View source for Graffiti

{{Short description|Drawings and paintings on walls}}
{{Other uses}}
{{protection padlock|small=yes}}
{{multiple issues|
{{Original research|date=March 2019}}
{{Too many photos|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox art movement
| name         = Graffiti
| image        = Former roof felt factory in Tampere Jun2012 003.jpg
| alt          =
| caption      = An abandoned [[roof felt]] factory in [[Santalahti]], Finland which has been painted with graffiti, including work by [[1UP (graffiti crew)|1UP]] (top left), 2012
| yearsactive  = 1960s-present
| majorfigures = {{plainlist|
* [[TAKI 183]]
* [[Cornbread (graffiti artist)|Cornbread]]
}}
| influences   = [[Hip hop (culture)|Hip hop culture]]
| influenced   = {{plainlist|
* [[Commercial graffiti]]
* [[Public art]]
* [[Street art]]
* [[Urban art]]
}}
|commons= yes
}}

'''Graffiti''' (singular '''''graffiti''''', or '''''graffito''''' only in [[Graffito (archaeology)|graffiti archeology]]) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view.<ref name=oxd>{{cite web |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/graffiti |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219082751/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/graffiti |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 19, 2010 |title=Graffiti |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=5 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=ahd/> Graffiti ranges from simple written [[Moniker (graffiti)|"monikers"]] to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed [[Graffito (archaeology)|since ancient times]], with examples dating back to [[ancient Egypt]], [[ancient Greece]], and the [[Roman Empire]].<ref name=Graffito>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Graffito |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |volume=2 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2006}}</ref>

Modern graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered [[vandalism]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stewart |first=Jeff |year=2008 |title=Graffiti vandalism? Street art and the city: some considerations |url=https://www.unescoejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/1-2-6-jeff-stewart.pdf |journal=Unescoe Journal}}</ref> Modern graffiti began in the [[New York City Subway nomenclature|New York City subway]] system and [[Philadelphia]] in the early 1970s and later spread to the rest of the United States and throughout the world.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the City |last=Caves |first=R. W. |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |pages=315}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
"Graffiti" (usually both singular and plural) and the rare singular form "graffito" are from the Italian word ''graffiato'' ("scratched").<ref>The Italian singular form "graffito" is so rare in English (except in specialist texts on archeology) that it is not even recorded or mentioned in some dictionaries, for example the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English and the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.</ref><ref name=oxd/><ref name="ahd">{{Cite web |last=Publishers |first=HarperCollins |title=The American Heritage Dictionary entry: graffiti |url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=graffiti |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=ahdictionary.com}}</ref> In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, although sometimes [[chalk]] or [[coal]] were used. The word originates from Greek {{lang|el|γράφειν}}—''graphein''—meaning "to write".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/graffiti |title=graffiti {{!}} Origin and meaning of graffiti by Online Etymology Dictionary |website=www.etymonline.com |language=en |access-date=19 February 2018}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Rufus est caricature villa misteri Pompeii.jpg|thumb|right|Ancient [[Pompeii]] graffito [[caricature]] of a politician. [[Villa of the Mysteries]].]]
[[File:Graffitti, Castellania, Malta.jpeg|thumb|right|Figure graffito, similar to a relief, at [[Castellania (Valletta)|the Castellania, in Valletta]]]]

=== Prehistoric ===
{{See also|Megalithic graffiti symbols}}
Most [[petroglyph]]s and [[geoglyph]]s date between 40,000 and 10,000 years old, the oldest being [[cave paintings]] in Australia.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=McDonald |first=Fiona |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZnGCDwAAQBAJ |title=The Popular History of Graffiti: From the Ancient World to the Present |date=2013-06-13 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-62636-291-8 |language=en}}</ref> Paintings in the [[Chauvet Cave]] were made 35,000 years ago, but little is known about who made them or why.<ref name=":2" /> Early artists created [[stencil graffiti]] of their hands with paint blown through a tube. These stencils may have functioned similarly to a modern-day [[Tag (graffiti)|tag]].<ref name=":2" />

=== Ancient ===
{{See also|Roman graffiti}}
The oldest known written graffito was found on the Greek island of [[Astypalaia]] and is dated to around 500 BC.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Griggs |first2=Mary Beth |title=Archaeologists in Greece Find Some of the World's Oldest Erotic Graffiti |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/erotic-graffiti-found-greece-180951979/ |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Most graffiti from the time was boasts about sexual experiences,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Helena |date=2014-07-06 |title=2,500-year-old erotic graffiti found in unlikely setting on Aegean island |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/06/worlds-earliest-erotic-graffiti-astypalaia-classical-greece |access-date=2023-09-03 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> but also includes word games such as the [[Sator Square]], "I was here" type markings, and comments on gladiators.<ref name=":2" /> Graffiti in Ancient Rome was a form of communication, and was generally not considered vandalism.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Alexamenos graffito]] was later seen as blasphemous and removed. It may contain one of the earliest depictions of [[Jesus]]. The graffito features a human with the head of a donkey on a cross with a Greek inscription translated as {{gloss|Alexamenos worships [his] god}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexamenos and pagan perceptions of Christians |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/graffito.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

=== Medieval ===
The only known source of the [[Safaitic]] language, an [[Old Arabic|ancient form of Arabic]], is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD.<ref>{{Cite web |last=dan |title=Ancient Arabia: Languages and Cultures—Safaitic Database Online |url=http://krc2.orient.ox.ac.uk/aalc/index.php/en/safaitic-database-online |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033117/http://krc2.orient.ox.ac.uk/aalc/index.php/en/safaitic-database-online |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |publisher=University of Oxford |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=dan |title=The Online Corpus of the Inscriptions of Ancient North Arabia—Safaitic |url=http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/index.php/safaitic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220033208/http://krc.orient.ox.ac.uk/ociana/index.php/safaitic |archive-date=20 February 2018 |access-date=19 February 2018 |publisher=University of Oxford |language=en-gb}}</ref>

Ancient tourists visiting the 5th-century citadel at [[Sigiriya]] in Sri Lanka write their names and commentary over the "mirror wall", adding up to over 1800 individual graffiti produced there between the 6th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kljun |first1=Matjaž |last2=Pucihar |first2=Klen Čopič |title=Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015 |chapter="I Was Here": Enabling Tourists to Leave Digital Graffiti or Marks on Historic Landmarks |date=2015 |editor-last=Abascal |editor-first=Julio |editor2-last=Barbosa |editor2-first=Simone |editor3-last=Fetter |editor3-first=Mirko |editor4-last=Gross |editor4-first=Tom |editor5-last=Palanque |editor5-first=Philippe |editor6-last=Winckler |editor6-first=Marco |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-22723-8_45 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=9299 |language=en |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=490–494 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-22723-8_45 |isbn=978-3-319-22723-8 |issn=0302-9743}}</ref> Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there.

Among the ancient political graffiti examples were [[Arab]] satirist poems. Yazid al-Himyari, an [[Umayyad]] Arab and [[Persian language|Persian]] poet, was most known for writing his political poetry on the walls between [[Sistan|Sajistan]] and [[Basra]], manifesting a strong hatred towards the [[Umayyad]] regime and its ''[[wali]]s'', and people used to read and circulate them very widely.<ref>Hussein Mroueh (1986) حسين مروّة، '''تراثنا كيف نعرفه'''، مؤسسة الأبحاث العربية، بيروت، [Our Heritage, How Do We Know It], ''Arab Research Foundation'', Beirut</ref>

Graffiti, known as Tacherons, were frequently scratched on Romanesque Scandinavian church walls.<ref name=green>{{cite web |url=http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/builders_marks.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810164425/http://www.green-man-of-cercles.org/articles/builders_marks.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-10 |url-status=live |title=Tacherons on Romanesque churches}}</ref> When [[Renaissance]] artists such as [[Pinturicchio]], [[Raphael]], [[Michelangelo]], [[Domenico Ghirlandaio|Ghirlandaio]], or [[Filippino Lippi]] descended into the ruins of Nero's [[Domus Aurea]], they carved or painted their names and returned to initiate the ''[[Grotesque|grottesche]]'' style of decoration.<ref name="archeology">British Archaeology, June 1999</ref><ref name="atlantic">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97apr/rome.htm |title=Underground Rome |magazine=[[The Atlantic Monthly]] |date=April 1997}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Ancient graffiti">
File:Graffiti 4.JPG|Graffiti from the {{ill|Museum of Ancient Graffiti|fr|Maison du graffiti ancien}}, France
File:Jesus graffito.jpg|Satirical [[Alexamenos graffito]], possibly the earliest known [[Depiction of Jesus|representation of Jesus]]
File:AncientgrafS.jpg|Graffiti, [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], [[Jerusalem]]
File:Hagia-sofia-viking.jpg|[[Vikings|Viking]] mercenary graffiti at the [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[Istanbul]], Turkey
File:Sigiriya-graffiti.jpg|Graffiti on the [[Sigiriya#Mirror wall|Mirror Wall]], [[Sigiriya]], Sri Lanka
</gallery>

=== Contemporary ===
In the 1790s, French soldiers carved their names on monuments during the Napoleonic [[French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1798|campaign of Egypt]].<ref name=JinxArtCrimes>{{Cite news |title=Art Crimes |work=Jinx Magazine |url=http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014194314/http://www.jinxmagazine.com/art_crimes.html/ |archive-date=14 October 2014}}</ref> [[Lord Byron]]'s survives on one of the columns of the Temple of [[Poseidon]] at [[Sounion]] in [[Attica]], Greece.<ref name=shanks>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan |url-access=limited |title=Classical Archaeology of Greece: Experiences of the Discipline |first=Michael |last=Shanks |year=1996 |publisher=London, New York: Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-08521-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/classicalarchaeo00shan/page/n87 76]}}</ref>

The oldest known example of [[Moniker (graffiti)|graffiti monikers]] were found on traincars created by hobos and railworkers since the late 1800s. The Bozo Texino monikers were documented by filmmaker [[Bill Daniel (filmmaker)|Bill Daniel]] in his 2005 film, ''Who is Bozo Texino?''.<ref name="bozo-texino-walker">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |date=22 July 2010 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=https://walkerart.org/calendar/2010/who-is-bozo-texino |access-date=23 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="bozo-texino-film">{{cite web |last=Daniel |first=Bill |year=2005 |title=Who Is Bozo Texino? |url=http://www.billdaniel.net/who-is-bozo-texino/ |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=Who Is Bozo Texino? The Secret History of Hobo Graffiti}}</ref>

Contemporary graffiti has been seen on landmarks in the US, such as [[Independence Rock]], a national landmark along the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Independence Rock—California National Historic Trail (National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/site5.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070324011100/http://www.nps.gov/cali/planyourvisit/site5.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 24, 2007 |access-date=18 January 2018 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

In [[World War II]], an inscription on a wall at the fortress of [[Verdun]] was seen as an illustration of the US response twice in a generation to the wrongs of the Old World:<ref name=reagan>{{cite book |title=Military Anecdotes (1992) |first=Geoffrey |last=Reagan |year=1992 |publisher=Guinness Publishing |isbn=978-0-85112-519-0 |page=33}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/08/14/opinion/words-from-a-war.html |title=Words From a War |date=14 August 1985 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>

{{poemquote|
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1918
Austin White – Chicago, Ill – 1945
This is the last time I want to write my name here.}}

During World War II and for decades after, the phrase "[[Kilroy was here]]" with an accompanying illustration was widespread throughout the world, due to its use by American troops and ultimately filtering into American popular culture. Shortly after the death of [[Charlie Parker]] (nicknamed "Yardbird" or "Bird"), graffiti began appearing around New York with the words "Bird Lives".<ref name=russel>{{cite book |title=Bird Lives!: The High Life And Hard Times Of Charlie (yardbird) Parker |first=Ross |last=Russell |publisher=Da Capo Press}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="World War II graffiti">
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-309-0816-20A, Italien, Soldat zeichnend.jpg|Soldier with tropical fantasy graffiti (1943–1944)
Graffiti inside the ruins of the German Reichstag building.jpg|Soviet Army graffiti in the ruins of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]], in [[Berlin]] (1945)
The D-Day Wall, Southampton, 10 June 2024.jpg|The D-Day Wall in Western Esplanade, [[Southampton]]
Kilroy Was Here - Washington DC WWII Memorial - Jason Coyne.jpg|Permanent engraving of [[Kilroy was here|Kilroy]] on the [[World War II Memorial]], in [[Washington, D.C.]]
</gallery><gallery mode="packed" caption="Early spray-painted graffiti">
NYC R36 1 subway car.png|[[New York City Subway]] train covered in graffiti (1973)
GRAFFITI ON A WALL IN CHICAGO. SUCH WRITING HAS ADVANCED AND BECOME AN ART FORM, PARTICULARLY IN METROPOLITAN AREAS.... - NARA - 556232.jpg|Graffiti in [[Chicago]] (1973)
</gallery>

