Jesus Medina & Guadalupe Hernandez

A competitor works on his piece at the 2011 Graffiti Battle. Image credit Jesus Medina

The annual Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle, which took place on October 8 in West Oakland, is meant to bring graffiti artists together from all over the world to showcase their skills.

This year, there were approximately 25 participating artists. Each were equally provided with spray cans and 8’ x 10’ canvases. The competition began after competitors were assigned a 4-5 letter word to represent. This year’s word was “proud.” Artists were then expected to develop a piece about being proud or what the word proud means to them. They were given 5 hours to complete the task. Then, the graffiti pieces were judged by legendary graffiti writers. The judges awarded the winner at the end of the show.

“This year’s competitors were cool,” exclaimed Eric Montes, a student from Envision High School. “They all had their own style and flow to their art, each one was unique.”

One of the judges explained that youth today need to learn how to respect the art culture and not go up and down tagging wherever they desire. Destroying and vandalizing public property is what gives graffiti a bad reputation, he said.

A competitor who goes by the name Amend said, “Cats nowadays have no respect. All they do is tag everywhere regardless of what it is. Back in the day there were people like that, but they died out because all they did was simple tags on the walls. They never did any big pieces or murals. They need to show they have different styles and something to contribute to the world.”

Proponents say that graffiti is an art when done in the right place, however those who decide to tag on all public property and have “bomb wars” affect the reputation of graffiti artists who actually put a lot of work and dedication to their creations. Just like any other form of art, graffiti is a form of expression. When done right, it can be a beautiful thing. Although you most likely can find it anywhere it is a practice that takes a lot of effort, technique and skills to master.

“The battle this year is pretty cool,” said Oakland High Junior Omar Valdovinos. “There’s a lot of different styles.”

The atmosphere was really chill. While artists were creating their pieces, other attendees could participate in a t-shirt stencil workshop, enter another battle designed for teens to show off their skills in a book with pens, markers and pencils, or skate at the local skating park. A live music rap group Los Rakas, former Oakland High students were also performing at the event.

“It was a good turnout,” said Montes. “I saw a lot of different styles that show Oakland Pride. They did the word ‘proud’ good.”