Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents [Hardcover]

Nicholas Ganz (Author), Nancy Macdonald (Introduction), Swoon (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006

From the author of the enormously successful Graffiti World comes this spectacular follow-up, celebrating the contributions of women to contemporary graffiti and street art.

Female writers have always been in the vanguard of the graffiti movement, though often shunted to the sidelines by their male counterparts. This exhaustive volume places them front and center, featuring 1,000 full-color illustrations from some of the world’s most prominent artists, including Brazil’s Nina, Japan’s Sasu, Mexico’s Peste, and the Americans Lady Pink, Swoon, and Miss 17. Two eight-page fold-out collages, a fold-out poster jacket, and an authoritative text round out the impressive package. The first and only comprehensive survey of its kind, this book is sure to attract and expand upon the wide and enthusiastic readership that made Graffiti World such a runaway success.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nicholas Ganz, aka Keinom, is a young German graffiti artist who has traveled worldwide to become the leading authority on the graffiti scene. He lives in Essen, Germany.

Nancy Macdonald is the author of The Graffiti Subculture: Youth, Masculinity and Identity in London and New York. She lives in London.

Swoon is a New York City-based street artist.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 222 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810957477
• ISBN-13: 978-0810957473
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 9.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #516,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Arts & Photography > History & Criticism > Themes > Women in Art
  • #86 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Graffiti & Street Art

More About the Author

Nicholas Ganz, aka keinom, is a young German graffiti artist who has travelled worldwide to gather material for this book.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Skip Louis Bou - This is the book you want!!!! February 21, 2008

By Kathlene Kelly

Format:Hardcover

Street artist/fine artist Nicholas Ganz, author of Graffiti World, offers urban art enthusiasts a second round of exceptional research and art compilation, this time concentrating on the pioneering contributions of women to contemporary graffiti writing and artwork. Having always been a part of the street art front lines, female graffitisans are typically overshadowed by the men in the ranks due to sheer numbers rather than any lack of innovation or talent. Ganz, along with author Nancy Macdonald and co-conspirator Swoon have produced an exhaustive narrative that tells the intricate story of graffiti writing women. Included are the artist's personal stories and their insights into the male-dominated urban art world.

The Ganz collection, like his earlier work, promotes the efforts of praiseworthy, marginalized artists. In the case of Graffiti World that marginalization occurred as a result of the art form itself. In Graffiti Women, it's not the "second-best", urban artist that is lauded but the women who are graffiti writers that receive the exhaustive and well-deserved coverage. Although the author's intent is not to be divisive, it is unfortunate that our cultural approach to acknowledging one another centers around labeling people as either "blank" or "female blank". In Three Artists: (Three Women), Anne Middleton wrote:

To identify an artist this way, as a woman, has never been a merely parenthetical remark. The qualification has customarily been offered as a limit to, rather than a guarantee of, suitability for the artist's role - with mostly irritating results for the artists themselves. (2)

Nicholas Ganz does a unparalleled job of describing the contribution of almost two hundred women who work in the urban art genre. His book will continue as a permanent part of my small but well-loved collection and I will continue to wonder whether the world is best served by keeping the commendation of exemplary women separate from that of men.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good variety of talented women March 20, 2007

By Kane Lee Smith

Format:Hardcover

A really good selection of women involved in the graffiti scene, that documents a portion of each of their work well.

Altho their are a few obvious female writers that are missing from this book, like Misery, Diva or Barbara and Eva 62, the book generally covers a good selection of writers and has some awesome coverage of some of their work!

An awesome book highly recommended!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Graff at its Best July 16, 2007

By Winnie Wettern

Format:Hardcover

Graffiti Women is a great book for either the collector, or the first time buyer of street art, also this edition comes with a dust jacket that is also a fold-out poster of art within the book!
Never before has there been a better compiled book on Women artists from right around the world, also includes background and history of Artists.