=== Modern ===
[[File:Sisyphus_(6874863752).jpg|thumb|The quote "One must imagine Sisyphus as[sic] happy." [[Writing|written]] on a [[wall]].]]
Modern graffiti style has been heavily influenced by [[hip hop culture]]<ref name="genius-paul-edwards-hiphopbook">{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Paul |date=10 February 2015 |title=Is Graffiti Really An Element Of Hip-Hop? (book excerpt) |url=https://genius.com/Paul-edwards-is-graffiti-really-an-element-of-hip-hop-book-excerpt-annotated |access-date=23 August 2018 |work=The Concise Guide to Hip-Hop Music}}</ref> and started with young people in 1960s and 70s in [[New York City]] and [[Philadelphia]]. [[Tag (graffiti)|Tags]] were the first form of stylised contemporary graffiti, starting with artists like [[TAKI 183]] and [[Cornbread (graffiti artist)|Cornbread]]. Later, artists began to paint throw-ups and [[Piece (graffiti)|pieces]] on trains on the sides of subway trains.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=Graffiti art |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/g/graffiti-art |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=Tate Etc. |language=en-GB}}</ref> and eventually moved into the city after the NYC metro began to buy new trains and paint over graffiti.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Snyder |first=Gregory J. |date=2006-04-01 |title=Graffiti media and the perpetuation of an illegal subculture |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1741659006061716 |journal=Crime, Media, Culture |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=93–101 |doi=10.1177/1741659006061716 |s2cid=144911784 |issn=1741-6590 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

While the art had many advocates and appreciators—including the cultural critic [[Norman Mailer]]—others, including New York City mayor [[Ed Koch]], considered it to be defacement of public property, and saw it as a form of public blight.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=The history of graffiti |url=https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/b2-reading/history-graffiti |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org |language=en}}</ref> While those who did early modern graffiti called it "writing",  [[The Faith of Graffiti|the 1974 essay "The Faith of Graffiti"]] referred to it using the term "graffiti", which stuck.<ref name=":02"/>

An early graffito outside of New York or Philadelphia was the inscription in London reading "[[Clapton is God]]" in reference to the guitarist [[Eric Clapton]]. Creating the cult of the guitar hero, the phrase was spray-painted by an admirer on a wall in [[Islington]], north London, in the autumn of 1967.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hann |first1=Michael |date=12 June 2011 |title=Eric Clapton creates the cult of the guitar hero |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311172627/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/12/eric-clapton |archive-date=11 March 2017}}</ref> The graffito was captured in a photograph, in which a dog is [[Urine marking#Canidae|urinating on the wall]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McCormick |first=Neil |date=24 July 2015 |title=Just how good is Eric Clapton? |work=The Telegraph |location=London |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11501274/Just-how-good-is-Eric-Clapton.html |url-status=live |access-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171124071909/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/11501274/Just-how-good-is-Eric-Clapton.html |archive-date=24 November 2017}}</ref>

Films like [[Style Wars]] in the 80s depicting famous writers such as Skeme, [[DONDI]], MinOne, and [[Zephyr (artist)|ZEPHYR]] reinforced graffiti's role within New York's emerging hip-hop culture. Although many officers of the New York City Police Department found this film to be controversial, 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.<ref name=labonte>Labonte, Paul. All City: The book about taking space. Toronto. ECW Press. 2003</ref> Fab{{nbsp}}5 Freddy and Futura 2000 took hip hop graffiti to Paris and London as part of the New York City Rap Tour in 1983.<ref name=hershk>David Hershkovits, "London Rocks, Paris Burns and the B-Boys Break a Leg", ''Sunday News Magazine'', 3 April 1983.</ref>

=== Commercialization and pop culture ===
{{Main|Commercial graffiti}}

With the popularity and legitimization of graffiti has come a level of commercialization. In 2001, computer giant [[IBM]] launched an advertising campaign in Chicago and San Francisco which involved people spray painting on sidewalks a [[peace symbol]], a [[Heart (symbol)|heart]], and [[Tux (mascot)|Tux]] ([[Linux|Linux penguin mascot]]), to represent "Peace, Love, and Linux." IBM paid Chicago and San Francisco collectively {{US$|120,000}} for punitive damages and clean-up costs.<ref name=guerilla>{{cite news |publisher=CNN |title=IBM's graffiti ads run afoul of city officials |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/04/19/ibm.guerilla.idg/index.html |date=19 April 2001 |access-date=11 October 2006 |first=James |last=Niccolai |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004173008/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/04/19/ibm.guerilla.idg/index.html |archive-date=4 October 2006}}</ref><ref name=wired>{{Cite magazine |title=Sony Draws Ire With PSP Graffiti |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2005/12/69741 |date=5 December 2005 |access-date=8 April 2008}}</ref>

In 2005, a similar ad campaign was launched by [[Sony]] and executed by its advertising agency in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Miami, to market its handheld [[PlayStation Portable]] (PSP) gaming system. In [[PlayStation Portable#Controversial advertising campaigns|this campaign]], taking notice of the legal problems of the IBM campaign, Sony paid building owners for the rights to paint on their buildings "a collection of dizzy-eyed urban kids playing with the PSP as if it were a skateboard, a paddle, or a rocking horse".<ref name=wired/>

== Global movements ==
When graffiti is done as an art form, it often uses the [[Latin script]] even in countries where it is not the primary writing system.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=C. Bruce |date=March 2012 |title=The Korean English linguistic landscape: The Korean English linguistic landscape |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01741.x |journal=World Englishes |language=en |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=70–92 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01741.x |url-access=subscription}}</ref> English words are also often used as monikers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosen |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FflEAAAQBAJ&dq=graffiti+%22latin+script%22&pg=PA241 |title=The Ethnography of Reading at Thirty |date=2023-12-25 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-38226-0 |language=en}}</ref>

=== Europe ===
Stencil graffiti artists such as [[Blek le Rat]] existed in Western Europe, especially in [[Paris]], before the arrival of American graffiti and was associated more with the [[punk rock]] scene than with hip-hop.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ganz |first=Nicholas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ujsyPQAACAAJ |title=Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents |date=2009 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-51469-6 |language=en}}</ref> In the 1980s, American graffiti and hiphop began to influence the European graffiti scene.<ref name=":0" /> Modern graffiti reached Eastern Europe in the 1990s.<ref name=":0" />

Some of the earliest graffiti exhibitions outside of the USA were in [[Amsterdam]], The Netherlands.<ref name=":0" />

=== Middle East ===
Graffiti in the Middle East has emerged slowly, with taggers operating in Egypt, Lebanon, the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf countries]] like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Zoghbi |first1=Pascal |title=Arabic graffiti = Ghirāfītī ʻArabīyah |last2=Stone |last3=Hawley |first3=Joy |date=2013 |publisher=From Here to Fame |isbn=978-3-937946-45-0 |location=Berlin |oclc=818463305}}</ref> Israel, and in Iran. The major Iranian newspaper ''[[Hamshahri]]'' has published two articles on illegal writers in the city with photographic coverage of Iranian artist [[A1one]]'s works on Tehran walls. Tokyo-based design magazine, ''PingMag'', has interviewed A1one and featured photographs of his work.<ref name=pinmag>{{cite web |url=http://www.pingmag.jp/2007/01/19/a1one-1st-generation-graffiti-in-iran |author=Uleshka |title=A1one: 1st generation Graffiti in Iran |publisher=PingMag |date=19 January 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080222030338/http://www.pingmag.jp/2007/01/19/a1one-1st-generation-graffiti-in-iran/ |archive-date=22 February 2008}}</ref> The [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] has become a site for graffiti, reminiscent in this sense of the [[Berlin Wall]]. Many writers in Israel come from other places around the globe, such as JUIF from Los Angeles and DEVIONE from London. The religious reference "נ נח נחמ נחמן מאומן" ("[[Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman]]") is commonly seen in graffiti around Israel.
[[File:Graffiti in Tel Aviv, Israel.jpg|thumb|A graffiti piece by the artist DeDe found in [[Tel Aviv]]]]

Graffiti has played an important role within the [[street art]] scene in the Middle East and North Africa ([[MENA]]), especially following the events of the [[Arab Spring]] of 2011 or the [[Sudanese Revolution]] of 2018/19.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bashir's Overthrow Inspires Sudan Graffiti Artists |url=https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/1695246/bashirs-overthrow-inspires-sudan-graffiti-artists |access-date=2021-06-29 |website=Asharq AL-awsat |language=en}}</ref> Graffiti is a tool of expression in the context of conflict in the region, allowing people to raise their voices politically and socially. Famous street artist [[Banksy]] has had an important effect in the street art scene in the MENA area, especially in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] where some of his works are located in the [[Israeli West Bank barrier|West Bank barrier]] and [[Bethlehem]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=DeTruk |first=Sabrina |year=2015 |title=The "Banksy Effect" and Street Art in the Middle East |url=https://journals.ap2.pt/index.php/sauc/article/view/25 |journal=SAUC – Street Art & Urban Creativity Scientific Journal |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=22–30}}</ref>

=== South America ===
South America has a very active graffiti culture, and graffiti are very common in Brazilian cities. This is blamed on the high uneven distribution of income, changing laws, and disenfranchisement.<ref name=manco7>{{cite book |title=Lost Art & Caleb Neelon, Graffiti Brazil |first=Tristan |last=Manco |year=2005 |publisher=London: Thames and Hudson |pages=7–10}}</ref> ''[[Pichação]]'' is a form of graffiti found in Brazil, which involves tall characters and is usually used as a form of protest. It contrasts with the more conventionally artistic values of the practitioners of ''grafite''.<ref name=revela>{{cite web |url=http://www.revelacaoonline.uniube.br/2005/316/Arte.html |title=Pintando o muro |publisher=Revelacaoonline.uniube.br |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501012139/http://www.revelacaoonline.uniube.br/2005/316/Arte.html |archive-date=1 May 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Prominent Brazilian writers include [[OSGEMEOS|Os Gêmeos]], Boleta, [[Francisco Rodrigues da Silva|Nunca]], Nina, Speto, Tikka, and T.Freak.<ref name=globo>{{cite magazine |url=http://revistamarieclaire.globo.com/Marieclaire/0,6993,EML1163949-1740,00.html |title=A força do novo grafite |language=pt |magazine=[[Marie Claire]] |access-date=19 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129082341/http://revistamarieclaire.globo.com/Marieclaire/0%2C6993%2CEML1163949-1740%2C00.html |archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref>

=== Southeast Asia ===
There are also a large number of graffiti influences in [[Southeast Asia]]n countries that mostly come from modern [[Western culture]], such as Malaysia, where graffiti have long been a common sight in Malaysia's capital city, [[Kuala Lumpur]]. Since 2010, the country has begun hosting a street festival to encourage all generations and people from all walks of life to enjoy and encourage Malaysian street culture.<ref name=kharbar>{{Cite web |url=http://www.khabarsoutheastasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2012/02/15/feature-03 |title=Graffiti competition in Kuala Lumpur draws local and international artists |publisher=Khabar Southeast Asia |date=15 February 2012 |access-date=17 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113113534/http://www.khabarsoutheastasia.com/en_GB/articles/apwi/articles/features/2012/02/15/feature-03 |archive-date=13 November 2012}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Graffiti around the world">
File:Grafiti, Čakovec (Croatia).2.jpg|Graffiti on a wall in [[Čakovec]], Croatia
File:Graffiti in Budapest, Pestszentlőrinc.jpg|Graffiti of the character [[Bender (Futurama)|Bender]] on a wall in [[Budapest]], Hungary
File:Graffiti in Ho Chi Minh City.JPG|Graffiti in [[Ho Chi Minh City]], Vietnam
File:Mr. Wany's work-in-progress artwork for Kul Sign Festival.JPG|Graffiti art in [[Kuala Lumpur]], Malaysia
File:Graffiti in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.jpg|Graffiti in [[Yogyakarta]], Indonesia
File:Camperdown Memorial Rest Park Graffiti.jpg|Graffiti on a park wall in [[Sydney]], Australia
File:Graffitiensaopaulo.jpg|Graffiti in [[São Paulo]], Brazil
File:Absurdious-001.jpg|Absourdios. Tehran-Iran, 2009.
</gallery>

