The Rise of the Seventh Letter

However you define it, or try to control it, graffiti has evolved. The aesthetic bar has been raised, the materials and paint are manufactured better, the Internet provides forums for it. The 20-year-old argument about whether it’s art or not is moot. It is a discipline representative of a unique urban American experience that’s gone global — an art form completely created and cultivated by youth. This city’s passion for graffiti is a story shared by many crews of artists and fans, one of overcoming fear, personal limitations and an obsessive-compulsive need to make marks. What makes The Seventh Letter unique is its members’ collective commitment to each other’s legitimate (read: legal) success, a consistent pride in their craft, and foresight for future generations of artists. The work that they generate is as individual as the writer who creates it and the public space it illuminates.

(Photo by Shelley Leopold)

A project near Golden Gate Elementary School

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More About

• Shelley Leopold
• The Bronx
• Belmont (New York)
• Visual Arts
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

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The following pages provide a look at some of The Seventh Letter stars and their art. Plus, a review of the definitive book on L.A. graffiti, and OG writer Craig Stecyk’s anatomy of an outlaw artist, who may or may not resemble him.