Historical Background of Graffiti and Street Art – Evolution from Concept to Legal Framework in the U.S. and India

I. Introduction

Graffiti which is typically associated with an unauthorized marking, writings or drawings are usually depicted on the walls or surfaces of another person’s property, especially that in public spaces. Historically graffiti works refers to that with rebellions and subcultures where graffiti artwork often proceeds as connotations of illegality. Such works may have varied range from a simple “tag” to elaborative murals however, such works are usually considered as an act of defacement when it done without permission from the authority or are not protected under any legal document.

On the other hand, for street art the creation of artistic works in public spaces is involved which often is for an intention to gather public and social appreciation as well as commentaries. Unlike that of graffiti, street art is frequently recognized for having an aesthetic nature and value which provides an additional variety of various mediums such as murals.

Graffiti and street art are forms of artwork which are both created to portray the work in public spaces, however, the outlook of the society varies differently for both works. The major difference is that when it comes to graffiti work, it is more about the author’s portrayal of personal identity and marking of territory, while on the other hand street art is more about expressing the ideologies, following a cultural practice and raising of awareness. This difference is reflecting how the society views and perceptualize with both the art works. Graffiti is usually seen as looked with negative perspective, more of a vandalism while street art is much more celebrated and even act as a customary cultural practice which becomes an important part of urban culture.

This chapter is about understanding and exploring the historical background and growth of graffiti and street art overviewing that how these art works and its creative expression have transformed over the period of the time. The chapter also highlights upon the key moments in the history of graffiti artwork and street art that have been undergone through various transformation of what it appears today. While writing names and the creation of artwork in public spaces has been existence for thousands of years, this chapter discusses specifically upon the beginning of graffiti that centers on personal and individual identity. This style which is often called as “name writing”, started when the graffiti artists started leaving apart their names or “tags” after creating the work on the public space as a form of self- expression, showcasing the author’s personal identity.

II. Historical background of graffiti and street art in united states

Graffiti and street art as we know and understand today was different when it started in the during the years 1960s and 1970s. The history of graffiti art during this tenure was when group of people started to utilize the public spaces to express themselves through the method of stylish writing and art works. Graffiti gained huge popularity in cities like New York, where these group of people who practiced graffiti, individually used spray paint to create “tags”, images, names on the walls, trains and various other surfaces. Simultaneously street art also emerged which focused upon creating a more specific and detailed work on a larger scale which often carried messages related to social or political context. This rea marked the beginning of graffiti and street art which was a form of an urban artwork.

The 1960s and 1970s were the years for the early beginning of street art and graffiti culture. During this tenure, these artworks began to grow and develop and also faced strong protest and criticism, but also within this scenario of resistance graffiti evolved and grew in a unique style and technique.³ Some of the artists began exploring the various public spaces for portraying their works, which grasped huge attention from the people who were outside the community of graffiti and street art.⁴ As a result of this, more number of people began to see the display of artistic presentation and potential of the artists of these movements which in further led to graffiti artwork and street art which gained recognition in the mainstream media which also led to the beginning of success in high-end art spaces. This duration marked the beginning of graffiti and street art which was being noticed and appreciated as legitimate forms of artwork.

(A) History of Graffiti and Street Art in 1960 –

a. In Philadelphia

Modern and contemporary graffiti work started in Philadelphia in the early 1960s which marked the genning of the graffiti work as we consider and have knowledge at present.⁵Early tags and the movement of graffiti was begun with an artist named Cornbread.⁶ After placing his name on everywhere in a youth center detention, Cornbread returned to the streets of Philadelphia, where he kept continuing placing his name on public spaces. To attract and impress his love interest, Cornbread, wrote his name along with the route of her bus, after which he expanded his efforts by writing his name on the buses and other public places across the city. This made him to be the first artists who has become hugely famous throughout the entire city and his success inspired the concept and idea of writing one’s name everywhere which could help an individual to acquire attention as well as individual recognition, which in further became one of the key ingredient of graffiti culture.⁷

