Book Review #17

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This Is Modern Art

By Kevin Coval and Idris Goodwin

    I will admit, I came at this play with a bit of bias. 

    My experience with graffiti comes from the experiences I had with my dad removing it from the sides of houses and businesses. My dad had instilled in my a sort of defiant perspective on graffiti as we worked with the city: that by removing this, we were removing the influence of gangs and gang activity from the city. He truly believed that by getting rid of as many tags and pieces as he could, the gangs would just stop. 

    As I have learned from time and reading this as a reminder, that never actually works. That just gives the canvas to a new artist to play with, and a new set of tags a chance to appear. 

    This play is a beautiful conversation that I got to observe from a distance. While I am not a visual artist like these individuals are, I can understand from a general artist perspective the thrill of finding a special spot or niche to work on a masterpiece. The additional rush of planning and doing the art without anyone seeing you right away is also something I can appreciate from a different perspective. 

    At the end of the day, all I will say is that this makes me want to commission some sort of graffiti-style artwork for any outdoor walls on future property. I really learned to see the graffiti through the eyes of the artists that could make it really shine and be what it was: a symbol of existence in a world that prefers other artwork like paintings or sculptures that seem more for an elite or semi-elite palate. I will gladly take my more local, common art for my home. And thank you, Mr. Coval and Mr. Goodwin, for bringing this interesting world of art to my attention again.

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