Graffiti & Street Art

CAVS (Paul Cavalieri), a prolific and influential Bronx graffiti writer for nearly 40 years, shares hundreds of photos of his work, his progression as an artist, and stories of the New York City graffiti scene through the decades in one colourful volume. From the Wakefield neighbourhood in the northern borough of the Bronx, CAVS tells his own story in his own singular voice. With a chapter examining each, he reminisces and documents his family and background, his beginnings in the Bronx, and his work on walls, subways, freight trains, and trucks. He covers dodging cops, working with other writers, and being one of the East Coast pioneers of freight train writing in the mid- to late ’80s, bringing the reader into that specific time and place now so changed. While CAVS has changed, too, now painting only with permission, he is still a vandal at heart.

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This is a nostalgic, visual account of the best time and place to be a graffiti writer. In the 1980s, brothers Kenny, a.k.a. KEY, and Paul, a.k.a. CAVS, immersed themselves in the graffiti scene in the Boogie Down Bronx, dutifully photographing hundreds of pieces on now-discontinued MTA subway cars and capturing their proud comrades before, during, and after the act. Bombing White Elephants with their pilot markers and documenting them with their cameras, which they always carried, they were on the ride of their lives — until 1989, when the last painted train was removed from service. Tags by names like QUIK, IZTHEWIZ, and many others appear here in colour exposures, and dozens of artists share stories and drop knowledge with no filter. A foreword by graffiti historian Henry Chalfant, co-producer of Style Wars — the seminal documentary on New York graffiti and hip-hop culture — kicks things off.

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An insider’s guide to discovering the world’s best urban art. From amazing wall murals to Banksy’s stencils and Invader’s mosaics, we showcase 140 creative hotspots across 42 cities and tell you how to find them, as well as introduce pioneering artists and interview those who shaped the movement.

Street art is now present in almost every city, town and village in the world, from Aachen to Zwolle. Its true audience is measured in the billions. And given that the first record of homo sapiens painting on walls is thought to date back around 40,000 years, it’s surprising that street art has taken so long to flourish.

Today, the proliferation of legal walls and organised festivals around the world makes it possible to encounter thought-provoking, transformative art in the most unexpected of places.

This visual guide to the world of street art takes in the scene in over 40 cities and includes interviews with some of the most prolific and well-known street artists, including Blek le Rat, FAILE and Faith47. And with hundreds of locations plotted and a special focus on 15 of the world’s most incredible street art festivals, this guide will help you discover artworks hidden in plain sight around the world.

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