Graffiti in China on the rise with artists even profiting from commissions – but they have to play by the rules and avoid criticising the government
- Hit shows like Street Dance of China are helping drive interest in graffiti, but artists say more security cameras mean the underground element is disappearing
- One 67-old-year retiree whose hobby is photographing Beijing’s graffiti has had more than 300 of his pictures turned into a book
Clambering onto train tracks and sneaking into subways to find nooks and crannies for his graffiti, a Beijing street artist with the tag name Wreck says it takes guts and luck to pursue his hobby in a city bristling with surveillance cameras and police patrols.
“I like to paint in challenging places,” says the lanky bespectacled 30-year-old with ear studs and a ponytail.
That includes artistic sorties into Beijing landmarks like the trousers-shaped CCTV headquarters and the Nanluoguxiang shopping area, places with huge flows of people during the day but quiet at night.
“There are graffiti carnivals where artists paint in designated zones. But working in such a pressure-free way is quite meaningless,” says the Beijing native, a tattooist by trade, who wants to remain anonymous to avoid drawing attention to his lawbreaking pastime.
A member of the KTS (Kill the Streets) crew, Wreck has only been fined twice for defacing public property even though he has been a graffitist since high school.
“The fine was around 2,000 yuan [US$310],” he says. “You can negotiate with the police, saying you are only making doodles and doing nothing subversive. The police let me go without detention.”