Young people who belonged from the neglected communities, to express their frustrations and to tell their truths, began using spray paint on public surfaces. This became a path for them to be seen and heard while also in this process they started portraying their creativity. Graffiti turned out to be a movement which depicted turned out to be a movement of fun and artistic freedom. Cornbread embraced this challenge to make his name visible without getting caught from the state authority and this motivated him to leave their mark in the form signatures across the city.⁸ After a shooting which took place in Philadelphia in which people mistakenly thought that Cornbread had been killed in that process, Cornbread made a bold move to prove that he was alive he spray painted on an elephant’ body “Cornbread Lives” assuring everyone to know he was still living and active.⁹

Cool Earl¹⁰ was one of the first graffiti artist who used arrows in his tags which made the tags more unique. Other graffiti artists soon followed the footsteps of Cool Earl by adding arrows, stars, various copyright symbols, and other decorative elements to make their own tags stand out in the crowd and to make their tags look attractive and creative.¹¹

b. In New York

In the spring of the year 1968, Julio 204, became one of the first graffiti artists to spread his name all over an entire society where his actions were deeply inspired to others to perform the same act, but they began going even further by writing their names in areas which was beyond their own neighborhoods or society. This marked the beginning of graffiti as we know today, whereby all graffiti artists aim to make their names to be seen in as many places as possible to portray individuals’ identity.¹² Julio 204 has played an important role in the history of graffiti where his tags were inspired by TAKI 83,¹³ who has become one of the most famous graffiti artists which in the process has helped popularize the concept of graffiti as a form of artwork.

The beginning of Daniel Buren,¹⁴ popularity through the street art activities. He started using printed paper for his artwork instead of suing the traditional fabric, however he kept the same striped pattern with each of the stripe having a cm of 8.7 wide and such was placed vertically. In March 1968, he started taking his artworks into public spaces where initially he placed his works on human billboards and followed to go on street-level advertising frames. This was called by him as actions representing “auffichages sauvages” which means “wild posting”.¹⁵ In the year 1969, Burren became more well- known and popular when he was not allowed to take participation in a group exhibition in Bern, Switzerland which called – When Attitudes Become Form. However, instead of accepting this rejection, he around the exhibition created installation to draw attention to him. After that, he used his iconic vertical strips, which he called it as “visual tool”, in many more public art campaigns including in cities like New York and Tokyo.¹⁶

University students who were from Sorbonne in Paris and Columbia in New York were the first to use graffiti artworks to depict and portray slogans during large protest.¹⁷

(B) History Of Graffiti And Street Art In 1970: The Early Graffiti ‘Pieces’ -

In the 1970s, graffiti artists started adding various highlights and shadows to their letters to make them look like a three-dimensional graffiti artwork. During this time, this style of graffiti grew and changed, and artists started to include cartoon-like characters into their works. Theses cartoon – like characters helped the artists to make their graffiti work unique and stand out from others.¹⁸

“Tags” which had evolved as simple names displayed and created on walls, established into large, colorful artworks with bold, outlined letters and decorations which were bigger and more detailed creations which became known as “pieces”.¹⁹ Graffiti artists had found a perfect spot for their artwork on the outside panels of trains where some artists painted simple tags while others created detailed pieces, or where some did both – the ultimate goal was to get their name seen everywhere, and the more they practiced this trend, the more famous these artists became.²⁰

In the early 1970s, TAKI 183 had become one of a major figure in the growing of graffiti movement in New York City. He was one of the first artists to have used the subway system as a canvas, tagging his name on trains that had travelled all over the city. His tags were present everywhere and this attracted and gained the attention of the people where a group of people admired it while others criticized it.²¹ TAKI 183’s fame and name grew even more in the 1971 when The New York Times wrote an article about him called “TAKI 183 Spawns Pen Pals” where the article highlighted graffiti works into the spotlight and made TAKI 183 famous in a way no graffiti artist had been before. His works inspired many young artists who followed his footsteps, helping graffiti to grow and be spread into a powerful movement.²²