== Types ==
{{See also|Graffiti terminology}}

=== Tools ===
[[Spray paint]] and [[Marker pen|markers]] are the main tools used for [[Tag (graffiti)|tagging]], [[Throw up (graffiti)|throw ups]], and [[Piece (graffiti)|pieces]].<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Bates |first=Lindsay |year=2014 |title=Bombing, Tagging, Writing: An Analysis of the Significance of Graffiti and Street Art |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4db1a72a-861c-48a0-b978-0232aea82a15/content |degree=Master of Science in Historic Preservation |publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref> [[Paint marker]]s, paint dabbers, and scratching tools are also used.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daniell |first=Christopher |date=2011-08-01 |title=Graffiti, Calliglyphs and Markers in the UK |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-011-9176-6 |journal=Archaeologies |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=454–476 |doi=10.1007/s11759-011-9176-6 |issn=1935-3987 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Some art companies, such as [[Montana Colors]], make art supplies specifically for graffiti and street art. Many major cities have graffiti art stores.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Avramidis |first1=Konstantinos |title=Moving from Urban to Virtual Spaces and Back: Learning In/From Signature Graffiti Subculture |year=2015 |work=Critical Learning in Digital Networks |pages=133–160 |editor-last=Jandrić |editor-first=Petar |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13752-0_7 |access-date=2024-08-06 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-13752-0_7 |isbn=978-3-319-13752-0 |last2=Drakopoulou |first2=Konstantina |editor2-last=Boras |editor2-first=Damir |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Graffiti making">
File:Vlg shop.jpg|The first graffiti shop in Russia was opened in 1992 in [[Tver]].
File:Eurofestival graffiti 2.jpg|Graffiti application at Eurofestival in [[Turku]], Finland
File:Graffity in the making...(On a wall at Thrissur) CIMG9868.JPG|Graffiti application in India using natural pigments (mostly [[charcoal]], plant [[sap]]s, and dirt)
File:Leake Street TQ3079 352.JPG|A graffiti artist at work in [[London]]
</gallery>

=== Stencil graffiti ===
{{Main|Stencil graffiti}}

Stencil graffiti is created by cutting out shapes and designs in a stiff material (such as [[Corrugated fiberboard|cardboard]] or subject [[File folder|folder]]s) to form an overall design or image.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McIntyre |first=Iain |date=2019-09-02 |title=Items of Mass Instruction: Posters, Stickers, Memes and More |url=https://commonslibrary.org/items-of-mass-instruction-posters-stickers-memes-and-more/#Stencils |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref> The stencil is then placed on the "canvas" gently and with quick, easy strokes of the aerosol can, the image begins to appear on the intended surface. Some of the first examples were created in 1981 by artists [[Blek le Rat]] in Paris, in 1982 by [[Jef Aerosol]] in Tours (France);<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-11 |title=The Evolution of Graffiti Art |url=https://artsfiesta.com/the-evolution-of-graffiti-art/ |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Arts Fiesta |language=en-US}}</ref> by 1985 stencils had appeared in other cities including New York City, Sydney, and [[Melbourne]], where they were documented by American photographer Charles Gatewood and Australian photographer Rennie Ellis.<ref name=ellis>{{cite book |title=The All New Australian Graffiti |first=Rennie |last=Ellis |year=1985 |publisher=Sun Books, Melbourne |isbn=978-0-7251-0484-9}}</ref>

=== Stickers ===
{{multiple image
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 | image1 = Sticker art in Sydney. 2024 1636291.jpg
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 | image2 = Sticker art 2024 - 2.jpg
 | caption2 = Two name tag stickers. The red "HEY YO" sticker is an eggshell sticker. Small pieces of it in the lower left hand corner have broken away when attempts have been made to remove it. Sydney, 2024
}}
{{Main|Sticker art}}

Stickers, also known as slaps, are drawn or written on before being put up in public. Stickers that became widely used include the [[United States Postal Service]]'s [[Label 228]] and [[name tag]]s stickers.<ref name="10 July 2012">{{Cite web |url=http://markbattypublisher.com/books/name-tagging-2/ |title=Name Tagging: Martha Cooper |date=10 July 2012 |website=markbattypublisher |access-date=27 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120710033038/http://markbattypublisher.com/books/name-tagging-2/ |archive-date=10 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Going Postal |last=Cooper |first=Martha |date=2009-03-28 |publisher=Mark Batty Publisher |isbn=9780979966651 |location=New York; London |language=en}}</ref><ref name="2007 Walde">{{cite book |last=Walde |first=Claudia |title=Sticker City: paper graffiti art |year=2007 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=9780500286685 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQvaAAAAMAAJ&q=avery%27s}}</ref> Name tag stickers that were printed with the text "Hello my name is", first introduced by C-Line Products in 1959, became widely used in both graffiti and [[sticker art]].<ref name="2007 Walde"/> Eggshell stickers are also frequently used and they are named "Eggshell" as an attempt to remove them results in tiny pieces breaking off, like an eggshell.<ref>{{Citation |last=Shobe |first=Hunter |title=Graffiti as Communication and Language |year=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02438-3_81 |work=Handbook of the Changing World Language Map |pages=3155–3172 |editor-last=Brunn |editor-first=Stanley D. |access-date=2023-08-29 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-02438-3_81 |isbn=978-3-030-02438-3 |editor2-last=Kehrein |editor2-first=Roland |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Stickers allow artists to put up their art quickly and discreetly, making them a relatively safer option for illegal graffiti.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Elsner |first1=Daniela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bBdnqY19cUC |title=Films, Graphic Novels & Visuals: Developing Multiliteracies in Foreign Language Education : an Interdisciplinary Approach |last2=Helff |first2=Sissy |last3=Viebrock |first3=Britta |date=2013 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=978-3-643-90390-7 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Stickers">
File:Sticker art in Sydney - 2025 - Label 228.jpg|Sticker art that replicates a United States Postal Service's label 228. On the back of a street sign in Sydney. 2025
File:Coffeeshop Green Place façade covered with stickers in Amsterdam.jpg|The exterior façade of the [[Coffeeshop (Netherlands)|coffeeshop]] "Green Place" entirely covered with stickers in [[Amsterdam]]. 2024
File:Colando sticker (3228310334).jpg|A person putting up a sticker in São Paulo. 2009
</gallery>

=== Tags ===
{{Main|Tag (graffiti)}}

[[Tag (graffiti)|Tagging]] is the practice of writing one's "name, initial or logo onto a public surface"<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-01-18 |title=Gullu Daley, Ajax Watson and Jestina Sharpe depicted in St Paul's street art |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-60039912 |access-date=2022-01-19}}</ref> in a [[handstyle]] unique to the writer. Tags were the first form of modern graffiti.

A number of recent examples of graffiti make use of [[hashtags]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-23 |title=Hashtag on the pavement connects with Fitzrovia's past |url=http://fitzrovianews.com/2015/07/23/hashtag-on-the-pavement-connects-with-fitzrovias-past/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=Fitzrovia News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=#RISKROCK #GRAFFITI IN #SANFRANCISCO |url=https://massappeal.com/riskrock-graffiti-in-san-francisco/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011183228/https://massappeal.com/riskrock-graffiti-in-san-francisco/ |archive-date=2017-10-11 |website=Mass Appeal}}</ref>
{{wide image|Graffiti i baggård i århus 2c.jpg|1300px|align-cap=center|Densely-tagged parking area in [[Århus]], Denmark|center|}}

=== Throw ups ===
{{Main|Throw up (graffiti)}}

Throw ups, or throwies are large, bubble-writing graffiti which aim to be "thrown onto" a surface as largely and quickly as possible.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lasley |first=James R. |date=1995-04-01 |title=New writing on the wall: Exploring the middle-class graffiti writing subculture |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994 |journal=Deviant Behavior |language=en |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=151–167 |doi=10.1080/01639625.1995.9967994 |issn=0163-9625 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Throw ups can have fills or be "hollow".<ref>{{Cite thesis |title=Writing on the walls: Graffiti and civic identity |url=http://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/28256 |publisher=University of Ottawa (Canada) |year=2009 |degree=Thesis |doi=10.20381/ruor-19161 |language=en |first=Michelle |last=Parks}}</ref> They prioritise minimal negative space<ref>{{Cite web |last=Team |first=The Drivin' & Vibin' |date=2022-08-21 |title=Who is Cope2? |url=https://outsidefolkgallery.com/cope2/ |access-date=2023-09-08 |website=Outside Folk Gallery |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908090710/https://outsidefolkgallery.com/cope2/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> and consistency or letter space and height.<ref name=":2"/>

=== Pieces ===
{{Main|Piece (graffiti)}}

Pieces are large, elaborate, letter-based graffiti which usually use spray paint or rollers.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Snyder |first=Gregory J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJUUCgAAQBAJ |title=Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground |date=2011-04-15 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-4046-0 |language=en}}</ref> Pieces often have multi-coloured fills and outlines, and may use highlights, shadows, backgrounds,<ref name="read">{{Cite book |last=Gottlieb |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KyNVOzSbTGkC |title=Graffiti Art Styles: A Classification System and Theoretical Analysis |date=2014-01-10 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5225-5 |language=en}}</ref> extensions, 3D effects,<ref name="read"/> and sometimes [[Character (graffiti)|characters]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Mansfield |first=Michelle |title=Collective Individualism: Practices of Youth Collectivity within a Graffiti Community in Yogyakarta, Indonesia |date=2021-09-23 |work=Forms of Collective Engagement in Youth Transitions |pages=115–138 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004466340/BP000008.xml |access-date=2023-08-28 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-46634-0}}</ref>

=== Wildstyle ===
{{Main|Wildstyle}}

Wildstyle is the most complex form of modern graffiti. It can be difficult for those unfamiliar with the art form to read.<ref name="read"/> Wildstyle draws inspiration from [[calligraphy]] and has been described as partially abstract.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michelle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7kYrDwAAQBAJ |title=Routledge International Handbook of Visual Criminology |last2=Carrabine |first2=Eamonn |date=2017-07-06 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-49754-7 |language=en}}</ref> The term "wildstyle" was popularized by the Wild Style graffiti crew formed by [[Tracy 168]] of [[the Bronx]], [[New York City|New York]] in 1974.<ref name="read"/>

=== Modern experimentation ===
[[File:Knitted graffiti 1.jpg|thumb|right|Knitted graffiti in [[Seattle]], Washington]]
[[File:Spiderweb Yarnbomb Installation by Stephen Duneier.JPG|thumbnail|Stephen Duneier's Spiderweb Yarnbomb installation hides and highlights previous graffiti.]]

Modern graffiti art often incorporates additional arts and technologies. For example, [[Graffiti Research Lab]] has encouraged the use of projected images and magnetic light-emitting diodes ([[LED art|throwies]]) as new media for graffitists. [[Yarnbombing]] is another recent form of graffiti. Yarnbombers occasionally target previous graffiti for modification, which had been avoided among the majority of graffitists.

== Purpose ==
Theories on the use of graffiti by [[avant-garde]] artists have a history dating back at least to the [[Asger Jorn]], who in 1962 painting declared in a graffiti-like gesture "the avant-garde won't give up".<ref>{{cite book |title=Expression as vandalism: Asger Jorn's "Modifications" |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |author=Karen Kurczynski |year=2008 |pages=293}}</ref>

=== Public art ===
People who appreciate graffiti often believe that it should be on display for everyone in public spaces, not hidden away in a museum or a gallery.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=Street and Graffiti Art Movement Overview |url=https://www.theartstory.org/movement/street-art/ |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=The Art Story |language=en}}</ref> Art should color the streets, not the inside of some building. Graffiti is a form of art that cannot be owned or bought. It does not last forever, it is temporary, yet one of a kind. It is a form of self promotion for the artist that can be displayed anywhere from sidewalks, roofs, subways, building wall, etc.<ref name=":12" /> Art to them is for everyone and should be shown to everyone for free.

