New York Graffiti Field Identification Guide

New York City's streets are home to a wide range of street artists, graff writers, or vandals, depending on what vernacular you prefer. For most New Yorkers it's easy to appreciate the more conventionally beautiful of the artists' work, while the murky and destructive world of the tagger is a seeming blight on the city. As they function in practice, the two schools feed off each other and depend on each other to breed competition and innovation. The story of New York Graffiti is the quintessential story of struggling young artists / criminals. Many come from humble backgrounds, some are spoiled rich kids, most have personal demons. A few go on to make serious money in the art world while most sputter out as they settle in to their thirties...or are maimed, go to prison, or die. Here are just a few of the this city's most recognizable artists.
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CLAW: These days CLAW is much more of a fashion designer than a graffiti artist. You can see her in action in the indie graffiti documentary "Infamy," where she breaks down her crew's tagging name PMS: Power Money and Sex. If you venture downtown in Manhattan or up into the Bronx you'll be able to find her colorful three-fingered cat paws, or you can venture to Powerhouse books to cop a t-shirt or two.
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EARSNOT: He's one of the founding members of the IRAK crew, an unrepentant kleptomaniac, and one of the few openly gay graffiti artists. Unfortunately for EARSNOT, he now has to take it easy on the graff after a brief stint in jail. His fat capped marker tags still linger around in the LES near the Alife shoe store. Most recently EARSNOT has been spotted holding court with Vincent Gallo, RZA and Terry Richardson in Grey Goose vodka television spots.
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FARO: If you see an Egyptian mummy character leering from a wheat-pasted poster or glancing from down from a quickly spray-painted doorway, odds are that you have run into the work of FARO. Though much of his work is featured around SoHo and Manhattan's Lower East Side, he has yet to make commercial inroads. That may not be his goal. A reliable place to catch his work is the colorfully painted truck near 6th St. and Bowery, which seems to be parked there every Sunday in the afternoons.

GOYA: Although the artist writing GOYA has gone by other names, his work in NYC is best known for simple, sharp-toothed stick figures. Even though he is widely dismissed by many of his contemporaries, his beasties seem to be creeping up onto ever more ledges and sides of trucks throughout the city.

LIONS: Or SNOIL, as the artist sometimes goes by. He can be seen primarily in downtown Brooklyn and Red Hook. While he will do a throw up on any surface, LIONS seems to have a weakness for tagging commercial trucks.

MAP: Before being clapped up, MAP was one of the grimiest, hardest-working and tragic graffiti artists in the city. He is best known for etching glass as well as terrifying rooftop overhang pieces. You can see a lot of his work on the roofs of Chinatown as you ride the train over the Manhattan bridge, but MAP is one of the few truly all-city writers out there.

MISS 17: The hardest working women in the business, MISS 17 can be seen in every borough of our fair city. Though often a second thought to her partner in crime CLAW, MISS 17 is arguably the more prolific and daring of the two.
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NECKFACE: Although NECKFACE hails from California and is now a globetrotting, money making commercial artist (check out his line of Vans), his violent and demonic imagery is still very much a part of the New York graff scene. He has a tireless work ethic and still goes out with local writers when he is in town. Word on the street is that he is one of the NYPD vandal squad's most wanted.

RATE: RATE's Rat character can be found foraging in alleys around the city, though most often in Williamsburg. RATE's rat was quite crudely depicted when it first came on the scene but in the last several years has gained a lot of personality. Perhaps more then any other, RATE effectively caricatures New York.

REVS: This is one of the most important and overlooked figures in the development of New York City graffiti. Throughout the early 90's COST and REVS ran the city, painting their names on every surface thinkable. From there REVS has evolved from literally writing his life's story in the subway tunnels of New York to welding Mad Max-style trash robots on the sides of buildings.

SACER: SACER is the drugged-out protege/partner in crime of EARSNOT and the IRAK crew and heir apparent to the Lower East Side graffiti scene. His style is sloppy with big throw up pieces and angry marker attacks. What SACER lacks in elegance he makes up for in quantity and energy.

Swoon: You can catch SWOON's work in many of the city's gallery's as well as the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Of all of New York's artists SWOON has been the most embraced by the mainstream art world. Her commercial work often fetches thousands of dollars at auctions. Swoon pastes thin etchings around the city reflecting the local community. Her work often flakes, fades, and rips giving it a ghostly quality.

UFO: His trademark character is an odd alien/squid hybrid reminiscent of the cackling Simpsons villains. He recently made blog-lines by flipping out at the release of a book, written about him, evidently without his permission. The photos of him showing up to confront the authors are astonishing. Can those dreads be real?

WK Interact: You have probably noticed the Jacob's Ladder, shuddering figures lurking in dark doorways around the city. That would by WK Interact. WK has also created giant kinetic black and white pieces, usually done with permission, in addition to his smaller posters that appear around the city. WK recently collaborated in a show with street artist Shepard Fairey.