However, no graffiti history is complete without addressing American underground comic artist Vaughn Bode, whose style of cartoon comics became very popular with graffiti artists, and such is still used as an inspiration today, where his quirky characters like Cheech Wizard, have been painted on thousand of walls around the globe.²³

(C) The rise of graffiti and street art in the 1980s: A Social And Cultural Transformation

During the era of 1980s, it was a time when there were some big changes that took place in the society which included economic struggles, the increase in social inequalities, crisis with respect to AIDs, the Cold War and the dissemination of capitalism. These challenges influenced the way people expressed themselves through their creativity in the form of artwork. During this period, graffiti and street art evolved to challenge the traditional world of artwork and expressed new ideas and creativity.²⁴ As graffiti work evolved into the street art, it moved from just being a rebellious act of leaving tags to becoming a powerful way for the people to protest and also to share their opinions, wherein the streets within no time transformed to a place where anyone could express their concerns and also have important conversations through the process of art.

a. The Evolution of Hip-Hop Culture

During the 1980s in New York, the trend of hip-hop music was present everywhere, which played loudly on boom boxes and features artists like Run-DMC.²⁵ As hip-hop became a key ingredient of New York’s culture, the graffiti artwork also grew parallelly as another form of creativity and expression.²⁶

Graffiti which has been in existence for centuries, gained popularity and was accepted as a mainstream art form at the same time when hip-hop music started becoming widely recognized. Hip-hop began as a mix of African and Caribbean cultural influences in cities which combined ingredients like poetry, jazz and disco with electronic music and this had included four major components: MCing (rapping), DJing (music mixing), breakdancing and graffiti (artwork).²⁷

The group of people who were part of the graffiti movement were called as “writers” and these people would leave their unique identification or “tags” on surfaces and while others form of street art like that of murals and posters varies from one another, however, they can overlap with graffiti as many hip-hop pioneers were also graffiti artists before getting music industry.²⁸

Graffiti has helped to spread across the hip-hop culture and hip-hop culture has helped spread graffiti. Over the time, both the subcultures and its creativity has boomed and have expanded and spread across the United States. Places like Krog Tunnel, where certain group of people could practice graffiti without getting in trouble, have become important in the history of graffiti and are at present a crucial part of Atlanta’s hip-hop scene.²⁹

(D) Modern Graffiti

An individual’s “handwriting” is a pattern and a way a graffiti artist writes their tag, which is basically the signature or the artist’s name. It is the first thing an artist focuses on, and this portrays their unique style and personality. Artists put in a lot of effort and ideas in making and creating their tag to make the mark look special and distinctive, as the tag represents the artists in the graffiti world.³⁰ With passing of time, the style of writing the tags has evolved into what is known as “Calligraffiti”, which is an amalgamation of graffiti tagging and calligraphy, which portrays the art of stylish form of writing. Some graffiti artists have been specialized only in this form of stylish graffiti writing that goes beyond the simple lettering. This progress depicts how graffiti has become and evolved more than just a form of tagging which is at present recognized and acknowledged as a form of artistic expression.³¹

At present, graffiti artists use different form of graffiti where they use light and realistic details in the artwork that gives a three-dimensional look and creates an illusion of space. While the old-school ‘b-boy’ style of characters from that of the 80s are still common and used by the graffiti artists, the major transformation has taken place in the design of characters at present is, the use of photorealism which means, that artists are focusing upon creating their own characters and images which looks as lifelike having detailed precisions as possible almost like that in photographs.³²

