Color Your Day In The Bronx

Bronx, NY. Written by Bolivar T. Caceres.

Since hip-hop’s inception in the 1970s, graffiti has become a global phenomenon. Much like hip-hop music and break dancing, people observe and create graffiti worldwide. Graffiti artists paint pieces in Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and the United Kingdom, to mark a few countries. However, there is nothing like returning to where it all started to revel in graffiti’s beauty and uniqueness.

Street art salt-and-peppers the Bronx, New York; innumerable tags, stickers, bombs, murals, burners, and throw-ups covers every block. But at Hunts Point, graffiti artists dedicate block after block to massive — and not-so massive — kaleidoscopic graffito. Often a piece can cover an entire wall or city block. Works from All-City artists like Cope, Claw17, and more are alongside lesser-known artists and local artists.

With the sounds of hip-hop and Spanish music in the air, the multi-ethnic waft of food, and the rattle-rattle of the nearby train, walking through the free, alfresco art gallery is akin to stepping through a time machine and experiencing the beauty and struggle of the people who separated from standards to create the hip-hop movement.

If in New York City, take the 6 train to Hunts Point Avenue. Make sure to stare out the window!

Bolivar T. Caceres is a Bronx-based artist and writer. His poems appear on ShortEdition and Ariel Chart. He is also the author of the chapbook Outside My Garret Window, published in 2020. He currently writes for the quarterly film blog Film Studies 401 and the news blog New York Positivity. Connect with him on social media @BolivarTCaceres and at www.BtcArt.co.