Scaling the Wall

The Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) is planning to showcase graffiti art during the Commonwealth Games,but Delhi’s underground tribe of graffiti artists thinks the move goes against the subversive,anti-establishment nature of the art form. Would DUAC feel as benevolent if they see the graffiti of these 20-somethings,most of them Delhiites? Like “Stop Corruption,Govt Sucks” accompanied by a Fido Dido cartoon near Savitri cinema? Or the unprintable one under the Nehru Place flyover? Or one of LET’s wicked masterpieces?

For most part,though,Delhi’s nascent graffiti art movement is sticking to non-controversial subjects like ecology and peace and simple styles,and is not always the shocker that graffiti art signifies.

“The only time I break the law is when I paint on a public wall,hence the secrecy. I need to express myself and walls call out to be written,” says .nox. “I’ve tried everything from scriptwriting to filmmaking,but graffiti cuts across everything and reaches everybody who drives by.” He is anti-automobile,and the Bhikaji Cama flyover screams out his message — ‘People’ written in bold blue letters on top of ‘Cars’. “People over cars,that’s what I believe in,” he says. On the South Extension underpass— the Capital’s hall of fame,along with the AIIMS flyover,for graffiti artists — .nox has written WALK. “The spot has great visibility,especially from the car windscreen. The message ‘Walk’ should hit home as drivers whiz by,” says the artist who is an architect in his day life.

He started graffiti writing a year ago,around the same time True came back home to Delhi after years spent abroad. “Some graffiti artists in Europe are more skilled than mainstream artists and have a cult following. Stuff by DIAM,a German graffiti artist,blows your brain away. And there is the Frenchman Dezer,” he says. He was in luck when Dezer visited Delhi last November and left his tags across the city. True does the same. “It’s a four-letter word,it’s got a great flow of letters and it does have a great meaning,” he says. So,next time you drive by the AIIMS flyover or the South Extension underpass,look out for the canary-yellow lettering that says TRUE. When he is not writing his own name to stamp his seal on the city,he needles Delhi’s civic sense by sketching images of a dog throwing garbage into a trash can,near INA Market. “In less than a minute,I can do a tag and vanish. For more elaborate work,I choose hidden areas,like the spot near Malviya Nagar where streetboys relieve themselves in the morning,” he says.

Flyovers are a favourite with the city’s crew. If True likes it “because they are high-risk places and nothing establishes the urban character of a city more than a concrete flyover”,another artists who does not wish to be named says “a colourful piece of art on a long grey stretch easily catches the eyes of travellers”. “It becomes a talking point. Sometimes,I have friends say,‘guess what was written on the Dhaula Kuan flyover?’ It’s a high,” he says.

The artists work with spray cans bought at hardware or stationery shops around Hauz Khas and Aurobindo Market for around Rs 200. “For everything else,there is the Chinese market,” laughs Zine. It is a dream of a Delhi artist to wield those high-end spray cans or even the variety of nozzles that foreign graffiti artists brandish. “You can control the paint pressure and use different nozzles for outlines and filling in,” he says. Unlike vandals who scribble love messages on the wall,serious graffiti artists take pains to perfect their style. Zine’s signature style is 3-D outlines and vivid colours that can be seen at Chanakyapuri,on Nelson Mandela Road and the Dhaula Kuan flyover,among others. “I want underground fame,” he says.

Sometimes,graffiti art points the wrong way. Like the bunch of beautiful stencils of the Bass Foundation on a dangerous height at the South Extension underpass or the flamboyant multi-coloured homage to MoCity,a city DJ. “People think we did it,but it’s a fan,” says Taru Dalmia of the Bass Foundation,while MoCity says he is “pleasantly surprised”.

MoCity is doing his bit to popularise graffiti in the city. On November 11,he is organising a party at the Love Hotel at Ai,Saket. “There would be professional graffiti artists working on a canvas,to give guests the feel of graffiti,” he says. Care for a scrawl?

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