Graffiti Verite' Website - SANO Artist's Statement

The Graffiti Verite' Documentary DVD Series can be found at the following PUBLIC & ACADEMIC SCHOOL LIBRARIES

SANO Artist Statement

“This video belongs in art schools and in collections that focus on popular culture.”

--Susan E. Annett,

LIBRARY JOURNAL

“GV2 captured the inner heart and soul of the underground aerosol art movement."

--TMRM ‘ZINE

“ A mind-expanding experience in people's- as opposed to commercial culture."

--MSRRT NEWSLETTER

“An unusual take on an often maligned Art- Form, this video will inspire Art Studets."

--Lauri Edwards,

SUSEQUEHANNA ART MUSEUM

“The video is a thorough composition. You almost forget the fact that it’s instructional."

--G Fresh

“Even if I set out to make a film about a fillet of sole, it would be about me.”

- Frederico Fellini

“Hearing all those great poems, listening to the poets riff on poetics, this would be a great tool in the High School classroom."

--Collin Kelley,

ATLANTA NEWS GROUP

“GV7 walks inside the universe of hip hop and Spoken Word and gets to the heart of it without pulling the soul out from underneath."

--Allen Taylor,

Poet

“Definitely Dope. Surprising!

A rare peek inside the world of Beat-Boxing and Beat-Boxers"

--Chesney Snow, Co-Founder of the World Beatbox Association

“This is the perfect documentary to watch if you truly want to understand the fundamentals of Hip-Hop Dance and the personalities involved."

--Curtis “Bboy Peter Pan

“GV11 takes an in-depth look at the growth and development of Hip-Hop culture from its conception to the present state."

--Shanelle Gabriel,

Singer / Lyricist /

HBO Def Poet

“Thank you for the incredible work you have done in educating the public about graf art and culture."

--Jen, Lincoln NE,

Art Teacher

“GV9 Soulful Ways - The Essential Outline of Modern DJ Culture."

--DJ Proper, Dj & Found of Worldwide Familia

Schools & Libraries Purchase Orders GV1- 7 Buy DVDs Now GV1-7 Previews GV1-7 Product Info pdf

GV1 - GV6 DVD Preview Screenings GV International Graffiti Art Tours GV Press Release GV2 Press Release

GV3 Press Release GV4 Press Release GV4 Movie Reviews GV5 Mail Order Purchase

GV6 Press Release GV6 Poets Bio GV6 Film Reviews GV7 Press Release

Wholesale Sell Sheet for GV Videos Archive of GV Documentary Media Interactions Wireless Flash Wire Service Article on Bob Bryan and GV5

Hip-Hop Curriculum - Teachers Guide and GV5 Documentary Press Release

Graffiti Art is Art first ! "Graffiti" in itself is a label applied to the Aerosol Art Culture and usually carries the negative connotation that Graffiti Art is not a viable art form. For sake of communication the label "graffiti" is widely used and accepted as the standard label by both practioners and the general community (so I will use it in this context). However, to define

graffiti or Aerosol Art as scribbling or scrawling on a wall, or for an artist to let his tool dictates his or her style of work is detrimental to the idea of being an artist in this art form.

I am an artist, that's all ! My medium of choice for the past thirteen years has been spray paint (Krylon brand), though I can rock with markers, watercolors, pen, pencil, acrylics, airbrush, or on a computer, whatever.

My first official crew was "Doin' Everything Funky." Now, I run with "Cleveland Skribe Tribe, Ruthless Thieveland Artists (CST/RTA)," and "We Hate All Toys (WHAT cru)." As the unofficial keeper of aerosol culture in Cleveland, I transcended from the end of the "Old-School Cleveland" era to now representing Thieveland always.

Graffiti was split into two major factions: Artists and Bombers. Bombers in general, commit quantity destruction (tags, throwys or one-liners). The idea is a little something everywhere. Artists create masterpieces (be it just letters or characters, sometimes abstract, or some type of worthwhile combination). The idea is to maintain the creative cutting edge (basically freak some ill new stuff). Currently I'm starting to notice a blurry division between Graffiti artists:

(1) As orthodox writers, who practice the art as it has been traditionally done (or they could be suckers with their heads up theirs as**s). Ex.: Some writers I've met from NYC say that you're not a "real" writer until you paint a (subway) train. VVhatever…

(2) Conceptual artists, who at every chance will try something different, then refine what they have done for the sake of pushing the cutting edge.

As for the future of this art form, I see more and more of it coming into legitimate arenas. Is this a good thing or bad thing? I am unsure!

Graffiti/Aerosol art/hip-hop culture in general isn't for everyone and it would be incredibly wack if it ever gets that diluted where everyone likes it. I appreciate the people who hate any and all forms of graffiti,

those people are usually the brainwashed commercial marketing targets that made Vanilla Ice and Puffy so popular, and for that reason they are easy to identify. If we, as practitioners of a cultural art form concentrate on educating our youth in their development of skills, then aerosol art should remain intact in its original intent and cultural purpose.

Sano

Cleveland Heights, OH U.S.A.

Los Angeles, CA U.S.A.