Writing on walls has existed in many forms since ancient times, with examples of graffiti dating back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Whether as vandalism or high art, a form of communication, devotion, or advertising, humans have always wanted to leave their mark on the infrastructure. Join two of Los Angeles’s most influential street artists, Defer and Prime, and Iraqi artist Osama Sadiq as they demonstrate their practice and talk with rare books curator David Brafman about the interplay of words and images, a tradition that began thousands of years ago. Complements the exhibition Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Subtitles/closed captions are available in Arabic, English, and Spanish.
PRIME
Prime is an American graffiti artist born and raised in the Pico-Union district of downtown Los Angeles. A prominent force behind the seminal graffiti crew K2S (Kill 2 Succeed), Prime is considered one of the most influential artists in the history of Los Angeles wall writing. He uses unorthodox methods for graffiti painting, incorporating rollers, brushes, and experimental materials while combining traditional graffiti and gang-styled writing with calligraphy. Prime's work was included in exhibitions at MOCA, the El Segundo Museum of Art (Scratch), and LA Louver, and he designed the cover of the Getty Research Institute's L.A. Liber Amicorum, a unique artists' book that binds together 143 works on paper from more than 150 of Los Angeles's leading graffiti and tattoo artists.
Subtitles/closed captions are available in Arabic, English, and Spanish.
DEFER
Defer was born and raised in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles. A seminal figure in the thriving Los Angeles street art scene since the early 1980s, he is known for expertly rendering beautifully complex typography. His works bridge street and fine art, melding underground graffiti style with Japanese and medieval forms to create a "spiritual language" that reconsiders and obliterates the structured letter form. Defer's works are sited around the world, have been displayed at various museums and galleries, and are featured in numerous publications including Art in America, the Los Angeles Times, and Forbes and compendiums like The History of Los Angeles Graffiti, Graffiti LA, and The History of American Graffiti. His artwork is included in L.A. Liber Amicorum, recently published as the L.A. Graffiti Black Book.
Subtitles/closed captions are available in Arabic, English, and Spanish.
OSAMA SADIQ
Osama Sadiq is an Iraqi artist, born and raised in Baghdad. Influenced by the graffiti and hip-hop scene of his youth, Sadiq honed his skills earning a degree in graphic art from the Institute of Fine Arts, Bagdad. Sadiq's unique style of calligraffiti merges cuneiform, the oldest known writing system, with Arabic calligraphy and modern graffiti conventions. His "Cuneiform Art" renders bold geometric interpretations of cuneiform upon colorful backgrounds that are minimalist or overlaid with Arabic graffiti. His work is designed to connect modern audiences to ancient traditions while helping to beautify Iraq after decades of warfare, often communicating messages of hope and using a powerful Mesopotamian vocabulary to do so. Osama's work can be found in Iraq as well as other parts of the world such as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Subtitles/closed captions are available in Arabic and English.
DAVID BRAFMAN, MODERATOR
David Brafman has been the rare books curator at the Getty Research Institute since 2002. His interest and admiration for graffiti, sparked during his Brooklyn-based childhood, is evidenced in his work with projects such as LA Liber Amicorum, recently published as the L.A. Graffiti Black Book, and exhibitions such as Scratch (2014) which he curated at the El Segundo Museum of Art. Prior to arriving on the West Coast, Brafman earned his PhD in classics and Arabic from Duke University, was an adjunct professor in the NYU Classics Department, and resident-expert at H.P. Kraus, Rare Books and Manuscripts, one of the world's leading dealers in rare books and manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.