Kaitlyn Scrivner - Childlike Joys

Childlike Joys

This bright and punchy piece of art sits on the corner of East 179th and Third Avenue. Walking down the road on my way to Walter Gladwin Park, I turned the corner to find this massive piece of art. Upon what was once a blank brick wall now sits a mural dedicated to the favorite characters of many children’s favorite video games. The characters range from Luigi and Donkey Kong to Koopa Troopa and Toad. These beloved icons interlace with artists’ graffiti tags to create a truly eye-catching piece. Luigi, on the far right, appears to be running across the building, as if the artwork was a level of the video game he came from, while Toad, the little yellow one, jumps through the air to avoid the swooping ghouls and piranha plant. Donkey Kong stands powerfully at guard in the center of this piece, ready to defend his ground against anyone who comes along, and Koopa Troopa poses casually on the left hand side. The graffiti tags, while difficult to read, were painted with just as much care as the rest of the piece. All three tags are in a “wildstyle” font, where the letters are nearly indecipherable because of added flourishes and stylizations, yet they still manage to be distinct and unique from one another (Guilbaud). On the far left, the letters bend and twist together like branches of a tree in dark greens and purples, surrounded by a bright orange border. In the middle, deep purple and orange ombres make up the letters with bubbly black and blue outlines, this one taking a bolder and more traditional graffiti feel. At the right, the letters are made up of a galaxy like pattern, with the style being more fluid and flourished. Despite all three pieces being different, the letters all seem to be formed using arrows drawn intertwined. It doesn’t seem to be a matter of fame for the artist, due to the illegibility of the artist tags, so the intention of this piece seems to simply be adding a pleasant interruption to the rows of brick buildings lining the street. 

The artwork itself was painted on the walls of a plumbing company (sign around the corner), and across the street from the artwork was this construction site. The streets surrounding the graffiti were covered with barbed wire fences and orange striped cones. Residential buildings were mixed in with local businesses along the street, and scaffolding covered the sidewalks every other block. The roads were relatively empty, with few cars driving, and fewer people walking the streets; only construction workers and the occasional family passing by. The only sounds were ones of concrete being broken, and workers in hard hats shouting to each other over heavy machinery. Compared to its dull and bleak surroundings, the graffiti was bright and bold. The neon oranges and greens contrasted starkly with the overall grays and browns of the surrounding streets. This contrast is part of what makes this artwork particularly beautiful to me. The piece does in fact seem to reference its broader surroundings more than its immediate ones; the vibrance calls to the nearby park, and according to Lady K-Fever, a seasoned graffiti artist in the city, the “wildstyle” font is indicative to its home in the heart of the Bronx (Lady K-Fever). Even with the bubble of concrete it sits in, the mural ultimately makes perfect sense in its environment. Taking this walk, the overwhelming majority of the area felt industrial and mechanical, so the playful colors were a refreshing break from the rest of the bland walk. 

I find the use of childhood characters in graffiti to be complicated. Typically, graffiti is associated with gangs and crime, so this piece using icons mainly targeted at children and fun and games strikes me as a little odd, but also beautiful. This contradiction reinforces the idea that graffiti is art, rather than just vandalism. In this instance, the graffiti even seemed to be celebrated, because around the corner, the name of the business was written in a similar style to the mural, implying that the artist was given permission, and perhaps commissioned to add this fun artwork to the building. Combine that with the sheer size of the artwork, and it would be essentially impossible for this artist to complete this piece illegally without interruption. This building was only about two blocks away from a large park, so the giant icons being here might make the area more inviting and safe for families with young kids to make the walk to, and enjoy the park. I feel as though I was the target demographic for this art. Not only that, but a majority of graffiti artists are teenage boys, so it’s likely that they are brought the same glee from these characters as I am (Statistics). I grew up with these characters, and so did millions of other kids of my generation. It’s almost ironic how graffiti is so heavily associated with gang violence and crime when so much of it is essentially kids drawing on the walls and searching for their ten minutes of fame. It even calls back to early developments in graffiti in the 1970s. Many cartoon characters were used to “provide a way for writers to stand out from others,” so the life-sized Donkey Kong was likely a nice way to grab a passerby’s attention and get them to look up and around (History of Graffiti). Seeing this while walking down the street actually made me feel safer. The art’s presence fundamentally changed my understanding of the area to a place that is home to more families, and would be welcoming to youth. To me, this art is an ode to the simple, childlike joys that come from competitive nights of Mario with siblings and family friends, and the reclamation of graffiti as a form of art and expression. 

Works Cited

“Graffiti Statistics United States.” Statistics, 15 Jan. 2019, www.statisticsdatabase.com/facts/graffiti-statistics-united-states/.

Guilbaud, Sarah. “The Different Techniques and Styles of Graffiti Art.” The Different Techniques and Styles of Graffiti Art, Urbaneez, 15 May 2024, urbaneez.art/magazine/urban-art-the-different-techniques-and-styles-of-graffiti?srsltid=AfmBOorp-Ey1mUKR4ZqqP5eTve5XphFWZmyNJpm2bn8IAHg1sDvvJJDG.

Lady K-Fever, Class interview, 15 October 2024.

“The History of Graffiti.” The History Of Graffiti | 90 Degrees Art, 90degrees.graffitiartistsforhire.com.au/news/the-history-of-graffiti/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.