The Wide World of Graffiti

A guide to the art, artists, and culture of graffiti from the 1970s to today, as told by the taggers themselves

This major co-publication with the Museum of Graffiti chronicles the worldwide graffiti movement from its birth in the 1970s, through the street and train painting of the 1980s, to its emergence as an artistic genre admired in museums and sold at auction. With hundreds of never-before-seen photographs of graffiti art from the 1970s to today, many of which have been provided exclusively for this volume by the artists themselves, the book gives an insider’s view through multiple interviews with celebrated graffiti artists, including Roger Smith of Sane Smith, Hotboy Hert, DESA, Shirt King Phade, RIME, MadC, Saber, AURA, and others.

Told through essays, hundreds of images, and interviews with the artists – both the underground outlaws and the writers who went mainstream – The Wide World of Graffiti will become the standard-bearer of the art form’s history and life today, a unique contribution from the first and only museum dedicated to graffiti as an art form.

About the Author:

Alan Ket is an artist, graffiti historian, and cofounder of the Museum of Graffiti. Ket has contributed to such publications as the 1990s cult zine Stress, and graffiti, music, and culture magazines Complex and Vibe. He has consulted on product launches embodying street culture and has worked with art institutions to develop programming. Ket has documented street art throughout the world while painting with many of the top graffiti artists.