=== Personal expression ===
Graffiti is a way of communicating and a way of expressing oneself. It is art and a functional thing that can warn people of something or inform people of something. However, graffiti is to some people a form of art, but to some a form of vandalism.<ref name=":02"/> And many graffitists choose to protect their identities and remain anonymous to hinder prosecution.

With the commercialization of graffiti (and [[Hip hop music|hip hop]] in general), in most cases, even with legally painted "graffiti" art, graffitists tend to choose anonymity. This may be attributed to various reasons or a combination of reasons. Graffiti still remains the [[hip hop#Culture|one of four hip hop elements]] that is not considered "performance art" despite the image of the "singing and dancing star" that sells hip hop culture to the mainstream. Being a graphic form of art, it might also be said that many graffitists still fall in the category of the [[Extraversion and introversion#Introversion|introverted archetypal artist]].

[[Banksy]] is one of the world's most notorious and popular street artists who continues to remain faceless in today's society.<ref name=banksy>{{cite book |title=Wall and Piece |author=Banksy |year=2005 |publisher=New York: Random House UK |isbn=9781844137862}}</ref> He is known for his political, anti-war stencil art mainly in [[Bristol]], England, but his work may be seen anywhere from Los Angeles to [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]. In the UK, Banksy is the most recognizable icon for this cultural artistic movement and keeps his identity a secret to avoid arrest. Much of Banksy's artwork may be seen around the streets of London and surrounding suburbs, although he has painted pictures throughout the world, including the Middle East, where he has painted on Israel's controversial [[West Bank]] barrier with satirical images of life on the other side. One depicted a hole in the wall with an idyllic beach, while another shows a mountain landscape on the other side. A number of [[Art exhibition|exhibitions]] also have taken place since 2000, and recent works of art have fetched vast sums of money. Banksy's art is a prime example of the classic controversy: vandalism vs. art. Art supporters endorse his work distributed in urban areas as pieces of art and some councils, such as Bristol and Islington, have officially protected them, while officials of other areas have deemed his work to be vandalism and have removed it.

Graffiti artists may become offended if photographs of their art are published in a commercial context without their permission. In March 2020, the [[Finns|Finnish]] graffiti artist Psyke expressed his displeasure at the newspaper ''[[Ilta-Sanomat]]'' publishing a photograph of a [[Peugeot 208]] in an article about new cars, with his graffiti prominently shown on the background. The artist claims he does not want his art being used in commercial context, not even if he were to receive compensation.<ref>Tamminen, Jari: ''Kuka omistaa graffitin?'' In ''[[Voima (newspaper)|Voima]]'' issue #1/2021, p. 40.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Personal graffiti">
Graffiti at the Temple of Philae (XIII).jpg|Drawing at [[Philae temple complex|Temple of Philae]], Egypt, depicting three men with rods, or staves
4091(Quisquis amat).jpg|Inscription in [[Pompeii]] lamenting a frustrated love: "Whoever loves, let him flourish, let him perish who knows not love, let him perish twice over whoever forbids love"
Post Apocalyptic Zombie Graffiti, Jan 2015.jpg|[[Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction|Post-apocalyptic]] despair
Mermaid Sliema.JPG|[[Mermaid]] in [[Sliema]], Malta
</gallery>

=== Territorial ===
Territorial graffiti marks urban neighborhoods with tags and logos to differentiate certain groups from others. These images are meant to show outsiders a stern look at whose turf is whose. The subject matter of gang-related graffiti consists of cryptic [[symbols]] and [[initials]] strictly fashioned with unique [[calligraphies]]. Gang members use graffiti to designate membership throughout the gang, to differentiate rivals and associates and, most commonly, to mark borders which are both territorial and ideological.<ref name=ley>{{Cite news |last=Ley |first=David |author2=Roman Cybriwsky |title=Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers |date=Dec 1974}}</ref>

=== Radical and political ===

[[File:M2109 Iraq War Protest (Black Bloc Element).jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|[[Black bloc]] members spray graffiti on a wall during an [[Protests against the Iraq War#March 21, 2009|Iraq War Protest]] in Washington, D.C.]]

Many analysts and art critics see artistic value in some graffiti and recognize it as a form of [[public art]]. According to many art researchers, particularly in the Netherlands and in Los Angeles graffiti is an effective tool of social [[emancipation]], or for the achievement of a political goal.<ref name="thimar">{{cite web |author=Martin Thiele |author2=Sally Marsden |date=25 January 2002 |title=P(ART)icipation and Social Change (.doc file) |url=http://www.jss.org.au/media/docs/participation.doc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050615155724/http://www.jss.org.au/media/docs/participation.doc |archive-date=15 June 2005 |access-date=11 October 2006 |format=DOC}}</ref>

In times of conflict graffiti has offered a means of communication and self-expression for members of these socially, ethnically, or racially divided communities, and has been an effective tool for establishing dialog. The [[Berlin Wall]] was extensively covered by graffiti reflecting social pressures related to the oppressive Soviet rule over the GDR.

Graffiti often has a reputation as part of a subculture that rebels against authority, although the considerations of the practitioners often diverge and can relate to a wide range of attitudes. It can express a political practice and can form just one tool in an array of resistance techniques. One early example includes the [[anarcho-punk]] band [[Crass]], who conducted a campaign of stenciling [[anti-war]], [[anarchism|anarchist]], [[feminism|feminist]], and [[Anti-consumerism|anti-consumerist]] messages throughout the [[London Underground]] system during the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref name="souther">{{cite web |publisher=Southern Records |title=Crass Discography (Christ's reality asylum) |url=http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/09400a.html |access-date=11 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060912012809/http://www.southern.com/southern/label/CRC/09400a.html |archive-date=12 September 2006}}</ref> In [[Amsterdam]], graffiti was a major part of the punk scene. The city was covered in names such as "De Zoot", "Vendex", and "Dr Rat".<ref name="stockho">{{Cite web |url=https://www.fria.nu/artikel/20057 |title=SFT: Ny dokumentär reder ut graffitins punkiga rötter |date=7 October 2007 |first=Jacob |last=Kimvall |language=sv}}. Dr Rat died in 1981 of an overdose at the age of 20 and was somewhat of an underground hero.</ref> To document the graffiti, a punk magazine was started that was called ''Gallery Anus''. So when hip hop came to Europe in the early 1980s, there was already a vibrant graffiti culture.

[[File:Anarchy police.jpg|thumb|Police car graffitied with the anarchist [[circle-A]] symbol]]
The student protests and general strike of [[May 1968 in France|May 1968]] saw Paris bedecked in revolutionary, anarchistic, and situationist slogans such as ''L'ennui est contre-révolutionnaire'' ("Boredom is counterrevolutionary") and ''Lisez moins, vivez plus'' ("Read less, live more"). While not exhaustive, the graffiti gave a sense of the 'millenarian' and rebellious spirit, tempered with a good deal of verbal wit, of the strikers.

Billboards and other consumer advertising have been the target of graffiti. From 1978 to 1994 tobacco, alcohol and other advertising was regularly painted over in Australia by the group Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA UP). At one point, up to fifty billboards were altered a week, with the group specialising in altering advertising slogans and images to change their meaning.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cadambi |first=Anjali |date=2021-09-30 |title=Billboard Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions (BUGA UP) campaigns against tobacco advertising, Australia, 1978–1994 |url=https://commonslibrary.org/billboard-utilising-graffitists-against-unhealthy-promotions-buga-up-campaigns-against-tobacco-advertising-australia-1978-1994/ |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=The Commons Social Change Library |language=en-AU}}</ref>

{{quote box|align=right|width=220px|quote=I think graffiti writing is a way of defining what our generation is like. Excuse the French, we're not a bunch of p---- artists. Traditionally artists have been considered soft and mellow people, a little bit kooky. Maybe we're a little bit more like pirates that way. We defend our territory, whatever space we steal to paint on, we defend it fiercely.|source=—Sandra "Lady Pink" Fabara<ref name=chang>{{cite book |title=Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation |last=Chang |first=Jeff |author-link=Jeff Chang (journalist) |year=2005 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-30143-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/cantstopwontstop00chang/page/124 124] |title-link=Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation}}</ref>}}

The developments of graffiti art which took place in art galleries and colleges as well as "on the street" or "underground", contributed to the resurfacing in the 1990s of a far more overtly politicized art form in the [[subvertising]], [[culture jamming]], or tactical media movements. These movements or styles tend to classify the artists by their relationship to their social and economic contexts, since, in most countries, graffiti art remains illegal in many forms except when using non-permanent paint. Since the 1990s with the rise of [[Street Art]], a growing number of artists are switching to non-permanent paints and non-traditional forms of painting.<ref name="ziptopia-switch">{{cite web |url=https://www.zipcar.com/ziptopia/city-living/temporary-street-art-changing-the-graffiti-game |title=Temporary Street Art That's Changing The Graffiti Game |work=Ziptopia |first=Steven |last=Harrington |access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="huffpost-streetart">{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ron-english/street-art-its-not-meant-_b_5610496.html |title=Street Art: It's Not Meant to be Permanent |work=HuffPost |first=Ron |last=English |date=6 December 2017 |access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref>

Contemporary practitioners, accordingly, have varied and often conflicting practices. Some individuals, such as [[Alexander Brener]], have used the medium to politicize other art forms, and have used the prison sentences enforced on them as a means of further protest.<ref name=voice>{{cite news |newspaper=The Village Voice |title=Border Crossings |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0030,levin,16706,13.html |date=1 August 2000 |access-date=11 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107150218/http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0030%2Clevin%2C16706%2C13.html |archive-date=7 November 2006}}</ref>
The practices of anonymous groups and individuals also vary widely, and practitioners by no means always agree with each other's practices. For example, the anti-capitalist art group the [[Space Hijackers]] did a piece in 2004 about the contradiction between the capitalistic elements of Banksy and his use of political [[imagery]].<ref name="tanyabaxter-Gallery">{{cite web |url=http://tanyabaxtercontemporary.com/banksy#!Banksy_Flying_Copper__screen_print_on_paper__100_x_70_cm |title=Banksy |work=Tanya Baxter Contemporary Gallery |access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="haynes-banksy">{{cite web |url=http://www.haynesfineart.com/artists/Banksy-- |title=Banksy |work=Haynes Fine Art |access-date=26 August 2018}}</ref>

Berlin human rights activist [[Irmela Mensah-Schramm]] has received global media attention and numerous awards for her 35-year campaign of effacing [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] and other [[Far-right politics|right-wing extremist]] graffiti throughout Germany, often by altering hate speech in humorous ways.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Ramsel |first=Yannick |date=8 January 2021 |title=Die Hakenkreuzjägerin |work=Der Spiegel |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/irmela-mensah-schramm-beseitigt-rassistische-graffiti-und-aufkleber-die-hakenkreuzjaegerin-a-00000000-0002-0001-0000-000174784623}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Cataneo |first=Emily |date=12 April 2018 |title=The Berliner Who Evaded Arrest |work=Off Assignment |url=https://www.offassignment.com/articles/emily-cataneo}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Political graffiti around the world">
File:Graffiti - No To Vaccine - Ystad-2021.jpg|[[Anti-vaccine activism|Anti-vaccine]] graffiti with [[orthodox cross]] at the Catholic Church in [[Ystad]], 2021
File:Anti Iraqi war graffiti by street artist Sony Montana in Cancun, Mexico.jpg|Anti-Iraq war graffiti by street artist Sony Montana in [[Cancún]], Mexico (2007)
File:Vote for Filip Filipovic.jpg|Wall in [[Belgrade]], Serbia, with the slogan "Vote for [[Filip Filipović (politician)|Filip Filipović]]", who was the [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia|communist]] candidate for the [[mayor of Belgrade]] (1920)
File:The separation barrier which runs through Bethlehem.jpg|An interpretation of ''[[Liberty Leading the People]]'' on the separation barrier which runs through [[Bethlehem]]
File:BerlinAnhalterBunker.jpg|WWII bunker near [[Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof|Anhalter Bahnhof]] ([[Berlin]]) with a graffiti inscription ''Wer Bunker baut, wirft Bomben'' (those who build bunkers, throw bombs)
File:Amsterdam Grafitti Freedom Lives When the State Dies.png|[[Anarchism|Anarchist]] graffiti on the train line leading to Central Station in [[Amsterdam]]
File:Riia-002.JPG|"Let's JOKK" in [[Tartu]] refers to political scandal with the [[Estonian Reform Party]] (2012).
File:Pieksämäki - Kekkos-graffiti IMG 0227 C.JPG|Stencil in [[Pieksämäki]] representing former president of Finland, [[Urho Kekkonen]], well known in Finnish popular culture
File:Keep your rosaries graffiti.jpg|[[Female graffiti artists|Feminist graffiti]] in [[A Coruña]], Spain, that reads ''Enough with rosaries in our ovaries''
File:Berliner Mauer.jpg|[[Berlin Wall]]: "Anyone who wants to keep the world as it is, does not want it to remain"
</gallery>

