Graffiti World - Street Art from Five Continents

I've always had a healthy interest in graffiti, other than the time i almost killed myself doing a canvas in my garage which let to my retirement from the artform, and find graffiti books a fairly good resource offering access to a wide variety of artists the majority of whom have their own unique style. Graffiti World is one of the books i have found to be the most useful out of the ones i have bought in the past.

Its an awsome book with profiles of over 180 international artists, discussing their origins current interests, illustrated with over 2000 high quality pictures. A great source of artistic inspiration as i have found in the past with both my own work and my friends, many of whom have borrowed this from me for their own purposes.

The book starts off with a Foreword from the author and compilor of the book, Nicholas Ganz (a street and fine artist from Essen) followed with a brief history of the increasingly recognised art form. He then talks about the current state of the graf scene and the paths it may take in the future as artists strive to make their work increasingly recognisable but at the same time at the forefront of the form.

The book is split into dedicate sections for each of the 5 continents of the globe. Each section has an introductory page or two outlining the scene on that continent and who the major players are.

The book features so many artists that there are many that i'd never heard of before, but you are comforted when you come across more widely known artists and crews such as the 123 KLAN (one of my favourite crews), Copenhagen's Great & Bates, Munich based Flying Fortress (another awsome artist) and the popular Banksy.

The book features and index at the back with lists of artists ordered by their country of origin, followed by all the names of crews featured in the book along with their abreviations and full names.

The book also includes a small glossary covering the terms used through the book; useful if you are new to the form.

Its a good book, and the one i purchased is extra special because it came in a limited edition painted box by artist Other. Box no. 82 out of 100 individual designs, i think.