him flourish, let him perish who knows not love, let him perish twice over whoever forbids love."
Post-apocalyptic despair
Mermaid in Sliema, Malta
Graffiti as advertising in Haikou, Hainan Province, China, which is an extremely common form of graffiti seen throughout the country
Graffiti as legal advertising on a grocer's shop window in Warsaw, Poland
Graffiti in Buenos Aires, showing the Obelisk
Graffiti on a wall in Budapest
Graffiti on the wall of pedestrian tunnel in Tikkurila, Vantaa, Finland

Graffiti facts for kids

History

Images for kids

See also