=== Genocide denial ===
{{Undue weight|date=December 2023}}
In the Serbian capital, [[Belgrade]], the graffiti depicting a uniformed former [[General officer|general]] of [[Army of Republika Srpska|Serb army]] and [[War Criminal]], convicted at [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia|ICTY]] for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including [[Bosnian genocide|genocide]] and [[Ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War|ethnic cleansing]] in [[Bosnian War]], [[Ratko Mladić]], appeared in a military salute alongside the words "General, thanks to your mother".<ref name="rferl.org">{{cite web |author1=Nevena Bogdanović |author2=Predrag Urošević |author3=Andy Heil |title=Graffiti War: Battle In The Streets Over Ratko Mladic Mural |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-mladic-mural-protests/31555357.html |website=Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty |access-date=28 August 2022 |language=en |location=Belgrade |date=November 10, 2021}}</ref>
Aleks Eror, Berlin-based journalist, explains how "veneration of historical and wartime figures" through street art is not a new phenomenon in the region of former Yugoslavia, and that "in most cases is firmly focused on the future, rather than retelling the past".<ref name="calvertjournal.com-Eror">{{cite web |author1=Aleks Eror |title=How Serbian street art is using the past to shape the future |url=https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/13353/ratko-mladic-mural-belgrade-serbia-are-revision-history-shape-future |website=The Calvert Journal |access-date=28 August 2022 |language=en |date=14 December 2021}}</ref> In a long expose on the subject of [[Bosnian genocide denial]], at [[Balkan Diskurs]] magazine and multimedia platform website, Kristina Gadže and Taylor Whitsell referred to these experiences as a young generations' "cultural heritage", in which youths are being exposed to the celebration and affirmation of war-criminals as part of their "formal education" and "inheritance".<ref name="balkandiskurs.com">{{cite web |author1=Taylor Whitsell |author2=Kristina Gadže |title=New Generations Still Follow in a War Criminal's Footsteps |url=https://balkandiskurs.com/en/2021/12/15/new-generations-still-follow-in-a-war-criminals-footsteps/ |website=Balkan Diskurs |access-date=28 August 2022 |location=Belgrade |language=en |date=15 December 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Mural u Baru, prikaz ratnog zločinca Ratka Mladića.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Mural in [[Bar, Montenegro]], depicting the war criminal [[Ratko Mladić]]]]
There are examples of genocide denial through the celebration and affirmation of war criminals throughout the region of Western Balkans, inhabited by Serbs, using graffiti. Several of these are found in the Serbian capital, and many more across Serbia and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian administrative entity, Republika Srpska, which is the ethnic Serbian majority enclave.<ref name="calvertjournal.com-Eror"/><ref name="ba.boell.org-Druško">{{cite web |author1=Dženana Karup-Druško |title=Denying genocide and celebrating war criminals may only be stopped by the adoption of a law that sanctions the actions |url=https://ba.boell.org/en/2019/05/16/denying-genocide-and-celebrating-war-criminals-may-only-be-stopped-adoption-law-sanctions |website=Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung |access-date=28 August 2022 |location=Sarajevo |language=en |date=16 May 2019}}</ref> Critics point that Serbia as a state, is willing to defend the mural of convicted war criminal, and have no intention to react on cases of genocide denial, noting that [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)|Interior Minister of Serbia]], [[Aleksandar Vulin]] decision to ban any gathering with an intent to remove the mural, with the deployment of riot police, sends the message of "tacit endorsement".<ref name="rferl.org"/><ref name="europeanwesternbalkans.com-Popović"/> Consequently, on 9 November 2021, Serbian heavy police in riot gear, with the graffiti creators and their supporters,<ref name="balkandiskurs.com"/> blocked the access to the mural to prevent human rights groups and other activists to paint over it and mark the [[International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism]] in that way,<ref name="rferl.org"/> and even arrested two civic activist for throwing eggs at the graffiti.<ref name="europeanwesternbalkans.com-Popović">{{cite web |author1=Sofija Popović |title=The case of Mladić mural shows that authorities in Serbia have no intention to deal with war crimes |url=https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2021/11/12/the-case-of-mladic-mural-shows-that-authorities-in-serbia-have-no-intention-to-deal-with-war-crimes/ |website=European Western Balkans |access-date=28 August 2022 |location=Belgrade |date=12 November 2021}}</ref>

=== Offensive graffiti ===
[[File:Historic centre of lima graffiti vandalism.jpg|250px|thumb|One of the worst type of offensive graffiti, is the ones made on historical places or buildings, carried out by political influence or simple vandalism. [[Historic Centre of Lima]], Peru]]
Graffiti may also be used as an offensive expression. This form of graffiti may be difficult to identify, as it is mostly removed by the local authority (as councils which have adopted strategies of criminalization also strive to remove graffiti quickly).<ref name=halsey>{{Cite journal |last1=Halsey |first1=M. |last2=Young |first2=A. |title=The Meanings of Graffiti and Municipal Administration |journal=[[Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology]] |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=165–86 |year=2002 |doi=10.1375/acri.35.2.165 |s2cid=145251151}}</ref> Therefore, existing racist graffiti is mostly more subtle and at first sight, not easily recognized as "racist". It can then be understood only if one knows the relevant "local code" (social, historical, political, temporal, and spatial), which is seen as [[heteroglossia|heteroglot]] and thus a 'unique set of conditions' in a cultural context.<ref name=holqu>{{cite book |last=Holquist |first=M. |editor-last=Bakhtin |editor-first=M.M. |title=The Dialogic Imagination |url=https://archive.org/details/dialogicimaginat0000bakh |url-access=registration |chapter=Glossary |publisher=Austin: University of Texas Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/dialogicimaginat0000bakh/page/423 423] |year=1981}}</ref>
[[File:Stop graffitti.jpg|thumb|Gang symbol markings on public property, [[Millwood, Washington]]]]
A spatial local code for example, could be that there is a certain youth group in an area that is engaging heavily in racist activities. So, for residents (knowing the local code), a graffiti containing only the name or abbreviation of this gang already is a racist expression, reminding the offended people of their gang activities. Also a graffiti is in most cases, the [[herald]] of more serious criminal activity to come.<ref name=kelling>{{cite book |last1=Kelling |first1=G. |last2=Coles |first2=C. |title=Fixing Broken Windows |publisher=New York: Martin Kessler Books |year=1996}}</ref> A person who does not know these gang activities would not be able to recognize the meaning of this graffiti. Also if a tag of this youth group or gang is placed on a building occupied by asylum seekers, for example, its racist character is even stronger.

By making the graffiti less explicit (as adapted to social and legal constraints),<ref name=barker>{{cite book |last=Barker |first=M. |title=The New Racism |publisher=London: Junction Books |year=1981}}</ref> these drawings are less likely to be removed, but do not lose their threatening and offensive character.<ref name=lynn>{{Cite journal |last1=Lynn |first1=Nick |last2=Lea |first2=Susan J. |title='Racist' graffiti: text, context and social comment |journal=Visual Communication |volume=4 |pages=39–63 |year=2005 |doi=10.1177/1470357205048935 |s2cid=145493422}}</ref>

Elsewhere, activists in Russia have used painted [[caricature]]s of local officials with their mouths as [[pothole]]s, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schreck |first=Carl |date=19 June 2015 |title=Russian politicians mocked with guerrilla pothole portraits |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/19/russia-pothole-portraits-activists-banksy |website=New East Network |access-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> In [[Manchester]], England, a graffitists painted obscene images around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 April 2015 |title=Meet the man using penises to fill potholes |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11570595/Meet-the-man-using-penises-to-fill-potholes.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11570595/Meet-the-man-using-penises-to-fill-potholes.html |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |website=The Telegraph |access-date=24 September 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

== Decorative and high art ==
{{Main|Street art}}

[[File:JonesyLondon.jpg|thumb|upright|A bronze work by Jonesy on a wall in Brick Lane ([[London]]). Diameter about 8&nbsp;cm.]]

In the early 1980s, the first art galleries to show graffitists to the public were [[Fashion Moda]] in [[the Bronx]], [[Now Gallery]] and [[Fun Gallery]], both in the [[East Village, Manhattan]].<ref name="openedition-fashionmoda">{{cite journal |url=https://journals.openedition.org/rrca/601 |title=From the Street to Art Galleries : How Graffiti Became a Legitimate Art Form |year=2014 |access-date=26 August 2018 |journal=Open Edition |first=David |last=diallo}}</ref><ref name="hyperallergic-fashionmoda">{{cite web |url=https://hyperallergic.com/227683/35-years-after-fashion-moda-a-bronx-gallery-revisits-the-landmark-space/ |title=35 Years After Fashion Moda, a Bronx Gallery Revisits the Landmark Space |date=6 August 2015 |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=Hyperallergic |first=Tiernan |last=Morgan}}</ref><ref name="nytimes-fashionmoda">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/nyregion/recreating-the-fashion-moda-exhibition-of-1982.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/nyregion/recreating-the-fashion-moda-exhibition-of-1982.html |archive-date=2022-01-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=When a South Bronx Collective Went International |date=23 March 2012 |access-date=26 August 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Susan |last=Hodara}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="nydaily-fashionmoda">{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/fashion-moda-old-haven-artists-south-bronx-focus-special-event-saturday-article-1.1263587 |title=The legacy of Fashion Moda, a shuttered art and performance space, to be spotlighted |date=15 February 2013 |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=New York Daily News |first=Tanyanika |last=Samuels}}</ref>

A 2006 exhibition at the [[Brooklyn Museum]] displayed graffiti as an art form that began in [[Boroughs of New York City|New York's outer boroughs]] and reached great heights in the early 1980s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze, [[Keith Haring]], and [[Jean-Michel Basquiat]]. It displayed 22 works by New York graffitists, including [[Crash (graffiti artist)|Crash]], Daze, and [[Lady Pink]]. In an article about the exhibition in the magazine ''Time Out'', curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their assumptions about graffiti.

From the 1970s onwards, [[Burhan Doğançay]] photographed urban walls all over the world; these he then archived for use as sources of inspiration for his painterly works. The project today known as "Walls of the World" grew beyond even his own expectations and comprises about 30,000 individual images. It spans a period of 40 years across five continents and 114 countries. In 1982, photographs from this project comprised a one-man exhibition titled "Les murs murmurent, ils crient, ils chantent{{nbsp}}..." (The walls whisper, shout and sing{{nbsp}}...) at the [[Centre Pompidou|Centre Georges Pompidou]] in [[Paris]].

