United Graffiti Artists

United Graffiti Artists (aka UGA) was an early American graffiti artists collective, founded in 1972 by Hugo Martinez in New York City.[1][2][3] Martinez, then a student activist at City College of New York, organized a group of teenagers who had been tagging the subways [4] into a loose collective, formalizing their work and paving the way for commercialization. [5] In September 1973, UGA organized the first ever gallery show of graffiti at the Razor Gallery in SoHo.[6][7][8]

According to some sources, the artists of UGA elevated the profile of graffiti, bringing it from the subways and the streets to art galleries and studios.[9][10] A 1992 technical report by the United States Forest Service credits UGA for being one of the first attempts "to organize and legitimize [graffiti] writers as artists."[11] MIKE 171, an early UGA member, said in 2019: “We were the first ones to take it from the streets to the galleries and then from the galleries up to Broadway shows. We were the first ones to make it go commercialized in a sense, because we got paid to do shows, then we started selling our canvases." [5]

Early members of UGA included PHASE 2,[6] SJK 171,[12] TAKI 183,[13] HENRY 161 (Henry Medina),[12] and MIKE 171 (Mike Hughes).[4]

References
  1. Fred Ferretti (September 4, 1973). "GOING OUT Guide". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. Vivien Raynor (March 3, 1991). "ART; 'Hip Hop' Moves Closer to Respectability". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  3. Penelope Green (April 10, 2005). "Using Graffiti as a Decorating Tool". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  4. Jordan Riefe (June 21, 2018). ""Beyond The Streets" Harkens To Graffiti's Roots In Diversity". LA Weekly. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. Kristen Tauer (December 5, 2019). "Art Basel Miami Beach 2019: Museum of Graffiti Opens in Wynwood". WWD. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  6. Jon Caramonica (December 20, 2019). "Phase 2, an Aerosol Art Innovator, Is Dead at 64". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  7. Peter Schjeldahl (September 16, 1973). "Graffiti Goes Legit—But the 'Show‐Off Ebullience' Remains". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  8. Ula Ilnytzky (February 3, 2014). "Graffiti art highlighted in NYC exhibition". Associated Press. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  9. Kevin Jackson (May 20, 2001). "Reading graffiti". Prospect. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  10. Cori Anderson (February 13, 2017). "MCA-Denver Debuts Its Biggest Opening With Gritty And Uncensored Exhibit". 303 Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  11. Christensen, Harriet H.; Johnson, Darryll R.; Brookes, Martha H. (1992). Vandalism: research, prevention, and social policy (PDF) (Report). United States Forest Service.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  12. Liz Ohanesian (May 22, 2018). "Exploring The Evolution Of Street Art". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  13. Thomas, Sean P. "Celebrating Street Art in a Chinatown Warehouse". Los Angeles Downtown News - The Voice of Downtown Los Angeles. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
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