A Detroit Graffiti Gallery

As I’ve written in the past, Detroit is jam-packed with all types of graffiti. There are pieces featuring free-flowing, highly stylized letters. Others consist of sinister and eerie looking caricatures with droopy eyes, contorted facial features and wild, eye-catching  bright colors. Graffiti artist names such as Yogert, Kosher, Dems and others, all painted in graceful flowing lettering, can be found on walls throughout the city.  Large multi-dimensional masterpieces, with intricate interlocking letters, winding arrows, and crisp curvy lines, have become a major part of the mix.

Many of the larger and more complex graffiti art can be seen along the Dequindre Cut near downtown or at major outdoor graffiti galleries, such as the one near the intersection of Grand River and East Warren Avenues.  Numerous buildings in the historic Eastern Market area have become a hot-spot for colorful wall art, as have many of the city’s abandoned factories and commercial buildings. Large masterpieces can be spotted on buildings lining railroad tracks that crisscross the city, under roadway over passes and on the walls of abandoned factories such as the massive Packard Plant.

There are plenty of major graffiti sites in Detroit, including a new outdoor gallery that showcases over fifty stunning compositions.  The gallery  is on a commercial building that spans a full city block along Beaufait Street, between Charlevoix Street and East Vernor Highway on Detroit’s eastside.  Painted on that expansive wall is an incredible variety of graffiti styles, created by some of the city’s best street artists. The wide-ranging wall art is anchored by a beautiful mural entitled “Detroit City of The Future”.  From what I understand, the bold and colorful  graffiti art was commissioned by the Ellis family, owners of the block long building.

Like many of the graffiti wall art I see on my bike rides, many of the fifty plus pieces of work at the Beaufait St. site are hard to read. Letters are buried within the hard-edged designs and some of the artist’s trademark images and patterns are hard to recognize in the colorful schemes.

The photos below are a sampling of what can be seen at the outdoor gallery (a site I highly recommend visiting). If anyone can name the artist or the artist’s work in photos, please post the information in the comments section. In the meantime, don’t overlook the remarkable detail and artistry of the graffiti art found within the pictures.