When Steve Grody first noticed spray-painted murals popping up around Los Angeles in the ’80s, he swooned over their daring colors and stylized calligraphy. Since then, he’s dedicated himself to understanding and cataloging the evolving graffiti scene in LA. His book, Graffiti L.A.: Steet Styles and Art (2007), is a comprehensive visual history of LA street art and an in-depth exploration of artists' styles and techniques. In today’s podcast episode, host and NOT REAL ART founder Scott “Sourdough” Power sits down with Steve Grody to discuss the author’s role as a documentarian and cultural storyteller.
In our conversation, Steve shares his current projects and reflects on his overlapping love for different artistic disciplines, particularly photography and martial arts. He debunks common misconceptions about graffiti, explores its significance in gallery settings, and shares insights into its enduring, universal appeal. Steve also shares his secret for building rapport with graffiti artists who are initially suspicious of him.
Tune into our conversation with author, photographer, and cultural storyteller Steve Grody on the player below to better understand graffiti's cultural significance and evolution.
Key Points From This Episode:
- What led Steve to practice martial arts and become an instructor
- Using creativity as a core principle in his career as a documentarian
- Steve’s overlapping love for different artistic disciplines, particularly photography
- The surprisingly early history of graffiti and why it will probably never die
- How Steve navigates the space between tradition, innovation, and authenticity
- The secret to building rapport with the anonymous artists he documents
- The significance of graffiti in a gallery or museum setting
- Common misconceptions about graffiti
- Graffiti’s particular appeal to Western audiences
- Whether or not we’ve reached the peak of graffiti’s evolution
- Steve’s thoughts on the notorious Graffiti Tower in downtown LA
Quotes:
“Creativity is a core principle in all the things that I do. While I lead a life that I feel is creative, I don't call myself an artist. I sometimes call myself an ‘artish’ because everything I do bumps up against creativity, but I'm not making [an art product].” — Steve Grody [0:10:33]
“In four words, my main advice about entering a culture that's not natively your own is: Be respectful. Don't front.” — Steve Grody [0:18:35]
“In the West, we prize the anti-hero and the rascal more than anything else. The person that gets away with stuff. Graffiti is half art, half crime, half a ‘fuck you’ to the world. Of course, it's going to be attractive, especially in Western society.” — Steve Grody [0:36:52]
“A lot of people are intrinsically suspicious about anything that's abstract because they feel like they're being fooled. They're being suckered. So, there are people that don't take the time to have an educated eye about modern graffiti.” — Steve Grody [0:42:43]
“There's always been graffiti. There will always be graffiti because people want to, as part of human nature, expand themselves out into the world and feel a presence.” — Steve Grody [0:48:44]
Longer Quotes:
“I happened to take a shortcut—past the Belmont Tunnel—just after the [TCF versus UTI] battle. I thought, ‘There needs to be a record of this.’ I wasn't thinking about it being anything I would publish. I wasn't thinking about it in any terms other than, ‘This is interesting, and there should be a record of this. This shouldn't just disappear. This is a really interesting, expressive human activity. This should be preserved somehow.’ That's all I was thinking. And then it very quickly became an obsessive thing.” — Steve Grody [0:16:08]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Steve Grody on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-grody-a681828/
Steve Grody on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steve_grody/
Steve Grody on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/stevegrodygraffitila
Graffiti LA: Street Styles and Art — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0810992981
Graffiti LA — https://graffitila.com/
NOT REAL ART — https://www.notrealart.com/
First Friday Exhibitions — https://notrealart.com/exhibitions/
Remote Video Series – https://notrealart.com/remote-exploring-public-art/
NOT REAL ART Hotline — 833-668-7325
Scott “Sourdough” Power — https://www.notarealartist.com