In Australia, art historians have judged some local graffiti of sufficient creative merit to rank them firmly within the arts. [[Oxford University Press]]'s art history text ''Australian Painting 1788–2000'' concludes with a long discussion of graffiti's key place within contemporary [[visual culture]], including the work of several Australian practitioners.<ref name=smithea>{{cite book |title=Australian Painting 1788–2000 |first1=Bernard William |last1=Smith |first2=Terry |last2=Smith |first3=Christopher |last3=Heathcote |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the [[Grand Palais]] in Paris.
<ref name=rfi>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/112/article_3517.asp |title=RFI—Graffiti gets into the Grand Palais |publisher=Radio France Internationale |access-date=29 July 2010 |archive-date=19 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119002525/http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/112/article_3517.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=rohter>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/arts/design/30arts-TOASTINGGRAF_BRF.html |work=The New York Times |title=Toasting Graffiti Artists |first=Larry |last=Rohter |date=30 March 2009 |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Street art graffiti">
File:Graffiti (Budapest, Pestszentlőrinc).jpg|Graffiti on a wall in [[Budapest]], Hungary
File:Graffiti in Tikkurila.jpg|Graffiti on the wall of pedestrian tunnel in [[Tikkurila]], [[Vantaa]], Finland
</gallery>

== Environmental effects ==

[[Spray paint]] has many negative environmental effects. The paint contains toxic chemicals, and the can uses volatile hydrocarbon gases to spray the paint onto a surface.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hercenter.org/facilitiesandgrounds/paints.php#healthenv |title=Health and Environmental Issues of Spray Paint |website=Healthcare Environmental Resource Center |access-date=30 April 2019}}</ref>

[[Volatile organic compound]] (VOC) leads to ground level ozone formation and most of graffiti related emissions are VOCs.<ref name="Leskys">{{Cite web |url=https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei19/session7/leskys.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110204080037/http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei19/session7/leskys.pdf |archive-date=2011-02-04 |url-status=live |title=Establishing Graffiti Emissions as a Nonpoint Source Sector |last=Leskys |first=AM |date=September 2010}}</ref> A 2010 paper estimates 4,862 tons of VOCs were released in the United States in activities related to graffiti.<ref name="Leskys" /><ref name="EPA">{{Cite web |url=https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei19/index.html |title=19th International Emission Inventory Conference "Emission Inventories—Informing Emerging Issues" September 2010 |website=EPA |access-date=2020-04-08 |archive-date=2023-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305220812/https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei19/index.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Government responses ==
[[File:US military anti-graffiti poster in Kuwait.png|thumb|upright|Poster at a US military base in Kuwait decrying graffiti, itself having been graffitied]]

=== Asia ===

In China, [[Mao Zedong]] in the 1920s used revolutionary slogans and paintings in public places to galvanize the country's communist movement.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/07/asia_pac_graffiti_artists_in_beijing/html/1.stm |title=In pictures: Graffiti artists in Beijing, Graffiti tradition |work=BBC News}}</ref>

Based on different national conditions, many people believe that China's attitude towards Graffiti is fierce, but in fact, according to Lance Crayon in his film ''Spray Paint Beijing: Graffiti in the Capital of China'', Graffiti is generally accepted in [[Beijing]], with artists not seeing much police interference. Political and religiously sensitive graffiti, however, is not allowed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-04-21/beijings-thriving-graffiti-culture-may-surprise-you |title=Beijing's thriving graffiti culture may surprise you |website=Public Radio International |date=21 April 2014 |language=en |access-date=24 April 2019}}</ref>

In Hong Kong, [[Tsang Tsou Choi]] was known as the ''King of Kowloon'' for his [[calligraphy]] graffiti over many years, in which he claimed ownership of the area. Now some of his work is preserved officially.

In Taiwan, the government has made some concessions to graffitists. Since 2005 they have been allowed to freely display their work along some sections of riverside retaining walls in designated "Graffiti Zones".<ref name=taitimes>{{cite news |title=FEATURE: Taipei's graffiti artists strive for greater acceptance |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=13 August 2007 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/08/13/2003373905 |first=Yan-chih |last=Mo |access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref> From 2007, Taipei's department of cultural affairs also began permitting graffiti on fences around major public construction sites. Department head Yong-ping Lee (李永萍) stated, "We will promote graffiti starting with the public sector, and then later in the private sector too. It's our goal to beautify the city with graffiti". The government later helped organize a graffiti contest in [[Ximending]], a popular shopping district. Graffitists caught working outside of these designated areas still face fines up to [[NT$]]6,000 under a department of environmental protection regulation.<ref name=taitimes2>{{cite news |title=Taipei targets graffiti |newspaper=Taipei Times |date=8 June 2009 |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/06/08/2003445640/2 |access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref> However, Taiwanese authorities can be relatively lenient, one veteran police officer stating anonymously, "Unless someone complains about vandalism, we won't get involved. We don't go after it proactively."<ref name=reuters>{{cite news |title=Taiwan graffiti artist colors in legal gray area |work=Reuters |date=25 September 2008 |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINTRE48O0YC20080925 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711182718/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINTRE48O0YC20080925 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2012 |first=Ralph |last=Jennings |access-date=16 January 2011}}</ref>

In 1993, after several expensive cars in Singapore were spray-painted, the police arrested a student from the [[Singapore American School]], [[Michael P. Fay]], questioned him, and subsequently charged him with vandalism. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing a car in addition to stealing road signs. Under the 1966 [[Vandalism Act (Singapore)|Vandalism Act of Singapore]], originally passed to curb the spread of communist graffiti in Singapore, the court sentenced him to four months in jail, a fine of S$3,500 (US$2,233), and a [[caning]]. ''[[The New York Times]]'' ran several editorials and op-eds that condemned the punishment and called on the American public to flood the Singaporean embassy with protests. Although the Singapore government received many calls for [[pardon|clemency]], Fay's caning took place in Singapore on 5 May 1994. Fay had originally received a sentence of six strokes of the cane, but the presiding [[president of Singapore]], [[Ong Teng Cheong]], agreed to reduce his caning sentence to four lashes.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news |title=Singapore Swings; Michael Fay's Torture's Over; Watch for the Docudrama |newspaper=The New York Times |date=8 May 1994 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE1DA1539F93BA35756C0A962958260 |first=Philip |last=Shenon |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>

In South Korea, Park Jung-soo was fined two million [[South Korean won]] by the [[Seoul]] Central District Court for spray-painting a rat on posters of the [[G-20]] Summit a few days before the event in November 2011. Park alleged that the initial in "G-20" sounds like the Korean word for "rat", but Korean government prosecutors alleged that Park was making a derogatory statement about the president of South Korea, [[Lee Myung-bak]], the host of the summit. This case led to public outcry and debate on the lack of government tolerance and in support of freedom of expression. The court ruled that the painting, "an ominous creature like a rat" amounts to "an organized criminal activity" and upheld the fine while denying the prosecution's request for imprisonment for Park.<ref name=wsj>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/korearealtime/2011/05/31/rat-graffiti-becomes-a-political-stew/ |title=Rat Graffiti Becomes a Political Stew |first=Jaeyeon |last=Woo |date=31 May 2011 |work=Korea Real Time (Wall Street Journal) |access-date=6 June 2011}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Graffiti in Asia">
File:Tsang graffiti.jpg|Street [[graffiti in Hong Kong]]
File:201712 Graffiti on a building of Shentangqiao1.jpg|Graffiti piece "Tante" (by Chen Dongfan) on a residential building in [[Hangzhou]], [[Zhejiang]], China
</gallery>

=== Europe ===
[[File:Graffiti removal berlin.jpg|thumb|upright|180px|Graffiti removal in [[Berlin]]]]

In Europe, community cleaning squads have responded to graffiti, in some cases with reckless abandon, as when in 1992 in France a local Scout group, attempting to remove modern graffiti, damaged {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20171109194433/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/26895452 two prehistoric paintings]}} of [[bison]] in the [[Cave of Mayrière supérieure]] near the French village of [[Bruniquel]] in [[Tarn-et-Garonne]], earning them the 1992 [[Ig Nobel Prize]] in [[archeology]].<ref name=improb>{{Cite web |url=http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1992 |title=1992 Ig Nobel Prize Winners |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225074430/http://improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1992 |archive-date=25 February 2011}}</ref>

In September 2006, the European Parliament directed the European Commission to create urban environment policies to prevent and eliminate dirt, litter, graffiti, animal excrement, and excessive noise from domestic and vehicular music systems in European cities, along with other concerns over urban life.<ref name=europa>{{Cite web |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-6-2006-0367_EN.html |title=Texts adopted – Thematic strategy on the urban environment – Tuesday, 26 September 2006 |publisher=European Parliament}}</ref>

In [[Budapest]], Hungary, both a city-backed movement called ''I Love Budapest'' and a special police division tackle the problem, including the provision of approved areas.<ref name=index>{{Cite web |url=http://index.hu/belfold/budapest/2010/03/14/bealkonyult_a_falfirkanak_budapesten/ |title=Index—Belföld—Kommandó üldözi a graffitiseket |publisher=Index.hu |date=14 March 2010 |access-date=29 July 2010}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
[[File:Leake street tunnel 2019-11-24.jpg|thumb|200px|It is permitted to create graffiti in the [[Leake Street|Leake st]] tunnel. The tunnel runs underneath Waterloo station in London. 2019]]
[[File:Taggers at work.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Two graffiti artists underneath the Market st bridge near Clay Cross, UK. 2010]]
{{Main|Graffiti in the United Kingdom}}

The [[Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003]] became Britain's latest anti-graffiti legislation. In August 2004, the [[Keep Britain Tidy]] campaign issued a press release calling for [[zero tolerance]] of graffiti and supporting proposals such as issuing "on the spot" [[Fine (penalty)|fine]]s to graffiti offenders and banning the sale of aerosol paint to anyone under the age of 16.<ref name=encams>{{cite press release |title=Graffiti |publisher=EnCams}}</ref> The press release also condemned the use of graffiti images in advertising and in [[music video]]s, arguing that real-world experience of graffiti stood far removed from its often-portrayed "cool" or "edgy'" image.

To back the campaign, 123 [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] (MPs) (including then 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."<ref name=wire>{{Cite news |title=Is the Writing on the Wall for Graffiti |publisher=PR News Wire |date=28 July 2004 |url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=127383}}</ref>

In the UK, city councils have the power to take action against the owner of any property that has been defaced under the [[Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003]] (as amended by the [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2005/ukpga_20050016_en_1 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005]) or, in certain cases, the Highways Act. This is often used against owners of property that are complacent in allowing protective boards to be defaced so long as the property is not damaged.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}

In July 2008, a [[Criminal conspiracy|conspiracy]] charge was used to convict graffitists for the first time. After a three-month police surveillance operation,<ref name=bbc2>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7502768.stm |title=Jail for leader of graffiti gang |access-date=17 July 2008 |date=11 July 2008 |work=BBC News}}</ref> nine members of the DPM crew were convicted of conspiracy to commit [[Property damage|criminal damage]] costing at least £1 million. Five of them received prison sentences, ranging from eighteen months to two years. The unprecedented scale of the investigation and the severity of the sentences rekindled public debate over whether graffiti should be considered art or crime.<ref name=indep>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art-and-architecture/features/graffiti-street-art-ndash-or-crime-868736.html |title=Graffiti: Street art—or crime? |access-date=17 July 2008 |first=Arifa |last=Akbar |author2=Paul Vallely |date=16 July 2008 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref>

Some councils, like those of Stroud and Loerrach, provide approved areas in the town where graffitists can showcase their talents, including underpasses, car parks, and walls that might otherwise prove a target for the "spray and run".<ref name=bbc3>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2007/04/17/graffiti_feature.shtml |title=Graffiti? Or is it Art? |work=BBC Gloucestershire}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Graffiti in Europe">
File:Mur de tags au Forum de Barcelone.jpg|Multi-artist graffiti in [[Barcelona]], Spain
File:KGD zumaia 1.jpg|Integration of graffiti into its environment, [[Zumaia]], Spain (2016)
File:Grafiti na Trsatu, Rijeka (Croatia).jpg|Graffiti made by school children in [[Rijeka]], Croatia
File:ქორქ?.jpg|Graffiti written in [[Georgian scripts|Georgian script]], [[Tbilisi]], Georgia
File:Princip Gavrilo grafit.JPG|Historical graffito of [[Gavrilo Princip]] in [[Belgrade]], Serbia
File:NN 07-08-2020 46.jpg|Graffiti on a garage near a school in [[Nizhny Novgorod]], Russia
File:Stadion Ljudski Vrt (19577579076).jpg|[[Association football|Football]] related graffiti in [[Maribor]], Slovenia
File:Our Lady of the Hattifatteners (cropped).jpg|Graffiti by [[Hazul]] in [[Porto]], Portugal
</gallery>

=== Australia ===

[[File:Graffiti tunnel 2009, University of Sydney.jpg|thumb|Graffiti Tunnel, University of Sydney at [[Camperdown, New South Wales|Camperdown]] (2009)]]

