The word graffiti comes from the Italian graffiato, meaning to write to scratch, and refers to writing or drawing in public places. Once denigrated as illegal vandalism, some forms of graffiti are now widely celebrated, with many artists having started their careers by creating graffiti or street art. The desire to leave one’s mark in a public area is an innate human impulse, and the earliest known examples of graffiti, in the form of drawings or inscriptions on ancient monuments, date back to the Roman Empire. Modern urban graffiti, often executed with cans of spray paint, exploded on the scene in the 1970s, as artists covered walls and subway cars with colorful imagery and messages. Artists developed tags, stylized signatures that signified the author’s identity to a knowing viewer. Acclaimed American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat began his career as part of a graffiti collective called SAMO in the late 1970s. Basquiat and his friend Al Diaz scrawled cryptic phrases, followed by their recognizable signature, on walls around Manhattan. After transitioning to a studio practice, Basquiat continued to incorporate text, as well as the system of visual symbols he had developed as a graffiti artist, into his paintings.

The anonymous artist Banksy is perhaps the most acclaimed graffiti artist working today. Known for his humorous and often politically pointed imagery and for his use of stencils, the British artist began working in Bristol, UK, in the 1990s. Banksy creates prints and paintings of his images for sale in galleries. American street artist Swoon creates large scale wheatpaste installations on abandoned architectural elements in cities around the world. Like many graffiti artists, Swoon began her career by illegally creating art in public places, but her work is now widely welcomed and admired. Other artists associated with graffiti, some of whom use pseudonyms, include Jose Parla, Shepard Fairey, Blu, Kenny Scharf, Neckface, and Saber.