ELLENSBURG, Wash.- Graffiti no longer only lives on streets and signs of the community. After years of practicing their craft, graffiti writers are finding new homes, including art galleries.
As the Nuwave Gallery launches its October show titled “Show’d Love,” graffiti artists line the walls as the stigma is being broken down. While many only know graffiti art as vandalism, the artists behind the spray paint cans see it differently.
“It’s a complete and utter self-contained culture that has its own roots and its own history,” said graffiti artist, Jason Clifton.
Clifton says he moved to the Pacific Northwest in the 1990’s when the culture had already been established. He quickly found his place in the graffiti art community, bonding together with other artists.
“These guys came through the town in the 80’s when it was way rough to be different, to have long hair, have tattoos, to be different,” says Clifton. “And they did it and they made it, so I’m riding on that.”
As he worked on his art and curated the gallery, he said he chose the title of the exhibit to pay homage to his friends that welcomed him in.
“These guys showed me love, so I’m trying to show it back,” says Clifton.
He likened the culture of graffiti art to the cultures of hip-hop, punk rock and skateboarding, where those that participate become one community.
In building a community, the stigma of graffiti art begins to break down.
“Destroy the walls and build bridges,” said Clifton of the history of the artform. “Build bridges with people and try to cultivate understanding on the deeper, more personal level than what it appears to be.”
Clifton knows what it appears to be to people outside of the graffiti scene.
While he knows the art started as a form of vandalism and to avoid being seen, the California-raised artist says those that commit to the art help change the narrative.
“We’re all artists that have dedicated a lot of our lifetime to making this an artform and destroying that stigma,” says Clifton.
Seeing the work as art is the first step to breaking the stigma. Taking it off the streets and into a place like an art gallery allows the greater community to see it as art.
“I think it’s important just to put that in front of people because sometimes you don’t know you like something until you see it,” says Erin Oostra, the owner of Nuwave Gallery.
With the art on display until October 31, the artists are taking the time to do what they can to break down the walls around graffiti art. Clifton credits legendary artists like Banksy for beginning to popularize the art, but now the torch has been passed.
“There’s a few artist we can thank for that, but it’s up to all of us,” says Clifton. “It’s kinda on all of our backs to carry it into where it’s gonna go.”
