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Alexamenos graffito
Thought to be the earliest known depiction of Jesus, the piece of graffiti was discovered in 1857 on the side of a school in Greece. Theorists estimate it was drawn in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, and they changed a bit of the Greek spelling.
That same year they found this Earthquake hits Tokyo; about 107,000 die -
Graffiti moves to the art world
In the early 1980s, the first Art Galleries who started to show graffiti artists to the public were Fashion Moda in the Bronx and Now Gallery in East Village, Manhattan. By the mid-80s, the form would move from the street to the art world. -
"Kilroy was here"
Theorists guess that Kilroy originated in Europe with the U.S. armed forces in early 1942. The phrase may have originated through United States servicemen, who would draw the doodle and the text "Kilroy was here" on the walls and other places they were stationed, encamped, or visited. The major Kilroy graffiti fad ended in the 1950s. -
Start of "tagging"
Towards the end of the 1960s, signatures or "tags" of graffiti writers started to appear. The first documented name-writers are from Philadelphia: Cornbread, Cool Earl and Topcat 126.
Known for writing his name on an elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo and on the side of the Jackson 5's private jet, Cornbread is often regarded as "father of modern graffiti."
That same year Earthquake in Sicily kills 231 -
Student protestors use graffiti
The student protests and general strike of May 1968 saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchist, and situationist slogans such as L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") expressed in painted graffiti, poster art, and stencil art.
That same year Netherlands gets color TV -
Graffiti hub moves from Philadelphia to NYC
New York was broke and therefore the transit system was poor, This lead to the heaviest bombing in history everyone started to do graffiti the walls were covered completly, They had the bubble letter drawing simple outlines.
That same year Afro-American Historical Calendar Series Established -
Growing complexity and creativity
Tags began to take on a signature calligraphic appearance because, due to the huge number of artists, each graffiti artist needed a way to distinguish themselves.
That same year Cigarette advertisements banned on TV -
Taki 183 in the New York Times
TAKI 183 was the first graffiti writer to be recognized by the media. The alias belonged to a Greek boy who worked as a street messenger in New York. TAKI was his nickname (given name Demetrius) and 183 was the number of the street where he lived in Washington Heights.
That same year A barrier collapses at Ibrox Park football ground at end of a soccer match in Glasgow Scotland, killing 66 -
Founding of United Graffiti Artists
Hugo Martinez began the UGA, which included many top graffiti artists of the time. Through the collective, graffiti artists brought their talents inside galleries to more conventional canvases. UGA obtained various commissions, including painting the backdrops to the ballet "Deuce Coupe." The supposed reason for the group breaking up was related to racial tension between artists.
That same year China PR performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC -
From streets to subways
The goal of most artists at this point was "getting up": having as many tags and bombs in as many places as possible. Graffiti writing was becoming very competitive and artists strove to go "all-city," or to have their names seen in all five boroughs of NYC.
That same year Mali & Niger break diplomatic relations with Israel -
Broken windows theory in Atlantic Monthly
The theory was introduced by social scientists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling after they studied effects of “disorder” in an urban setting by means of its visible manifestations – broken windows, panhandlers, litter, public drunkenness and more. They concluded that such “signals” had a direct link to increased violence and lawlessness. Visible damage in a community makes people think unruliness is acceptable, which will ultimately incite more disorder and perpetuate the problem. -
"Wild Style" and "Style Wars" document graffiti subculture
Charlie Ahearn's independently released fiction film Wild Style (Wild Style, 1983), the early PBS documentary Style Wars (1983). Style Wars is still recognized as the most prolific film representation of what was going on within the young hip hop culture of the early 1980s. -
Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network
Created to combat the city's growing concerns about gang-related graffiti, PAGN led to the creation of the Mural Arts Program, which replaced often-hit spots with elaborate, commissioned murals that were protected by a city ordinance, with fines and penalties for anyone caught defacing them. Mayor Dr. W. Wilson Goode Sr.'s plan for eradicating graffiti focused on rewarding correct behavior, although the possibility of prosecution was never abandoned. Philadelphia’s teenage wall writers instea -
The Clean Train Movement
The city attempted to remove all of the subway cars found with graffiti on them out of the transit system. ''When you're sitting in a graffiti-covered car, you don't feel safe,'' said the president of the NY Transit Authority, David L. Gunn. He said when the trains were covered with names, codes and epithets, ''there was a sense that the system was out of control."
