1. History
• Graffiti has really been around forever
• American graffiti started in the 1960’s in
Philadelphia
and New York
City

2. Basic History
• New York City is the real birthplace of graffiti
• Gang art was the beginning but it soon
transformed into something more individual
• Artists began “tagging” subway cars as a way
of gaining notoriety
• Started off with simple names, but soon grew
into big, fancy designs
• The goal was to show your dominance in the
art

3. • At first, artists just wanted their name out
there
• Soon they began developing masterpieces, or
pieces, to further distinguish themselves
• Led to the development of different styles

4. Top to Bottom
• Artists tagged the subway car from the top to
the bottom with there masterpieces

5. Throw Up
• No not puke
• One of the original styles of tagging
• Characterized by
one color outline
and one color filler

6. Softie Letters
• Bubble letters

7. Wild Style
• Incorporated arrows, curls, and connections
• Made the letters look very mechanical

8. Metropolitan Transit Authority
• They did not appreciate the graffiti on their
cars
• The government allotted more money to the
anti graffiti division
• Led to the train yards being better monitored
and harder to sneak into

9. • Cut down on the amount of graffiti and
started cleaning cars off
• By 1986 most lines were running clean cars
• Artists began returning to the streets
• Today most artists paint on the streets but the
few who believe the only true graffiti art is on
subway cars continue their fight against the
MTA