At a playground in the south of Amsterdam an old school graffitimeeting was organized. I expected a group of oldies sitting on a bench showing their tags but found a national gathering, initiated by Serge and Hertz. Graffiti writers retired, aspiring, and young came from everywhere. A substantial crowd had gathered, while a wall was redecorated with joined force. Meanwhile a film crew documented the whole session. A lot has changed in the graffiti scene since I left my Edding 3000 for more ‘indoor’ work.

While graffiti art is as old as cave paintings and was already adolescent in New York and London in the mid ’70. Elsewhere, graffiti art got a boost from the punk scene. Bands and individuals took pride in their names, styled with logos and letters placed on any dull blank wall. In the Netherlands, the spray can was still a bit luxurious, reserved only to those who understood their need to invest in such. Most graffiti in 1978 was with waterproof felt markers, or if political oriented sometimes with white paint.

In Amsterdam, two people can be regarded as the godfathers of the graffiti scene. Hugo Kaagman rediscovered paint templates at a trip to Africa in 1978, and took the knowledge back home to apply on t-shirts and posters in Gallery Anus, later known as Gallery Ozon (both initiated and ran by Diana Ozon). Soon he found his way to the art scene and made his way to the Dutch art top. The other driving force of the Dutch graffiti scene was Ivar, better known as Dr. Rat. He was since young writing on walls to provide his neighborhood and school a better cult status. He was one of the first in Amsterdam to take spray can graffiti a step further to king-sized tags were typography played an important role. Inspired by anything that was dangerous or illegal he also experimented with drugs and died of an o.d. in 1981.

In gallery Anus punk magazines, t-shirts and punk cultural goods (self made by various people) were sold. This made it the ideal meeting place also for creative punks and the embryonic graffiti scene. When media discovered through Anus, graffiti art, the cap was of the can, the Genie was out of the bottle and nation wide more and more people competed with bigger and better tags. People from outside the punk scene, skaters and hip hoppers came to limelight and made their fame. Saturday 24 of April was a good moment to see what this ‘vice’ has brought. Most off the old masters were recognizable by their designer accessories and turned into stylish family men. Others were still as pubic as before and broke a few rules here and there while getting more and more drunk. As to be expected those with alcohol had the last say; things got out of hand and police arrived.

External links:
Diana Ozon
Hugo Kaagman
Documentaire about graffiti artist from '70 till early '90.

Mathilde μP