Part I: Origins and Foundation

From city-streets and subway cars to gallery halls, graffiti has evolved from a rebellious act to a respected art form that influences everything from music to advertising. Once used mainly for political or territorial messages, graffiti transformed in the late 20th century into a powerful tool for self-expression, shifting from message-based to identity-based markings. This article explores its roots, cultural impact, and how it shaped the visual language of contemporary art and design.

Graffiti has become a universal symbol of urban art, with vibrant and expressive designs decorating walls, trains, and buildings in cities across the globe. From its beginnings as simple name tags to complex, large-scale burners and murals, graffiti has remained rooted in visibility, identity, and self-expression.

Though terminology has evolved, many artists still call their work “writing”. The practice of creating large-scale, colorful tags, throw-ups, pieces, burners and murals remains a key aspect of the graffiti subculture.

The art of writing and painting on public spaces has been around for decades, with the origins of modern graffiti traced back to the streets of Philadelphia and New York in the 1960s and 1970s. In Philadelphia, Cool Earl, Tity, Kool Klepto Kidd, and Dr. Cool 1 were among the earliest known writers who helped shape the vibrant scene starting in the late 1960s, long before it caught widespread attention. While in New York, Julio 204, Taki 183, Tracy 168, and Stay High 149 emerged as some of the first-generation graffiti writers who developed unique styles that soon spread beyond their neighborhoods, influencing a global graffiti movement.

When writers’ tags began appearing across all five boroughs of New York, they weren’t just names, they were presences. These writers became urban legends and inspired a generation of kids to pick up markers and cans and claim visibility in a city that often erased them. 

The New York graffiti scene was both influenced by and influential in emerging cultural movements, including the re-emerging punk scene, and played a key role in shaping various expressions that later fused to become what is now known as Hip-Hop culture. Although often linked to Hip-Hop, Writing began before its rise and remains its own independent culture, with many pioneers preserving its unique identity. These  cross-cultural interactions added rich layers to the evolution of urban art.


Graffiti thrived in environments of social tension, economic inequality, and cultural marginalization. Much like punk and Hip-Hop, it gave voice to youth who felt unseen by mainstream institutions. The raw expression of graffiti mirrored the energy of B.Boying, MCing, and DJing, which collectively gave rise to a new hybrid cultural identity.

The early 1980s saw the rise of Hip-Hop culture in New York, a subculture that would significantly impact mainstream media and global trends in music, fashion, art, and language. The work of graffiti writers helped to redefine the concept of what was considered “art” and influenced the visual language of advertising, branding, and design for years to come.

In the same era, Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist heavily influenced by Hip-Hop culture, wrote under the pseudonym “SAMO” in the streets of New York. He gained recognition in the 1980s as a neo-expressionist painter and became one of the most prominent artists of his generation. Shortly thereafter, Keith Haring, another contemporary artist, fused graffiti, pop art, and cartooning in his work, highlighting the cultural exchange and cross-cultural influences that have shaped contemporary art and design.

The film “Wild Style” (1982) and documentary film “Style Wars” (1983) played a crucial role in documenting and spreading the emerging Hip-Hop culture in New York. “Wild Style” directed by Charlie Ahearn, showcased prominent graffiti writers, including Zephyr, Seen, Lee, Dondi, and Lady Pink, while “Style Wars” focused on graffiti art and b-boying and featured writers such as: Seen, Dondi, Kase 2 and many others. Style Wars also included interviews with various New York officials and residents discussing their views on graffiti and its impact on the city. Both films contributed to the movement’s popularity in other parts of the world, such as Europe, Japan, and Australia.

By the mid-1980s, graffiti had exploded beyond its underground roots, infiltrating galleries, ad campaigns, and global art scenes. But how did underground subway art find its way into the elite galleries of Soho and beyond? That’s where our story continues.

Note: We treat this piece as a living document. As we learn more, we’ll revise and expand it.

All Photos by Danny Lyon, June 1974, DOCUMERICA project