GRAFFITI L.A.: STREET STYLES AND ART

Call it a bible for spray can art in Los Angeles...

It's safe to say that when Edward Seymore manufactured the first can of spray paint in 1949 he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Call it a bible for spray can art in Los Angeles, Steve Grody's Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art (Harry N. Abrams) visits every aspect of the movement—from techniques, social elements, ethics (yes, ethics), to interviews and dialogues between some of the city’s most prolific writers. The book also comes with the obligatory “hard cover graffiti book bonus DVD,” which features audio commentary and even more photos (in case the ones flooding the 300 plus pages aren't enough to satisfy you.) With books on urban art coming out faster than you can say "fat cap" it's refreshing to find a book so thorough, with meticulously researched text paired with rich photography of more bombings, murals, and top to bottoms than most people will see in a life time. While free-hand spray painting may not be the method of the moment in L.A. or elsewhere, this book does it's job in proving to the current scene that the old You don't know where you're going ’til you know where you came from adage rings true.

$35, hnabooks.com

MALLORY RICE

This story was published on May 29, 2007.