III. Historical background of graffiti and street art in india

In India, graffiti is an amalgamation of history, rebellion and modern style, which portrays how the artwork in the country has emerged. It began with wall art which was used mainly for advertising as well as to display political messages. Apart from these wall art in different part of the country also represented a particular community’s heritage and culture, like the Madhubani painting³³ or the oldest mural making which came from the Buddhist cave painting in Ajanta, Maharashtra.³⁴ Today, graffiti has become as a popular means for artists to express their ideologies in a creative way, covering and highlighting upon subject matter on politics, mythology and various modern cultures.³⁵

(A) The Origins of Graffiti in India

The tradition of painting on walls in India, has been a significant part of its heritage and culture for a long period of time. This form of wall art can be traced back to the ancient times, starting with the Buddhist cave paintings from the 2^nd Century,³⁶ which over the years have continued to evolve which appears to be colorful murals and decorative designs depicted on rural mud huts.³⁷ In cities, the concept of wall art has been taken a different role which is often being used purely for political purposes. The political parties would use the walls, the public space, to paint their political symbols, slogans and messages, especially during the elections or any political activism which has been strong. In these localities, walls became a platform for spreading political ideologies and for campaigning which makes them an essential part of the local culture and political scene.³⁸ It is history which displays how the concept of wall art in India has grown from a form of traditional expression to a tool for communication and activism.³⁹

(B) Graffiti and street art: the 1980s and 1990s –

During the period from 1980s and 1990s, the hand painted movie posters for Bollywood and other regional languages movies were seen to be displayed everywhere in India – be it on street walls, hoardings, or in any corner of the street. This portrayed that the artwork can be appeared on any surface and in multiple forms. However, the correct purpose of graffiti and street art in Indian context began to stand out clearly during the 1980s. At this period, the street art started to develop and create its own identity and meaning which was bifurcated from mere advertisements or any propaganda which marked the starting of a new era for the development and growth of graffiti culture in India.⁴⁰

(C) The development of graffiti and street art –

Graffiti in India was initially seen as vandalism, but over time, it has gained recognition as a true form of art. The movement began to grow in cities like Delhi and Mumbai around 2006–2007, with artists such as Yantra, Daku, and Zine leading the way. Their artwork caught people's attention and eventually led to India sending four graffiti artists to the Street of Styles festival in Brazil, one of South America's largest events for hip-hop and graffiti. This marked a major shift in how graffiti was viewed, showing that what was once seen as rebellious vandalism is now respected as art on the global stage, representing a big achievement for Indian street art.⁴¹

The graffiti artist community has been growing slowly over time, but street art is also expanding quickly in an organised way. Groups like the Delhi Street Art and St+art India Foundation⁴² were created to help bring street art into public spaces with permission. These organisations have worked with various government bodies like the , Swachh Bharat, and various others to create murals. While this has given the artists the chance to work upon public spaces legally it has also limited the artist's freedom of expression, as a result of which many of the artworks created by the artists are less bold and such art works do not carry a strong or a controversial messages.⁴³

Some of the Street art and graffiti works in India are as follows:

1. Lodhi Art District, Delhi⁴⁴ - this is located at the centre of the capital of India, Delhi has portrayed the city's dynamic artistic growth. It is one of the popular place where both local and international graffiti artists amalgamate together to portray their artworks. The murals here combines tales from the history having modern ideologies which gives the visitors a colourful journey that highlights the rich heritage and pat culture of Delhi⁴⁵

2. Fort Kochi in Cochin , Kerala- It is known for having a stunning graffiti and street art, which with time has become a key content of its uniqueness and identity. For many years, this area has displayed beautiful artwork on its streets wherein Fort Kochi and its nearby Mattancherry region has also hosted many art festivals, with the first major event being the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in the year 2012 which was an annual art exhibition which attracts artists and visitors from all around the globe.⁴⁶

3. Kannagi Nagar in Chennai⁴⁷- It is often called the city's art district, was transformed by the St+Art Foundation.⁴⁸ The wall art here is designed to change how people view the community living in this resettlement area. Many murals focus on the theme of displacement, reflecting the experiences of the local residents. one of the notable site is the Indira Railway Station, which has features of a giant 280-meter-long wall mural wherein The artwork aims to raise and spread awareness about HIV and its precautions.⁴⁹

