United Graffiti Artists

United Graffiti Artists (aka UGA) was an early American graffiti artists collective, founded in 1972 by Hugo Martinez in New York City.[1][2] UGA was the first organized group of writers, and the first to promote graffiti as a high art.[3][4][5] Martinez, then a student activist at City College of New York, organized a group of teenagers who had been tagging the subways [6] into a loose collective, formalizing their work and paving the way for commercialization.[7] In September 1973, UGA organized the first ever gallery show of graffiti at the Razor Gallery in SoHo.[8][9][10]

According to authors Cori Anderson and Kevin Jackson, the artists of UGA elevated the profile of graffiti, bringing it from the subways and the streets to art galleries and studios.[11][12] Henry Chalfant, a sculptor from New York City said "United Graffiti Artists (UGA) and Nation of Graffiti Artists (NOGA), marked the first attempts to organize and legitimize writers as artists."[13]

Early members of UGA included PHASE 2,[8] SJK 171,[14] TAKI 183,[15] HENRY 161 (Henry Medina),[14] and MIKE 171 (Mike Hughes).[6]

References
  1. Vivien Raynor (March 3, 1991). "ART; 'Hip Hop' Moves Closer to Respectability". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. Penelope Green (April 10, 2005). "Using Graffiti as a Decorating Tool". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  3. Gottlieb, Lisa. (2008). Graffiti art styles : a classification system and theoretical analysis. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-7864-3436-7. OCLC 228608106.
  4. Miller, Ivor (July 1993). "Guerrilla artists of New York City". Race & Class. 35 (1): 27–40. doi:10.1177/030639689303500104. ISSN 0306-3968. S2CID 144157165.
  5. Castleman, Craig. (1982). Getting up : subway graffiti in New York. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-03089-6. OCLC 8476629.
  6. Jordan Riefe (June 21, 2018). ""Beyond The Streets" Harkens To Graffiti's Roots In Diversity". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  7. Kristen Tauer (December 5, 2019). "Art Basel Miami Beach 2019: Museum of Graffiti Opens in Wynwood". WWD. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  8. Jon Caramonica (December 20, 2019). "Phase 2, an Aerosol Art Innovator, Is Dead at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  9. Peter Schjeldahl (September 16, 1973). "Graffiti Goes Legit—But the 'Show‐Off Ebullience' Remains". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  10. Ula Ilnytzky (February 3, 2014). "Graffiti art highlighted in NYC exhibition". Associated Press. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  11. Kevin Jackson (May 20, 2001). "Reading graffiti". Prospect. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  12. Cori Anderson (February 13, 2017). "MCA-Denver Debuts Its Biggest Opening With Gritty And Uncensored Exhibit". 303 Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  13. Chalfant, H. 1992. “No One Is in Control.” Pp. 4-11 in Vandalism: Research, Prevention and Social Policy, edited by H. H. Chistensen , D. R. Johnson , and M. H. Brookes . Portland, OR: Department of Agriculture Forest Service.Vandalism: research, prevention, and social policy (PDF) (Report). United States Forest Service. 1992. doi:10.2737/PNW-GTR-293. S2CID 158966695.
  14. Liz Ohanesian (May 22, 2018). "Exploring The Evolution Of Street Art". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  15. Thomas, Sean P. "Celebrating Street Art in a Chinatown Warehouse". Los Angeles Downtown News - The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-12-29.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.