Spray Paint Art - Background

Background

This is a unique form of art that is generally performed on the street in large metropolitan cities creating surreal landscapes of planets, comets, pyramids, cities, nature scenes as well as simple one-colored backgrounds or even multi-colored backgrounds where the paint swirls together or fades from one color to the other through a series of differing values (of each color).

One story behind the start of this art form (also known as Aerosolgrafia or Sadotgrafia by its founders)is that it originated in Mexico City in the early 1980s as described in the article "Spray-paint artists have exploded onto the scene - but is it art?" (Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service Article date: December 8, 2003 Author: Robinson, Gaile Copyright COPYRIGHT 1999 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service) Ruben “Sadot” Fernandez first painted (experimentally in public) in front of his studio but soon moved to the streets of La Zona Rosa (1982) and began attracting crowds. Sitting in a lotus position surrounded by aerosol cans he created human figures and faces, and natural landscapes on paper, cardboard, or canvas. He did not use a brush. Sadot wrote poetry, made mosaics, and did art in a number of traditional art media, but became most renowned for his work with aerosol spray paint. An important aspect of this art form is the music that often accompanies the performance. This inspires the artist and is an integral part of the experience for the spectator. Sadot listened to classical music, rock, and pre-Hispanic Aztec beats while painting. He often shocked those watching with his strong opinions on politics and government, and mystified the crowd with his metaphysical observations of culture and the human condition. Though Sadot was the first, many followed his lead venturing into the world of Aerosolgrafia. Due to the ready availability of the minimal tools necessary, how quick a work could be produced, and the possibility of making good money at it, others soon tried their hand at this art form.

Other artists have laid claim to Frank Frazetta in the 1960s.