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Downtown underpass on Osborne Street bridge, Winnipeg Mb
“if graffiti changed anything, it would be illegal” – banksy
I began to photograph graffiti in 1979. Many of the posts referred to the music of the time; The Clash, Jam, Gang of Four, Madness and locally, Popular Mechanix, Dub Rifles, The Nostrils. The other posts range through profane, revolutionary, political, poetic, romantic, prophetic to what the Jam described as “Jesus Christ written by some atheist nutter”. They are all here.
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An Army Without Culture
Anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy Doesnt Rule
Anarchy Now
Ben Johnson – Number 1
Bob Lives
Boot Boys
Break it and see
Celtic Rangers Didn’t
Chaos Lurks
Chelsea Jam
Clash
Dance to the Tension of a World on the Edge
Do Not Enter
D.O.A.
Dub Rifles
Dump the Tories
Elmhood
Fiasco
Fight War Not Wars
For G …
Free Trade Sucks
Fun To Be Dumb
Gang of Four
Genuine Auto Upholstery – Leave Message for George Royal Albert Desk
Give Me Head Til Im Dead
I won’t stay at any hotel that would have me as a guest. Hank Snow
Heart of the City – Lizards Rule
Hiding on God
Ice Box City Welcomes Nash the Slash
Ignorance is Not Bliss – Meat is Murder
II Corinthians
Jim Hodge
Kal I Love You
Kill the Hippies
Le Kille Sucks
Liquid Lunch
Lloyd Linda
Look At Them
Madness 1 Step Beyond
Make No Mystique
Meeting the Demands of Society is No Excuse
Moods for Moderns
Mods
Mon Coeur est Libre
Mother Mary Protect Us
My Girl Is Red Hot
No No I Dont Think So
Overpower the Devil
PC equals Nazi
Tag and Pictograffiti
Pictograffiti
Pictograffiti
Pictograffiti
Pictograffiti
Police Use Karen Valentine As Decoy
Pray Without Ceasing
Qui Veut
Razor Blade Alley
Reagans War
Resist the coming of the corporate state
Rita Is Dead
Save the Planet Kill Yourself
Set Me Free
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Shake Some Action
Sham 69
Skate Punks
Striped With Orange and Red
Suck Me Off
Tag
Tag
Tag
The Bristol Hoppers – Trendy
The Crowd is Mod
The Motorcycle Boy Reigns
The Nostrils
The Worst Lives
There Back – Hell Rats
This Could Be Heaven
This is Religion
Turn to the Power of Gods Word
UK Subs
USA is Babylon and Babylon must fall
Waste Not
Wpg Hel
You Cant Stop the Vacant Lot
Zorax
15 Responses
Great exhibit, Robert. The graffiti seemed more about the message and less about the art back then. Tags seem to be less prevalent as well.
Thank you Brian. Maybe Banksy elevated the art?
You are very talented rob. And a wonderful preservationist of time. I definitely appreciate all of your photos.
Thanks Stan, much appreciated. cheers
Great photos Rob! This show really reflects the politics and culture of that time. A big stroll down memory lane.
Thanks Carmen … Fun to be Dumb in Ice Box City …
Delightful great collection. I revisited a lot of spaces and appreciated how a wall can deliver a message.
Thank you Cathy … “Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they’re having a piss.”
― Banksy
Resist the coming of the corporate state. A classic. It was on a building at Higgins and Main.
Thanks Geoff, between Logan and Alexander…
A cracking and intriguing selection of images, Mr. Barrow 🙂
Thank you Jack
What a wonderful collection, Rob. Those were halcyon days, wondering around the downtown during my lunch hours, doing my walk commute to/from The Electric Railway Chambers with a couple of OM-1s on my shoulder. I have photos of “Hiding on God,” “Pray without Ceasing” and “Revelations 12:11” (plus others) as well. And it’s eery to recognize that “Meeting the Demands of Society is No Excuse” is on the back Ken Hong’s Restaurant.
Thank you Gord… Did you photograph Hiding On God in colour… It was red on red as I recall. I’ve always regretted not getting back to do a colour version.
It was indeed red on red, right off the street on the parking lot side of the St. Charles Hotel as you know. I know that I photographed Hiding on God a number of times in order to get lighting that would give me the greatest differentiation between the spray paint and the wall. I believe I shot it in colour at some point. My colour files (it would have been shot on Kodachrome) are not as well organized as my B&W, but after the mammoth cull of my colour files this winter perhaps I’ll be able to determine if I have a colour version without too much effort.