Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art

"More street artists are turning to stencil art's speed, efficiency, and neatness as a means of expression. All it takes is a piece of cardboard, an X-Acto knife, and a can of spray paint to pose an idea or tell a story with the potential to change the gait of pedestrians and make them stop and think."-San Francisco Weekly

Without a doubt, stencils are the fastest, easiest, and cheapest method for painting an image on a wall, a sidewalk, or practically anywhere. Stencil Nation focuses on the unexpected mix of this lively, accessible medium — from famous artists including Banksy to international street stencils and gallery shows — to reveal engaging aspects of an intentionally secretive creative community.

With dynamically illustrated perspectives from the niches of the art form, female artists, documentarians, and the growing online community of the international scene are featured in this fresh collection of photographs and essays curated by StencilArchive.org's founder, Russell Howze. New artists, often utilizing stencil art in unconventional ways, are also featured.

Stencil Nation also represents the art of lesser-known urban scenes, including Poland, Romania, and Israel. Additionally, Stencil Nation builds upon previous published works to give the most extensive and up-to-date history of stencil art, as well as how-to tips from the artists themselves.

Russell Howzeis the curator of StencilArchive.org. He lives in San Francisco.

"In his introduction, Chris Carlsson praises grafitti's power to invoke 'millennia-old art forms..., pre-literate and pre-industrial signage... and the chasms of the digital divide'; stencil documentarian D.S Black describes it more simply as 'comments and critiques sketched into the margins of everyday life.' Those views neatly ground this vibrant exploration of a sub-sub-genre that is, arguably, art at its most inherently political. As a means of expression for the disenfranchised, a legitimate form deserving equal gallery space, or an illegal act of vandalism that encourages criminal behavior, stencil graffiti is considered thoughtfully in several essays. The text also includes testimony from some of the form's best artists, a compact but detailed chronology, discussion of commonly used materials and tips for the novice. Still, the images are the book's biggest appeal, reproduced in crisp color images. From London-based stencil-art icon Banksy's detailed image of a police officer frisking a little girl to Dwell's paper urinals in Montreal to gallery shows in Barcelona and San Francisco, this volume crosses the globe for a swift tour of the world's best artists, making it a handsome and insightful introduction to the form." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)