Graffiti or "street art" has been a significant art form for more than 20 years, altering and shaping the urban landscape from Tokyo to Paris, Los Angeles to Sydney, Belfast to Berlin. Ever-changing and evolving, its anonymous, transient nature means it literally can appear one day and disappear the next. Yet out of this shifting mass of spray paint, some true stars have emerged—artists such as Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Banksy—as well as countless unsung heroes who have taken the form to new heights. This book is a celebration of the endless creativity of the medium, featuring 100 glossy photos of groundbreaking graffiti from around the world, and including an introduction by the editor, Ket. It is a perfect introduction to the subject for anyone excited by this most vibrant and democratic of art forms.
Alain Mariduena aka Alan Ket aka KET is an artist, photographer, author, artistic consultant, marketing professional and frequent lecturer on the topic of graffiti. His photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The London Sunday Telegraph, The Source, and Stress. Ket launched Stress, a hip-hop magazine credited for breaking such artists as Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Eminem, and Raekwon, among others. After that, he spun Stress off into an internationally published Spanish language version of the magazine called Hip Hop Nation. In 2001, with Marc Ecko, he created the men's fashion magazine Complex.
Ket is active in his community as a muralist, photographer, and graffiti advocate. His advocacy of graffiti has landed him in frequent lawsuits with the city of New York. His cases have made international news and are all now closed.
He is the author of Graffiti Planet, Graffiti Planet 2, Sento - The Fantastic Partners, and Part One - The Death Squad, New York City Black Book Masters, Graffiti Tattoo, Ghost, and most recently Rockin' It Suckers. He is a blogger on 12ozprohet.com where he frequently discusses graffiti, art, and the police state. He has lectured in universities worldwide, including New York University, Brown University, Syracuse University, UCLA, University of Wisconsin, and Wesleyan University.
