Once outlaws, they now charge corporations for graffiti
By Stephanie Smith
smsmith@hunter.cuny.edu
Photo by Stephanie Smith
Tats Cru covers the globe on this mural on the roof of The Point.
Sprung from the streets as a gang of kids spray-painting and tagging around the South Bronx, the Tats Cru have become entrepreneurs of sorts, the first to transform graffiti into a business.
From the Bruckner Expressway you can see their work on murals and storefronts, colors that pop, lit up and bold, blues and yellows that transform the gray cityscape. A proud sign proclaiming “The Point”
seems to reach from the roof of the two-story community center toward the sky.
“They’re cool, awesome,” says Moises Marquez, sitting at The Point’s cafeteria. “Their work is known all over the world.”
Once they made it, they could have gone anywhere, but the Tats Cru chooses to remain in the South Bronx. “We’re comfortable in a community like this,”explained Bio, one of the founding members.
“We’re from around here–Longwood, Simpson. Some people ask us why we’re still here,” he continues, chuckling, “but I don’t think we would be comfortable in, like, Westchester.” So today the Tats Cru’s office is part of the Point’s complex on Garrison Avenue, across the driveway from the community center’s main building.Companies seek out the burgundy door with gold lettering that reads Top Artistic Talents, Inc. But in the 1980s things were different. The Tats Cru fought to display their work inside subway cars, where the best locations were as high up as possible.
The work had to be quick, efficient. “Like we’d do a throw-up, a name larger than a tag in big bubble letters,” Cru member Nicer recalled. “Then you could do an outline, usually in an opposite color. A drop shadow and quick, you’re on to the next train.”
The subway car was a place to show off, to get your name out. “It’s a very ego-driven industry,”Nicer said. Once the MTA began a campaign to eliminate graffiti, the cru was forced to head for the streets. They gained recognition from the relocation.
“At first we didn’t know how to handle it,” cru members admit. “People would come up to us and ask, ‘hey are you the guys did this?’ and we’d stand back and say ‘no, no.’” But despite their initial denials, the Tats Cru soon became used to the praise, and the neighborhood became aware of their work. They were hired by storeowners to paint murals that wouldn’t be vandalized, and were able to build up their reputation and work ethic.With pieces ranging from murals and banners to memorial walls and promotional work, the Tats Cru have taken what was once an act of rebellion and turned it into a business. They charge anywhere from $20,000 to $300,000 for a project.
“Depends what they consist of,” says Nicer, “five murals in five cities, twenty murals in eight cities, with or without licensing rights.”Clients include Coca Cola and Home Depot.
Outrage at seeing imitation graffiti used as a marketing gimmick, led the Tats Cru to take on the task of becoming the first to use authentic graffiti in the mainstream market.
“We were seeing things like this,” Nicer said, leaning over and grabbing a drink marketed as Graffi-T. Written in bubble letters, the label was a mere imitation. “These things weren’t legit, but we also realized there was no market for these companies to turn to.” The Tats Cru became this market.Everyone told them there was no future in graffiti art, said Bio. “But, its not like we were looking for success or money,” he says pausing, “just so happens it translated into a career.”
While their work is no longer rebellious, their impact on the community remains strong. “Some people don’t like it, but I think it’s good art,” said Dorian, a 17-year-old graffiti enthusiast. “The Tats Cru are cool, and that mural of Big Pun they did,” he continues, his eyes lighting up, “it’s like the most sacred mural in the Bronx.”
Each February 6, on the anniversary of the rapper’s death in 2000, the cru revamp their tribute, a portrait of Big Pun painted on a wall, with his trademark goatee, chains, and bandanna. The colors are always bright and fresh. Last year Yankee Stadium was in the background, and the “I” in Big Pun was a microphone.
Fish 1, another graffiti artist, part of the KOB (King of Buses), and president of the Bronx Family, also applauds the cru’s work. “They are getting young people involved,” he said. “Their projects are benefiting all.”And it’s not only other street artists who approve.
“People shouldn’t do regular graffiti,” Ivan Freire, who works at a local grocery store, said. “It makes the city look sloppy and creepy–alleys with broken bottles and writing everywhere. But murals make the community look better, and as long as they have authority, I think it’s good.”
“It’s a welcomed and productive use of graffiti art,” said Community District 2 Manager John Robert. “They’re commissioned and paid, and their work is wonderful. It really shows how graffiti has evolved from street stuff into something meaningful. What they do is enriching, beautiful.”
The Cru recognizes that their work has changed. “As we have gotten older, we’ve had our own kids, families,” Nicer said. “We realized that kids are going to see what we paint, and we are going to have to answer to it.”
Tats Cru sits at the top of the graffiti totem pole, but, they say, the community of Hunts Point keeps them grounded. It reminds them that street credit must be earned.
“Of course the community influences what we paint,” said Bio. “If we painted a lake with some birds and things they’d be like yeah, that’s good–but what is that corny shit. How does it relate to us and what is going on?”As for The Point itself, it is definitely their home. Its roof has become Tats Cru’s unofficial testing ground. “One day it was raining and we asked if we could use The Point to finish this sign we were painting,” Nicer remembers. “We just planted our feet here and never left.”