Ancient rock art in Australia is seen as a sacred part of First Nations histories, and many of it is legally protected, and some are given National Heritage status.<ref>{{Cite web |last=corporateName=National Museum of Australia; address=Lawson Crescent |first=Acton Peninsula |title=National Museum of Australia – First rock art |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/first-rock-art |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=nma.gov.au |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Tangara T63 with graffiti.png|alt=T set with graffiti |thumb|A [[Sydney Trains T set]] at [[Milsons Point railway station]] with graffiti]]
In an effort to reduce vandalism, many cities in Australia have designated walls or areas exclusively for use by writers. One early example is the "Graffiti Tunnel" located at the [[Camperdown, New South Wales|Camperdown]] Campus of the [[University of Sydney]], which is available for use by any student at the university to tag, advertise, poster, and paint. Advocates of this idea suggest that this discourages petty vandalism yet encourages artists to take their time and produce great art, without worry of being caught or arrested for vandalism or [[trespassing]].<ref name="warrin">{{Cite web |title=Legal Graffiti Wall Rules |publisher=Warringah Council |access-date=25 August 2006 |url=http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/rules.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821083531/http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/rules.htm |archive-date=21 August 2006}}</ref><ref name="abc">{{Cite news |title=Newcastle beach to get 'legal graffiti' wall |publisher=ABC News Online |date=25 May 2005 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/nsw/newcastle/200505/s1376470.htm |access-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429195909/http://www.abc.net.au/news/australia/nsw/newcastle/200505/s1376470.htm |archive-date=29 April 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Others disagree with this approach, arguing that the presence of legal graffiti walls does not demonstrably reduce illegal graffiti elsewhere.<ref name="towno">{{Cite news |title=Against the wall |publisher=North Shore:Towns Online.com |date=11 August 2006 |url=http://www.townonline.com/lynnfield/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=555224}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Some local government areas throughout Australia have introduced "anti-graffiti squads", who clean graffiti in the area, and such crews as BCW (Buffers Can't Win) have taken steps to keep one step ahead of local graffiti cleaners.

Many state governments have banned the sale or possession of spray paint to those under the age of 18 ([[age of majority]]). However, a number of local governments in Victoria have taken steps to recognize the cultural heritage value of some examples of graffiti, such as prominent political graffiti. Tough new graffiti laws have been introduced in Australia with fines of up to A$26,000 and two years in prison.

[[Melbourne]] is a prominent graffiti city of Australia with many of its lanes being tourist attractions, such as [[Hosier Lane, Melbourne|Hosier Lane]] in particular, a popular destination for photographers, wedding photography, and backdrops for corporate print advertising. The [[Lonely Planet]] travel guide cites Melbourne's street as a major attraction. All forms of graffiti, including [[sticker]] art, [[poster]], [[stencil]] art, and [[wheatpasting]], can be found in many places throughout the city. Prominent street art precincts include; [[Fitzroy, Victoria|Fitzroy]], [[Collingwood, Victoria|Collingwood]], [[Northcote, Victoria|Northcote]], [[Brunswick, Victoria|Brunswick]], [[St Kilda, Victoria|St. Kilda]], and the CBD, where stencil and sticker art is prominent. As one moves farther away from the city, mostly along suburban train lines, graffiti tags become more prominent. Many international artists such as Banksy have left their work in Melbourne and in early 2008 a [[perspex]] screen was installed to prevent a Banksy stencil art piece from being destroyed, it has survived since 2003 through the respect of local street artists avoiding posting over it, although it has recently had paint tipped over it.<ref name=wato>{{cite web |title=The painter painted: Melbourne loses its treasured Banksy |url=http://www.watoday.com.au/national/the-painter-painted-melbourne-loses-its-treasured-banksy-20081213-6xzy.html |access-date=30 June 2009 |date=13 December 2008}}</ref>

=== New Zealand ===

[[File:Christchurch Stock Yards.jpg|thumb|Former Christchurch stock yards]]

In February 2008 [[Helen Clark]], the New Zealand prime minister at that time, announced a government crackdown on tagging and other forms of graffiti vandalism, describing it as a destructive crime representing an invasion of public and private property. New legislation subsequently adopted included a ban on the sale of paint spray cans to persons under 18 and increases in maximum fines for the offence from NZ$200 to NZ$2,000 or extended community service. The issue of tagging become a widely debated one following an incident in [[Auckland]] during January 2008 in which a middle-aged property owner stabbed one of two teenage taggers to death and was subsequently convicted of [[manslaughter]].

=== United States ===

{{Main|Graffiti in the United States}}

[[Image:Elevator graffiti.jpg|thumb|right|An elevator position indicator with scratch graffiti]]

==== Tracker databases ====

Graffiti databases have increased in the past decade because they allow vandalism incidents to be fully documented against an offender and help the police and prosecution charge and prosecute offenders for multiple counts of vandalism. They also provide law enforcement the ability to rapidly search for an offender's moniker or tag in a simple, effective, and comprehensive way. These systems can also help track costs of damage to a city to help allocate an anti-graffiti budget. The theory is that when an offender is caught putting up graffiti, they are not just charged with one count of vandalism; they can be held accountable for all the other damage for which they are responsible. This has two main benefits for law enforcement. One, it sends a signal to the offenders that their vandalism is being tracked. Two, a city can seek restitution from offenders for all the damage that they have committed, not merely a single incident. These systems give law enforcement personnel real-time, street-level intelligence that allows them not only to focus on the worst graffiti offenders and their damage, but also to monitor potential gang violence that is associated with the graffiti.<ref name=crcp>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439839348 |title=Chapter 8 |work=Introduction to Criminal Investigation. Editor(s) Michael Birzer and Cliff Roberson}}</ref>

==== Gang injunctions ====

Many restrictions of civil gang injunctions are designed to help address and protect the physical environment and limit graffiti. Provisions of gang injunctions include things such as restricting the possession of marker pens, spray paint cans, or other sharp objects capable of defacing private or public property; spray painting, or marking with marker pens, scratching, applying stickers, or otherwise applying graffiti on any public or private property, including, but not limited to the street, alley, residences, block walls, and fences, vehicles or any other real or personal property. Some injunctions contain wording that restricts damaging or vandalizing both public and private property, including but not limited to any vehicle, light fixture, door, fence, wall, gate, window, building, street sign, utility box, telephone box, tree, or power pole.<ref name=crcp2>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439867877;jsessionid=oiq+Tqxg3f+0sNwBYnDx+Q** |title=gang abatement |work=Gang Injunctions and Abatement: Using Civil Remedies to Curb Gang Related Crimes |first=Matthew |last=O'Deane |access-date=21 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015105055/http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439867877;jsessionid=oiq+Tqxg3f+0sNwBYnDx+Q** |archive-date=15 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Hotlines and reward programs ====

To help address many of these issues, many local jurisdictions have set up graffiti abatement hotlines, where citizens can call in and report vandalism and have it removed. San Diego's hotline receives more than 5,000 calls per year, in addition to reporting the graffiti, callers can learn more about prevention. One of the complaints about these hotlines is the response time; there is often a lag time between a property owner calling about the graffiti and its removal. The length of delay should be a consideration for any jurisdiction planning on operating a hotline. Local jurisdictions must convince the callers that their complaint of vandalism will be a priority and cleaned off right away. If the jurisdiction does not have the resources to respond to complaints in a timely manner, the value of the hotline diminishes. Crews must be able to respond to individual service calls made to the graffiti hotline as well as focus on cleanup near schools, parks, and major intersections and transit routes to have the biggest impact. Some cities offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of suspects for tagging or graffiti related vandalism. The amount of the reward is based on the information provided, and the action taken.<ref name=lawtec>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lawtechcustompublishing.com/publication.asp?pid=47 |title=gang |work=Gangs: Theory, Practice and Research |first=Matthew |last=O'Deane |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003323/http://www.lawtechcustompublishing.com/publication.asp?pid=47 |archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref>

==== Search warrants ====

When police obtain search warrants in connection with a vandalism investigation, they are often seeking judicial approval to look for items such as cans of spray paint and nozzles from other kinds of aerosol sprays; etching tools, or other sharp or pointed objects, which could be used to etch or scratch glass and other hard surfaces; permanent marking pens, markers, or paint sticks; evidence of membership or affiliation with any gang or tagging crew; paraphernalia including any reference to "(tagger's name)"; any drawings, writing, objects, or graffiti depicting taggers' names, initials, logos, monikers, slogans, or any mention of tagging crew membership; and any newspaper clippings relating to graffiti crime.<ref name=paladin>{{Cite web |url=http://www.paladin-press.com/product/Gang_Investigators_Handbook/Gangs |title=gang |work=Gang Investigators Handbook |first=Matthew |last=O'Deane}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Graffiti in the United States">
SUBWAY CAR - NARA - 554325.jpg|Rampant graffiti hampers visibility into and out of [[New York City Subway]] cars (1973).
Graffiti Tunnel (2078441177).jpg|Graffiti-lined tunnel in [[San Francisco]]
Smear Street Art1.jpg|Graffiti in [[Los Angeles]] (2006)
Love your country, not government.jpg|Anti-governmental graffiti in [[Bolinas, California]]
I'm a Man Mural in Memphis 2.jpg|Protest art in [[Memphis, Tennessee]]
Cortlandt Alley, New York-L1002108.jpg|Graffiti in Cortlandt Alley, [[Tribeca]], [[Lower Manhattan]] (2023)
</gallery>

== In media ==

=== Documentaries ===<!-- chronological ! -->
* ''[[80 Blocks from Tiffany's]]'' (1979), a rare glimpse of the late 1970s in New York City toward the end of the notorious South Bronx gangs, the documentary shows many aspects of the South Bronx's predominantly Puerto Rican community, including reformed gang members, current gang members, the police, and the community leaders who try to reach out to them.
* ''[[Stations of the Elevated]]'' (1980), the earliest documentary about subway graffiti in New York City, with music by Charles Mingus
* ''[[Style Wars]]'' (1983), an early documentary on hip hop culture, made in New York City
* ''[[Piece by Piece (2005 film)|Piece by Piece]]'' (2005), a feature-length documentary on the history of San Francisco graffiti from the early 1980s
* ''Infamy'' (2005), a feature-length documentary about graffiti culture as told through the experiences of six well-known graffiti writers and a graffiti buffer
* ''[[NEXT: A Primer on Urban Painting]]'' (2005), a documentary about global graffiti culture
* ''[[RASH (film)|RASH]]'' (2005), a feature documentary about Melbourne, Australia, and the artists who make it a living host for street art
* ''Jisoe'' (2007), a glimpse into the life of a [[Melbourne]], Australia, graffiti writer shows the audience an example of graffiti in struggling Melbourne Areas.
* ''Roadsworth: Crossing the Line'' (2009), about Montréal artist Peter Gibson and his controversial stencil art on public roads
* ''[[Exit Through The Gift Shop]]'' (2010) was produced by the notorious artist [[Banksy]]. It tells the story of [[Thierry Guetta]], a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art; [[Shepard Fairey]] and [[Invader (artist)|Invader]], whom Guetta discovers is his cousin, are also in the film.
* ''Still on and non the wiser'' (2011) is a ninety-minute-long documentation that accompanies the exhibition with the same name in the Kunsthalle Barmen of the [[Von der Heydt-Museum]] in [[Wuppertal]] (Germany). It draws vivid portrayals of the artists by means of very personal interviews and also catches the creation process of the works before the exhibition was opened.<ref name=stillo>{{cite web |url=http://www.stillonandnonthewiser.de/ |title=News: Der Film zur Ausstellung |publisher=[[Von der Heydt-Museum]] |access-date=23 May 2013 |language=de}}</ref>
* ''Graffiti Wars'' (2011), a documentary detailing [[King Robbo]]'s feud with Banksy as well as the authorities' differing attitude towards graffiti and [[street art]]<ref name=ch4>{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/graffiti-wars/4od |title=Graffiti Wars |publisher=4od |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908060123/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/graffiti-wars/4od |archive-date=8 September 2011}}</ref>

=== Dramas ===<!-- chronological ! -->
* ''[[Wild Style]]'' (1983), about hip hop and graffiti culture in New York City
* ''[[Turk 182]]'' (1985), about graffiti as political activism
* ''[[Bomb the System]]'' (2002), about a crew of graffitists in modern-day New York City
* ''[[Quality of Life (film)|Quality of Life]]'' (2004) was shot in the Mission District of San Francisco, co-written by and starring a retired graffiti writer.
* ''[[Wholetrain]]'' (2006), a German film