In an interview with media company Senses Lost, former NYC mayor Ed Koch reaffirmed the anti-graffiti stance that dominated hi -
Zero tolerance
In 1990, William J. Bratton became head of the New York City Transit Police. Bratton described George L. Kelling as his "intellectual mentor", and implemented zero tolerance of fare-dodging, easier arrestee processing methods and background checks on all those arrested. -
Graffiti Blasters
In 1993, Chicago was the only major city to pay for repairing private property damaged by graffiti out of its own pocket. The program was initiated by former mayor Richard M. Daley and supported by the city government to eliminate graffiti, street art and gang-related vandalism. Blasters promises free cleanup within 24 hours of a phone call. The Department of Streets & Sanitation's crews remove this vandalism with "blast" trucks or paint crews. -
City of Austin Graffiti Abatement Program
"The city finds and determines that graffiti is an impure and unwholesome matter and its existence on property next to and visible from the rights-of-way in the city constitutes a public nuisance; the prompt abatement of which is a public necessity to avoid the detrimental impact of such graffiti on the city and its residents, to prevent the further spread of graffiti and other criminal acts, and to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of the city." -
Anti-Graffiti Task Force
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani set up a multi-agency initiative (Police, Parks and Recreation, and Sanitation departments) to combat the perceived problem of graffiti vandals in New York City. This began a crackdown on "quality of life crimes" throughout the city, and one of the largest anti-graffiti campaigns in U.S. history. That same year Title 10–117 of the New York Administrative Code banned the sale of aerosol spray-paint cans to children under 18. -
Graffiti added to Texas Penal Code
Lawmakers added Section 28.08 to the Texas Penal Code, officially making graffiti a crime. Punishment depends on the monetary amount of damage caused: a Class B misdemeanor for less than $500, Class A for $500 to $1,500, state-jail felony for $1,500 to $20,000, third-degree felony for $20,000 to $100,000, second-degree felony for $100,000 to $200,000, and a first-degree felony for damages more than $200,000. Any graffiti charge immediately becomes a felony offense if committed on certain types o -
Keep Britian Tidy Campaign
123 MPs (including Prime Minister Tony Blair) signed a charter which stated: "Graffiti is not art, it's crime. On behalf of my constituents, I will do all I can to rid our community of this problem." The campaign issued a press release calling for zero tolerance of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" fines to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16. This campaign followed the "The Anti-Social Behaviour Act" anti-gr -
Art Alley
While graffiti is largely illegal in Rapid City and there are no ordinances condoning it, one section of the city called Art Alley is purposefully overlooked by law enforcement and clean up crews and relies on the community of artists and landowners to add and maintain the space. The alley is popular with tourists and has become a cultural center for the city. -
"Austin Graffiti Art: From Birth to Present"
Curators Nathan Nordstrom and Chronicle Arts writer Rachel Koper organized a graffiti art gallery event. For a few weeks, most of Gallery Lombardi was devoted to the history of graffiti in Austin. -
Graffiti Research Lab
Founded by Evan Roth and James Powderly, GRL is an art group dedicated to outfitting graffiti writers, artists and protesters with open source technologies for urban communication. The first post on the GRL website was made Feb. 21, 2006. One of their most popular creation is called The L.A.S.E.R. Stencil (or the "Green Lantern") which "paints" messages from afar with high-powered lasers. -
The Graffiti Accountability Act
The Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2151: an anti-graffiti measure aimed at discouraging would-be offenders from engaging in vandalism. The bill required full restitution by offenders who vandalize public or private property with graffiti. Upon conviction, an offender will be ordered to personally fix the damage, reimburse the property owner or subdivision to clean it up, or pay to replace the damaged property if it cannot be fixed. If an offender or an offender’s parents are unable to pa -
"Pieced Together" All Texas Graffiti Art Show
Nathan "Sloke" Nordstrom recruited top aerosol artists from major cities in Texas and "pieced together" the graffiti art exhibition. The show traveled to Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Houston and El Paso. LA Weekly described it as a “hybridized style existing in this stylistic space between two art worlds." Or as Nordstrom calls it: "a third coast." -
Graffiti in the Texas Legislature
House Bill 1633 amended the Penal Code to remove the specification that the paint used in the commission of a graffiti offense is aerosol paint. House Bill 2086 amended provisions of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Health and Safety Code, and Local Government Code relating to graffiti offenses. The bill provided that the Texas Tort Claims Act does not apply to a claim for property damage caused by the removal of graffiti, allows a local ordinance that requires a business to make aerosol -
Gallery artists jailed for mural in East Austin
Mural artists Angel Quesada and Lannea Brooks were arrested and jailed for painting flowers over graffiti on a bridge in an East Austin neighborhood. APD Detective Kevin Bartles said, “The difference between art and graffiti is one word: permission.” Without a permit, all artists are subject to graffiti law, even those intended to be community beautification projects -
18 year old sentenced to eight years in prison for graffiti
A south Texas district judge sentenced an 18-year-old Sebastian Perez to eight years in prison for habitually vandalizing property with graffiti. Police said he spray-painted more than two dozen properties from March to August. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported that police blamed him for more than $7,300 in damage.
Judge Marisela Saldaña sentenced Perez to eight years in prison on three counts of graffiti and one count of marijuana possession, giving Perez the maximum two-year sentence -
Nevada graffiti law becomes strictest in nation
Taggers who vandalize protected sites or leave a total of $500 in damage anywhere will be charged now with a class C felony. The new law also allows property owners to sue the vandal in a civil court. One such protected site is the historic Welcome to Las Vegas sign, which was defaced twice in 2009. If anyone is caught vandalizing it under the new anti-graffiti law, the crime becomes a felony. -
"Exit Through the Gift Shop"
World-renowned street artist Banksy directed a film chronicling his work and exploring the idea of being an anonymous, renegade artist while simultaneously achieving global, mainstream success. -
Syrian activists fight Assad regime with spray paint and stencils
Syrian activists have taken to arming themselves with cans of spray paint and stencils to peacefully protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Activists have called for “a week of graffiti for freedom” from April 14-21 not only in Syria, but across the Arab world. The campaign invites everyone, tagger or not, to pick up a can of spray paint and peacefully express their feelings in a public place. -
Corpus Christi supports suing parents of graffiti offenders
The city of Corpus Christi was the first in the state to start suing parents of graffiti offenders. A law allowing the parents of habitual graffiti offenders to be sued, specifically when the tagger has done extreme damage, had existed but hadn’t been enforced. After seeing the same offenders cause thousands of dollars in damage, the police department’s Graffiti Task Force decided it was time for parents to start taking responsibility and members of Corpus' City Council voted unanimously in supp
