‘Piecebook’ Reveals Graffiti’s Secret Drawings

Kaves VB, “Kaves (Heathcliff)” (1984)

Complex: How is the book structured?

SJ: Super Kool is probably the oldest, that dates back to ‘73 as we understand it. But it’s not exactly chronological, there’s no real rhyme or reason to it. When you get these blackbooks, it’s not like someone’s like, “Alright, on page 3, Lee’s gonna do a burner, then on page 18 I want Quik to do something.” You hand it off to your friend, he does what he does. Sometimes these books disappear for years; people get them back years later with all this amazing stuff that wasn’t really intended for the public to see. All this stuff that’s in this book, no one knew that 25 years later it’d wind up in a book.

DV: It really has an organic feel to it. It’s very authentic, just as far as the look goes. But again, you might catch your favorite artist at a restaurant; he’ll sit down and do something amazing while he’s finishing his toast. And the random nature of some of the material we acquired kind of reflects how a real blackbook might look.

SJ: Myth and mythology is a big part of the culture. I appreciate it; I love it, but that’s what’s great about “Piecebook”: it’s not stretching the truth, it’s just really honest. We’re not saying, “On page 25 this piece was done in 1973 and this person was the first person to do the arrow with ice cream on it.” We’re just saying, “Here’s a definitive look at something in the wild, do with it what you will.”

DV: And I’m certain that just about all of the books we scanned images out of were stolen. It’s era-appropriate, that was the right thing to do back then.

SJ: And even “Piecebook” itself, people might steal the book.

DV: And I’m not mad at that.

If you want to buy “Piecebook,” check out the Prestel website. And Jenkins and Villorente will be discussing the book at the Strand Bookstore in NYC, October 2nd.