Urban
Graffiti
is a
constituting
aspect
of
sense
of
place
and
urban
identity
in
contemporary
cities.
The
Graffiti
places
of
occurrence,
that
is,
urban
walls,
function
as
medium
of
meaning
between
Graffiti
author-creator
and
the
urban
crowd.
As
medium
of
choice,
Graffiti
negotiates
established
structures
of
power
and
control
and
transforms
personal
manifestos
into
a
matter
of
public
interest
and
discourse.
While
wondering
in
the
city
the
most
mundane
of
all
Graffiti’
’the
heart’’
caught
my
attention
Without
any
recourse
to
high-culture,
“the
Heart”
is a
humble
manifestation
of a
basic
human
instinct
,The
sheer
volume
and
frequency
of
its
occurrence
in
urban
Graffiti
of a
given
city,
the
City
of
Toronto
persuaded
me
to
expand
my
investigation
of
its
life
to
other
cities
as
well.
As a
result,
I
have
made
it a
personal
project
to
document
as
many
hearts
as
possible
in
any
cities
I
could
visit.
All
heart
shapes
in
urban
Graffiti,
includes
variations
of
illustrated
hearts,
imply
a
connection
to
‘’Love’’,
as
the
liberating
force
that
allows
one
to
free
from
oneself,
only
to
re-find
oneself.
It
is
only
through
“Love,”
that
one
is
seen
and
acknowledged,
to
be,
to
thrive
to
be
and
to
have
a
more
pronounced
existence.
The
collection
of
365
found
hearts
in
this
exhibition,
is
the
result
of
over
four
years
of a
thorough
search
and
photographic
documentation
of
the
work
of
those
anonymous
artists
that
have
modified
the
visual
field
of
the
urban
crowd
using
Graffiti
as
their
medium
of
choice.
As
such,
in a
try
to
offer
a
visual
history
of
love
within
its
urban
context,
the
exhibition
aims
for
transformation
of
“the
ephemeral”
to
that,
which
survives
the
tyranny
of
time
and
even
space,
from
Toronto,
to
Los
Angles,
New
York,
Paris,
London,
Berlin,
Milan,
and
to
Tehran.
