David Choe, Fine Graffiti Artist

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Jamie

I’ve always looked at graffiti artists with a measure of admiration. Here’s someone with something to say and the only way anyone will listen is if he or she throws it up on a wall. It takes a lot of dedication to pursue an artform that can land you in jail. But these days, it seems that art transcends crime. A number of graffiti artists have found patrons in the fine art world and have gone on to have exhibitions in some of modern art’s finest galleries. David Choe is one such artist.

This ten minute documentary originally aired in 2004, shortly after Choe was released from a Japanese prison after serving a three month sentence on violence charges.

Check out his website to see more of David Choe’s work.

So, my Monster Cuties, do you consider graffiti a crime or an art form?  Or is it both?

This entry was posted in Archive and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.
  • John

    How about D, sometimes both, sometimes one, sometimes the other.

    Sometimes it’s an art form, sometimes it isn’t. Even some tags that are simply tags stray into the art form bucket, while some are just that. Tags. Words on a page are not all ‘writing’. Sometimes they are just words on a page. Graffiti can fall into the same buckets.

    Sometimes it’s a crime, sometimes it isn’t. Laws are laws. Even when they aren’t good laws, they are still the law. If, however, I say ‘This is my building, this is my wall, tag it at your will’, the question of legality will become more mutable. Even moreso when a wall is erected solely for the purpose of allowing graffiti artists to use.

    Sometimes it’s both, or neither.