IV. Suggestion

Graffiti and street art have evolved from acts of rebellion and unsanctioned artistic expressions to recognized forms of cultural and political discourse. Originating from ancient cave paintings and inscriptions in places like Pompeii, graffiti has historically been used as a medium for storytelling and resistance. In the U.S., graffiti gained momentum in the 1970s, particularly in New York, where it became an integral part of hip-hop culture, challenging societal norms and authority. While initially dismissed as vandalism, landmark cases like 5Pointz under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), 1990, paved the way for its legal recognition, distinguishing protectable street art from illegal defacement. In contrast, India’s engagement with graffiti has been influenced by traditional folk art forms like Warli and Madhubani, blending indigenous and contemporary urban styles. However, unlike the U.S., India lacks explicit legal provisions for graffiti, often treating it as public nuisance under municipal laws. The Copyright Act, 1957, offers limited protection, contingent on fixation, leaving street artists in a legal grey area. With growing government-endorsed street art projects and increasing global recognition, there is an urgent need for a structured legal framework to balance artistic expression with property rights in both countries.

V. Conclusion

The history of graffiti and street art shows that how a concept which used to be practised as a form of cultural and traditional practices has evolved with the changing times as a concept which has recognised and acknowledged as a creative artwork wherein the artists have evolved by displaying their creativity and also made an individual identity through “tags” which has given the artist a self confidence and has also motivated the subculture of graffiti works.

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Footnotes

1. Author is a LL.M. student at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India.

2. Author is a Professor at School of Law, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, India.

3. Giulia B Local and Alex Pope, “History of graffiti and street art: the 1960s and the 1970s”, STRAAT, (April 4, 2021). https://straatmuseum.com/en/blog/history-of-graffiti-and-street-art-1960s-1970s?srsltid=AfmBOoqC d8vuazteIwK1XhlbU5dMP9OrbUT0esjwzgglvWrP37TIscxD ↩

4. ibid. ↩

5. Louisa Baumgartel, “Graffiti in America: A Brief History of Modern Graffiti”, Singulart Magazine, (August 9, 2018). https://www.singulart.com/en/blog/2018/08/09/graffiti/?srsltid=AfmBOordvy7vFDg-cdPeaKsFJp7mJw udAl0b78Mgq2qFojMPSCIHmTVQ ↩

6. Cornbread, the pseudonym of Darryl McCray was widely recognised as the first who had popularised graffiti in the late 1960s. See “The writing on the wall”, BBC News, ( March 24, 2017). https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-39353541. ↩

7. Supra note 3. ↩

8. June Diaz, “The emergence of graffiti and its association with the Hip Hop movement”, Vancouver Visual Art Foundation, (October 23,2023). https://www.vanvaf.com/post/the-emergence-of-graffiti-and-its-association-with-the-hip-hop-movement ↩

9. ibid. ↩

10. Deal Cia and Spar One TFP, “HISTORY OF GRAFFITI pt 1”, Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner. https://www.daveyd.com/historyofgraf.html ↩

11. Supra note 1. ↩

12. “Graffiti or street art: Julio 204 and Daniel Buren in 1968”, Urbanario, Madrid, (October 6, 2008). https://urbanario.es/en/articulo/graffiti-or-street-art-julio-204-and-daniel-buren-in-1968/ ↩

13. TAKI 83, who when was a teenager from 183^rd Street in Manhattan, became the first famous graffiti artist in New York after his simple signature style was features in a 1971 article in The New York Times. https://www.taki183.net/ ↩

14. Daniel Buren is a French Conceptual artist who is best known for his distinctive site-specific installations of alternating stripe patterns. His concept of a “degree zero pf painting,” which has been developed by him in the early 1960s, is the hallmark of the artist ‘s which approaches to the conditions of making a work of art. ↩

