Wuhan Graffiti
Some of Wuhan's Hubest Graffiti
Spent some time last weekend looking around Wuhan for some good graffiti and found it. It seems there is a group of artists, calling themselves Hubest, who spend their nights tagging various business garage doors and advertisements. The names on most of the graffiti here in Wuhan tell me the majority of the work comes from this group. And lucky for us… they are pretty talented. Better than most all of the street art I found around Dallas and up there with some of the best I saw in the movie Style Wars (if you are interested in street art this film is a good introduction). From the looks of the art locations (one is along a busy bus stop connecting the Hankou and Wuchang districts) they can easily get away with their work. I imagine, like most things in China, there are people around to see the pieces being created (riding buses or waiting at the stop) and those people don’t know what to think of what they are seeing. Is it wrong, art, or the audience is so far removed from the world they just don’t care. Which brings me to the question… can you vandalize in China? I mean is it possible? In a place that sees most (80% is my guess) of its finished hot dry noodle cups tossed over the consumers shoulder to decorate the ground, what harm is a little paint going to do on a wall. And in a place with a rich history of graffiti (I am talking about the governmental slogans painted on walls across the country, from farms to factories, most of which are still visible), there may be an unconscious desire to see painted messages on walls. In America we accept the unflattering fetus billboard posted 10 meters away from the XXX nudie magazine/video shop all across our scenic highways. But we often squeal at the site of some well made graffiti in the playground nobody in the neighborhood has visited in years. Who’s right and who is wrong is anybody’s guess. Maybe it just comes down to our American appetite to let anyone who has paid to do something can do it (I image most graffiti artists would call it sacrilege to pay for a wall or a billboard to showcase their work). Anyway, the argument has already played out in American and people have chosen their sides. But here in China the argument hasn’t even started. So until then, if it ever happens, the streets and walls of China are open for art.
In sum, basically what I am saying is I want to see some pro-life graffiti painted on Uncle Jimbo’s XXX shop the next time I drive from Alabama to Florida. Otherwise all you graffiti artist should stake some new ground in China.
In the meantime check out some of the graffiti Wuhan is producing. I’ll try to have more posted in the future.
More Wuhan graffiti at the bus stop.
He probably rides this way home everyday, has he ever seen the graffiti?
027Ray Wuhan Graffiti Artist
A graffiti wall along the base of Turtle Mountain in Wuhan.
