Graffiti artists feature work at area bar
ALEXIS GRAY
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 3/12/2007
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The Green Room was packed shoulder to shoulder Saturday night welcoming San Francisco graffiti artists Steel and Reyes of The 7th Letter.

The 7th Letter is an international art collective featuring graffiti artists as well as fine artists and tattoo artists, established in 1988 in Los Angeles with more than

200 artists.

Artists Steel and Reyes splashed their signature styles all over the walls of the Green Room, a downtown Reno bar. Steel has been creating graffiti art for 10 years.

"I've always loved graffiti as far back as I can remember," Steel said. "I've constantly pursued it ever since."

They also were selling serigraphs, sharp-edged graphics created by stencils of their art of their art to the public.

Although graffiti art or tagging has been around since the first humans sketched on cave walls and Egyptians painted the hieroglyphics, the pioneer era of graffiti art began in the late 1960s in Philadelphia. It became an expression of political activism during turbulent times.

"Graffiti is the art of the people," Reyes said. While growing up in difficult situations, Reyes found his escape in graffiti art. "I took it more seriously as I grew up and it's been a huge part of my life."

In the 1970s, graffiti artists began spreading to New York City from impoverished areas, creating a new style on street walls, subway trains and just about anywhere else in the city. It was an escape from harsh conditions and gave the youth an outlet from crime and violence.

It began to tie in with the growing hip-hop culture alongside break dancing, disc jockey and the master of ceremony. Famous hip hop pioneer Fab Five Freddy is a prominent figure in the culture, responsible for bringing the graffiti movement and hip hop music out Brooklyn and into other cities in the early 1980s.

The Reno-Sacramento Hip-Hop trio Who Cares supplied their hypnotic beats and masterful lyrics to the show.

Although these trends have been going on for years, the old school appeal is being reborn into a new generation.

For many years graffiti has been considered a crime and in association with gangs. But the idea of "street art" has become wildly popular in Europe and Asia. Graffiti art is now featured in many art galleries, and some consider it a modern art form.