“I nomi erano dinamici e riflettevano spesso, come dovrebbe, la propria personalità” (Phase2)

Il 21 luglio 1971 sul New York Times compare per la prima volta un articolo in cui si parla di Graffiti Writing e tag: si tratta della sigla del proprio nome o, più precisamente e per motivi legati alla necessità di anonimato, del proprio pseudonimo ripetuta all’infinito con la bomboletta spray o un marker.

Queste scritte sono realizzate nella metropolitana e sui muri della città di NY: è la presa d’atto dell’esistenza di movimenti giovanili spesso nati contestualmente alla crisi delle ideologie e alla disillusione verso le soluzioni politiche promesse durante la fine degli anni’60.

Un’intera generazione sceglie di esprimersi in strada ricercando l’impatto collettivo, la libertà espressiva, le sperimentazioni sfrontate; in questa esperienza la componente sociale e comunitaria, l’attitudine e il coraggio sono ancor più fondamentali dell’estetica: i giovani si riuniscono in crews, il cui prestigio è determinato dalla quantità di scritte e dal rischio delle azioni che garantiscano al gruppo una crescente visibilità; parallelamente l’hip hop contribuì a formare l’identità di questi giovani.

“Mi sentii subito a mio agio con questo tipo di arte, sentivo la sua presenza ovunque. A volte non salivo nemmeno sul primo treno: rimanevo seduto ad aspettare per vedere cosa c’era disegnato sul treno successivo. I graffiti erano la cosa più bella che avessi mai visto…” (K. Haring)

In Italia questa tendenza si sviluppò a partire dalla fine degli anni ’80.

Dal 1996 al 2000 un gruppo di giovani writers toscani, da cui sarebbero emersi alcuni artisti riconosciuti oggi nel panorama internazionale, organizzò a Pisa la convention Panico Totale. Fu un evento cult di promozione dei graffiti e della hip hop culture a cui parteciparono alcune delle firme più celebri italiane ed europee; durante la prima edizione Phase2, uno dei padri del writing di NYC, capitò in città quasi per caso e dipinse nel complesso del Concetto Marchesi un pezzo che è oggi andato purtroppo perduto.

In questa sala presentiamo otto fotografie che portano all’interno del museo come opera d’arte la documentazione della pratica performativa originale realizzata in strada.

Dallo studio sempre più complesso del lettering e dall’evoluzione dei puppet (in gergo, i personaggi fumettistici che affiancano le scritte) i più talentuosi si sono diretti verso nuove dimensioni artistiche caratterizzate da una ricchezza espressiva senza precedenti: il Post Graffiti!

Se nei disegni di Phase 2, nelle sculture di Oker e Joys e nella tela di Rusto è ancora riconoscibile un alfabeto, questo si perde progressivamente nei lavori di Imos, Zedz, Remi Rough, Dado e Peeta e scompare completamente nel lavoro del 2006 di Rae Martini e negli Splash di Taps & Moses; Francesco Barbieri e Egs raccontano invece i paesaggi e gli skyline tipici del contesto urbano e delle periferie.

"Names were dynamic and often reflected, as they should, one's personality" (Phase2)

On July 21, 1971, an article appeared for the first time in the New York Times that talked about graffiti writing and tag: the initials of one's name or, more precisely and for reasons related to the need for anonymity, one's pseudonym repeated endlessly with a spray can or marker.

These writings are made in the subways and on the walls of the city of New York: it is the acknowledgement of the existence of youth movements often born at the same time as the crisis of ideologies and disillusionment with promised political solutions during the late '60s.

A whole generation chooses to express itself in the street, looking for collective impact, expressive freedom, brazen experimentation; in this experience, the social and community component, the attitude, and the courage are even more fundamental than aesthetics: young people gather in crews, whose prestige is determined by the amount of the writings and the risk of the actions that guarantee the group a growing visibility; in parallel, hip hop contributed to form the identity of these young people.

"I immediately felt comfortable with this type of art, I felt its presence everywhere. Sometimes I wouldn't even get on the first train: I would just sit and wait to see what was drawn on the next train. Graffiti was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen..." (K. Haring)

In Italy, this trend developed from the end of the '80s.

From 1996 to 2000 a group of young writers from Tuscany, from which would emerge some artists recognized today in the international scene, organized in Pisa the convention Panico Totale. It was a cult event for the promotion of graffiti and hip hop culture, with the participation of some of the most famous Italian and European artists; during the first edition Phase2, one of the fathers of writing in NYC, was in town and painted a piece in the Concetto Marchesi complex that has now unfortunately been lost.

In this room, we present eight photographs that bring inside the museum as a work of art the documentation of the original performative practice realized in the street.

From the increasingly complex study of lettering and from the evolution of puppets (slang:  the comic characters that flank the writings) the most talented artists have headed towards new artistic dimensions characterized by an unprecedented expressive richness: Post Graffiti!

If in the drawings of Phase 2, in the sculptures of Oker and Joys and in the canvas of Rusto an alphabet is still recognizable, this is progressively lost in the works of Imos, Zedz, Remi Rough, Dado, and Peeta and completely disappears in the 2006 work of Rae Martini and in the Splash of Taps & Moses; Francesco Barbieri, Egs and Giorgio Bartocci tell instead the landscapes and the fluid humanity typical of the urban context and of the suburbs.

"Names were dynamic and often reflected, as they should, one's personality" (Phase2)

On July 21, 1971, an article appeared for the first time in the New York Times that talked about graffiti writing and tag: the initials of one's name or, more precisely and for reasons related to the need for anonymity, one's pseudonym repeated endlessly with a spray can or marker.

These writings are made in the subways and on the walls of the city of New York: it is the acknowledgement of the existence of youth movements often born at the same time as the crisis of ideologies and disillusionment with promised political solutions during the late '60s.

A whole generation chooses to express itself in the street, looking for collective impact, expressive freedom, brazen experimentation; in this experience, the social and community component, the attitude, and the courage are even more fundamental than aesthetics: young people gather in crews, whose prestige is determined by the amount of the writings and the risk of the actions that guarantee the group a growing visibility; in parallel, hip hop contributed to form the identity of these young people.

"I immediately felt comfortable with this type of art, I felt its presence everywhere. Sometimes I wouldn't even get on the first train: I would just sit and wait to see what was drawn on the next train. Graffiti was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen..." (K. Haring)

In Italy, this trend developed from the end of the '80s.

From 1996 to 2000 a group of young writers from Tuscany, from which would emerge some artists recognized today in the international scene, organized in Pisa the convention Panico Totale. It was a cult event for the promotion of graffiti and hip hop culture, with the participation of some of the most famous Italian and European artists; during the first edition Phase2, one of the fathers of writing in NYC, was in town and painted a piece in the Concetto Marchesi complex that has now unfortunately been lost.

In this room, we present eight photographs that bring inside the museum as a work of art the documentation of the original performative practice realized in the street.

From the increasingly complex study of lettering and from the evolution of puppets (slang:  the comic characters that flank the writings) the most talented artists have headed towards new artistic dimensions characterized by an unprecedented expressive richness: Post Graffiti!

If in the drawings of Phase 2, in the sculptures of Oker and Joys and in the canvas of Rusto an alphabet is still recognizable, this is progressively lost in the works of Imos, Zedz, Remi Rough, Dado, and Peeta and completely disappears in the 2006 work of Rae Martini and in the Splash of Taps & Moses; Francesco Barbieri, Egs and Giorgio Bartocci tell instead the landscapes and the fluid humanity typical of the urban context and of the suburbs.