==Accidents==
[[File:Sydney trams vandalized and left to rot.JPG|thumb|200px|right|An abandoned tram depot in Sydney. [[Urban exploration#Hazards|Abandoned structure]]s often have hazards such as unstable floors, roofs, walls and stray voltage. 2010]]
[[File:Graffiti in Kensington, Melbourne - Australia Year 2020 z.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Tags that appear on the side of this building have occurred when people climbed onto the roof of parked train cars. Overhead power lines on the roofs of trains can create electric arcs<ref name="Lumenta2025"/> that will give a person an electric shock from a distance of up to 1.5 metres.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.mk.ru/social/2017/08/10/zacepera-mozhet-ubit-tokom-dazhe-na-rasstoyanii.html |title=A hooker can be electrocuted even from a distance |date=10 August 2017 |work=MK.ru |access-date=30 August 2025 |quote="...on the roof of an electric train, there is a risk of injury due to electric shock at a distance of up to 1.5 meters from the high-voltage contact wire. That is, to receive a strong electric shock, it is not necessary to touch the wire – it is enough to be in close proximity. The nominal voltage of the contact wire is 3000 volts. Under operating conditions, it varies from 2000 to 4000 volts. The distance at which the electric current strikes varies depending on the voltage in the contact network and climatic conditions – for example, humidity or air temperature." |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250830010347/https://www.mk.ru/social/2017/08/10/zacepera-mozhet-ubit-tokom-dazhe-na-rasstoyanii.html |archive-date=30 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="30 August 2022"/> Melbourne, Australia. 2020]]
{{Main|List of graffiti and street-art injuries and deaths}}

Common accidents that occur with graffiti include collisions with moving trains,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80815365/the-daily-item/ |title=2 people killed in subway tunnel |date=29 November 1989 |work=The Daily Item |agency=Associated Press |access-date=5 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705025052/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80815365/the-daily-item/ |archive-date=5 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="19 December 1996">{{cite web |url=https://o00310.wordpress.com/2021/12/13/december-1996-news-article/ |title=Two graffiti sprayers caught by regional train |last1=Hasselmann |first1=Fred |last2=Schnedelbach |first2=Lutz |date=19 December 1996 |work=Berliner Zeitung |location=Berlin |language=German |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906010830/https://o00310.wordpress.com/2021/12/13/december-1996-news-article/ |archive-date=6 September 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2018/06/19/street-art-community-pays-tribute-to-three-graffiti-artists-killed-by-a-train-in-london |title=Street art community pays tribute to three graffiti artists killed by a train in London |last=Shaw |first=Anny |date=19 June 2018 |work=The Art Newspaper |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-date=3 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003064042/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2018/06/19/street-art-community-pays-tribute-to-three-graffiti-artists-killed-by-a-train-in-london |url-status=live}}</ref> people being electrocuted by [[overhead power line]]s<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ekstrabladet.dk/krimi/article4189583.ece |author=Frederik Bjerre Andersen |date=17 December 2009 |title=Killed graffiti painter identified |work=Ekstra Bladet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509011746/https://ekstrabladet.dk/krimi/article4189583.ece |archive-date=9 May 2022 |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref> and [[Third rail|live third-rails]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.cmjornal.pt/portugal/detalhe/descarga-mata-vneno |title=DISCHARGE KILLS VNENO |date=17 September 2003 |work=cmjornal |access-date=4 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704074935/https://www.cmjornal.pt/portugal/detalhe/descarga-mata-vneno |archive-date=4 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/le-jeune-tagueur-meurt-electrocute-dans-le-metro-22-06-2005-2006059680.php |title=The young tagger dies electrocuted in the subway |last=Seigle |first=Blandine |date=22 June 2005 |work=Le Parisien |access-date=10 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703020745/https://www.leparisien.fr/seine-saint-denis-93/le-jeune-tagueur-meurt-electrocute-dans-le-metro-22-06-2005-2006059680.php |archive-date=3 July 2021}}</ref> people falling from moving trains,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60590165/the-sydney-morning-herald/ |title=Injured boy dies |date=1 January 1987 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=6 October 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008140025/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60590165/the-sydney-morning-herald/ |archive-date=8 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111447934/the-age/ |title=Graffiti youth's legs crushed in train fall |last=Boreham |first=Gareth |date=17 Dec 1989 |work=The Age |access-date=13 October 2022 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017023917/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111447934/the-age/ |archive-date=17 October 2022}}</ref> collisions with cars alongside roads,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.lasprovincias.es/sucesos/menor-muere-atropellado-20190513003543-ntvo.html |title=A 14-year-old graffiti artist dies hit on the V-30 after making a graffiti on the new channel |last=Martinez |first=Javier |date=13 May 2019 |work=Las Provincias |access-date=30 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701012826/https://www.lasprovincias.es/sucesos/menor-muere-atropellado-20190513003543-ntvo.html?ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lasprovincias.es%2Fsucesos%2Fmenor-muere-atropellado-20190513003543-ntvo.html |archive-date=1 July 2021}}</ref><ref name=BlanksteinBloomekatz2008>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60607641/slips-happen-but-taggers-are-rarely/ |title=Slips happen, but taggers are rarely hurt |author1=Andrew Blankstein |author2=Ari B. Bloomekatz |date=24 June 2008 |work=Los Angeles Times |quote="...taggers getting injured once every couple of months from falls or being 'clipped by a car'." |access-date=2 January 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608013745/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60607641/slips-happen-but-taggers-are-rarely/ |archive-date=8 June 2021}}</ref> falling from height<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chuang |first=Angie |date=1997-06-12 |title=Fall Injures Alleged Tagger |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-06-12-me-2688-story.html |access-date=2022-12-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=BlanksteinBloomekatz2008/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-04-13/graffiti-vandal-injured-after-roof-fall/2401984 |title=Graffiti vandal injured after roof fall |date=13 April 2008 |work=ABC News (Australia) |access-date=6 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724080714/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2008-04-13/graffiti-vandal-injured-after-roof-fall/2401984 |archive-date=24 July 2021}}</ref> and electric shocks from electricity transformers.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60608144/longview-daily-news/ |title=Teen electrocuted while painting graffiti in Olympia |date=8 May 1995 |work=The Daily news |access-date=6 October 2020 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63820229/albuquerque-journal/ |title=Batteries failed in computer crash |page=8 |author=Thomas J Cole |date=29 July 2007 |work=Albuquerque Journal |access-date=23 November 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703024217/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63820229/albuquerque-journal/ |archive-date=3 July 2021}}</ref>

[[Overhead line|Overhead power lines]] on railways are also able to create an [[electric arc]] and it has been commented that "Importantly, electrocution may occur even in the absence of direct contact, as high voltage arcs can discharge through the air and cause devastating injuries."<ref name="Lumenta2025">{{Cite journal |first1=Viktoria |last1=Koenig |first2=David |last2=Lumenta |first3=Julian |last3=Joestl |first4=Gerald |last4=Ihra |first5=Marita |last5=Windpassinger |first6=Maximilian |last6=Monai |first7=Alexandra |last7=Fochtmann |date=23 April 2025 |title=High-Voltage Injuries and Train Surfing: A 30-Year Review of Epidemiology, Treatment, and Outcomes |journal=Journal of Clinical Medicine |volume=14 |issue=9 |page=2918 |doi=10.3390/jcm14092918 |doi-access=free |pmid=40363951 |pmc=12072875 |quote="This study retrospectively reviewed train-surfing injuries admitted between 1994 and 2024... ...Importantly, electrocution may occur even in the absence of direct contact, as high voltage arcs can discharge through the air and cause devastating injuries."}}</ref><ref name="Stern-FlorianGüßgen-AnetteLache2013">{{Cite news |url=https://www.stern.de/lifestyle/mode/model-julius-gerhardt---ich-trage-die-narben-gerne--sie-gehoeren-zu-mir--7209012.html |quote="You had no idea about physics. I didn't know about arcs.In the arc, like lightning, electricity is conducted through the air. I had the spray can in my right hand. When I raised my hand, the metal became an antenna. The air transmitted the voltage—and I flew off the train car." |last=Güßgen |first=Florian |last2=Lache |first2=Anette |title="I like wearing the scars. They belong to me." |date=24 November 2016 |work=Stern |access-date=26 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030175313/https://www.stern.de/lifestyle/mode/model-julius-gerhardt---ich-trage-die-narben-gerne--sie-gehoeren-zu-mir--7209012.html |archive-date=30 October 2020}}</ref><ref name="CharlesManning2016">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/a53143/julius-model-burn-scars/ |title=90 Percent of This Model's Body Was Burned, but He Kept Working |last=Manning |first=Charles |date=5 February 2016 |work=Cosmopolitan |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206083139/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/style-beauty/fashion/a53143/julius-model-burn-scars/ |archive-date=6 February 2016}}</ref> In 2013 Julius Gerhardt was spraying graffiti on freight carriages when they climbed on top of a carriage intending to tag a bridge. They were holding a spray can in their right hand, and an electric arc jumped over to the spray can and went through their hand, arm, and chest, then exited out of their right foot.<ref name="CharlesManning2016"/><ref name="Stern-FlorianGüßgen-AnetteLache2013"/> They lost consciousness and were then lifted up and carried to a street by the people with them.<ref name="CharlesManning2016"/><ref name="Stern-FlorianGüßgen-AnetteLache2013"/> They were in a coma in hospital for 36 hours, and then later put into a medically induced coma for a week. They received burns to over 90% of their body.<ref name="CharlesManning2016"/><ref name="Stern-FlorianGüßgen-AnetteLache2013"/> The person commented that "I didn't know about arcs. In the arc, like lightning, electricity is conducted through the air. I had the spray can in my right hand. When I raised my hand, the metal became an antenna. The air transmitted the voltage—and I flew off the train car."<ref name="Stern-FlorianGüßgen-AnetteLache2013"/> It has further been commented that "...it is quite possible that from a distance of one meter, a breakdown [electric arc] will occur on a wristwatch, a phone in a pocket or a belt buckle, that is, on any metal object."<ref name="30 August 2022">{{Cite news |title=Why don't train surfers get electrocuted when they are on the roof of an electric train and use their hands to pull the current collector up and down, causing an electric arc? |date=August 30, 2022 |work=dzen |quote="...it is quite possible that from a distance of one meter, a breakdown [electric arc] will occur on a wristwatch, a phone in a pocket or a belt buckle, that is, on any metal object. And then, as you can imagine, the consequences would be extremely dire." |access-date=30 August 2025 |url=https://dzen.ru/a/Yw5kUl7i1Qk7kzNb |archive-date=30 August 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250830001900/https://dzen.ru/a/Yw5kUl7i1Qk7kzNb |url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

== Gallery ==

<gallery class="center">
File:Bristol UK graffiti art3.jpg|Graffiti and street art in Bristol, United Kingdom. 2018
File:Bristol , Wall Graffiti - geograph.org.uk - 4403171.jpg|Wall graffiti in the Bristol city centre. United Kingdom. 2015
Pacman Guggenheim (cropped).jpg|The ghosts from the computer game [[Pac-Man]]. A mosaic by [[Invader (artist)|Invader]] in Bilbao, Spain.
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Visual arts}}
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Anti-graffiti coating]]
* [[Stencil graffiti]]
* [[Street art]]
* [[Yarn bombing]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{citation |url=http://digital.kenyon.edu/perejournal/vol6/iss1/20 |first=Matthew |last=Champion |title=The Priest, the Prostitute, and the Slander on the Walls: Shifting Perceptions Towards Historic Graffiti |journal=Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=2017 |pages=5–37}} {{open access}}
* [[Jennifer Baird|Baird, J. A.]]; C. Taylor (eds.), 2011, ''Ancient Graffiti in Context''. New York: Routledge.

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|graffiti}}
{{commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Cite NIE |wstitle=Graffiti |year=1905 |short=x}}

{{Street Art}}
{{hiphop}}
{{Media culture}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Graffiti and unauthorised signage| ]]
[[Category:Visual arts genres]]
[[Category:Painting techniques]]
[[Category:Street culture]]
[[Category:Writing]]
[[Category:Organized crime activity]]
[[Category:Anarchist art]]