SKAM painting Louis Vuitton store (*This article appeared, in full or in part, in The Vancouver Sun, The Montreal Gazette, The Edmonton Journal, The Calgary Herald, and more.)
It’s been sprayed on trains and scrawled across skyscrapers. This year, it was even splattered on Louis Vuitton handbags.
When, exactly, did graffiti get so glamorous?
Painters like Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) and Keith Haring (1958-1990) first brought graffiti into the avant-garde art world during the ’80s, though both passed away as their careers were launching.
Today, second generation vandals-turned-artists are earning critical respect and commercial success in the worlds of art and fashion in Canada and worldwide, leaving many hooligans with trickster smiles on their faces.
One by the name of Banksy (b. 1974) from the U.K. fetches up to $500,000 for his graffiti-inspired artwork. His pieces include a reproduction of Andy Warhol’s portrait of Marilyn Monroe, but using Kate Moss’s image instead; another piece features a live elephant painted like wallpaper. Despite his successful tongue-in-cheek gallery work, Banksy continues to post his graffiti all over the world in places like New Orleans, London and Israel. He keeps his identity secret to evade police and border patrols.