15. Supra note 10. ↩

16. ibid. ↩

17. Supra note 1. ↩

18. “The History of Graffiti street art”, 90 Degrees Art. https://90degrees.graffitiartistsforhire.com.au/news/the-history-of-graffiti/. ↩

19. ibid. ↩

20. ibid. ↩

21. Bobby Banks, “TAKI 183 Enigmatic Pioneer of Modern Street Graffiti”, Sprayedpaint.com, (April 15, 2023). https://sprayedpaint.com/blogs/articles/taki-183-enigmatic-pioneer-of-modern-street-graffiti?srsltid=AfmBOooy04ChunCbz_M2KPH8c53nQB5CMX0qvbNVi73c4oY9Suihd_p9 ↩

22. ibid. ↩

23. Supra note 16. ↩

24. Isabella de Souza, “Keith Haring’s Art and the Emergence of Street Art in the 1980s”, MYARTBROKER, (August 30, 2024). https://www.myartbroker.com/artist-keith-haring/articles/keith-harings-art-emergence-street-art-1980s ↩

25. Darryl Matthews, Mc Daniels who grew up in Queens, New York, was where he met with Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell and Joseph “Run” Simmons, and together they formed the famous trio named – Run-DMC in the 1980s. See Kemet High, “DMC acknowledges Pete Rock saving Run-DMC in the ‘90s: “He brought us back”, REVOLT, (June 12, 2023). https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-12-06/344618/dmc-acknowledges-pete-rock-saving-run-dmc-in-the-90s. ↩

26. Bobby Gehlen, Brianti Downing and Allie Weintraub, “ Hip-hop at 50: How graffiti has evolved from 1980s through today”, ABC News, (August 12, 2023). https://abcnews.go.com/US/hip-hop-50-graffiti-evolved-1980s-today/story?id=102166004. ↩

27. Lucy Ferguson, “Graffiti Is Hip-Hop: Celebrating Hip-Hop’s Cultural Impact and Ties To Graffiti Culture On Its 50^TH Anniversary”- ↩

28. ibid. ↩

29. ibid ↩

30. Supra note 18. ↩

31. ibid. ↩

32. ibid. ↩

33. Nandita Saikia, Street Art, Graffiti, and Indian Copyright Law. In E. Bonadio (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Copyright in Street Art and Graffiti, Pg.no. 272, Chapter 17, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2019). ↩

34. Aparajita Bhasin, “The Evolution of Street art and Graffiti in India”, ResearchGate, (November 2018). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342815364_The_Evolution_of_Street_art_and_Graffiti_in_India ↩

35. Ar. Kiran Rathi, “The Rise of Graffiti in India: 15 Street Stories”, The Architect’s Diary.com, (January 11, 2024). https://thearchitectsdiary.com/the-rise-of-graffiti-in-india-15-street-stories/. ↩

36. Supra note 34. ↩

37. Supra note 33. ↩

38. Supra note 35. ↩

39. ibid. ↩

40. ibid. ↩

41. ibid ↩

42. Start India Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that “contributes to urban regeneration through contemporary urban art projects” in public spaces. https://www.festivalsfromindia.com/organiser/start-india-foundation/ ↩

43. Meghashree Dev, “The Artistic, Vandal, and Marginalised: Evolution of Street Art in India”, Dhaara, (August 31, 2021).https://dhaaramagazine.in/2021/08/31/the-artistic-vandal-and-marginalised-evolution-of-street-art-in-india/ ↩

44. Supra note 35. ↩

45. ibid ↩

46. “Graffiti in India through the years”, ART LOUNGE, (December 05, 2022). https://blog.artlounge.in/blog/2022/12/3/graffiti-in-india-through-the-years ↩

47. Supra note 35. ↩

48. Supra note 42. ↩

49. Supra note 35. ↩