To read my new “Book Review: Spray for Peace” in the June 2023 issue of the Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, click here:

Book Review: Spray for Peace
By Stephen Wozniak, Whitehot Magazine, March 2023

Spray for Peace
By Raquel Natalicchio
132 Pages
Artvoices Books Publishing 2023
www.artvoicesartbooks.com

“When you put a message out there and someone learns or gets something, you’re a teacher. All graffiti artists are teachers.” – Teachr

“It’s all about educating this next wave of young artists to listen and speak for their community.” – Vyal

EXCERPT

It is clear that their dedication to the craft have led them to not only create the fast, furious and gorgeous law-breaking variety of graffiti throughout the city; but also, large scale commissions from clients who deeply appreciate their work and point of view. We see the community expand, we see the work mature; and as graffiti crews, such as the long-standing UTI, bring in new artists with unique specialties, a new face to graffiti has been emerging over time. While graffiti artists still get thrown in jail for painting where they should not, graffiti and street art is, “empowering for the neighborhoods. It’s communication through art, something we can understand and enjoy,” Raquel reminds me. “Of course, there’s a long history of painting on cave walls that dates back thousands of years. Graffiti is like scratching into a wall. It’s like a community posting board. For some of the artists who didn’t have money to go to school, it’s a way for them to communicate in their community, to scratch those images into the wall and paint beautifully and stay connected to their people – and even the people who aren’t their people.”

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