Overground 3

Friday, October 31, 2008

We received this press release to post. Overground 3 is a book about 9 most famous European graffiti artists.

Press Release

Graffiti shapes the city. The city shapes graffiti. The physical environment sets its terms through obstacles and opportunities.

In Overground 3, using the city as a starting-point, we encounter nine of Europe’s most influential graffiti writers. Their means of expression stretches from pared-down tags, through colourful graffiti productions, to huge installations. Nine extreme artists, each a king of his city. Masters of style and endurance. Their personalities and artistic expression are the results of their environment, and the differences between their lifestyles and driving forces is great.

The hunt for the urban and artistic soul criss-crosses Europe. The distance between the CCTVs of London and the worn streets of Prague is not great, but the differences between the two cities are huge. For the first time, the artists are presented as a part of their environment. The city is their studio. They live and work in it, use it and safeguard it every day.

Overground 3 concerns the last free artistic expression of our time. Graffiti is the largest artistic movement in the world, inspiring fashion, music and design. Overground 3 is also the story of a Europe in which privatisation and surveillance are increasingly given space. These changes limit the opportunities for writers, but simultaneously increase the need to create and be visible.

Overground 3 asks questions about who owns the city and the importance of graffiti in Europe’s increasingly commercialised cities.

The result is a personal urban portrayal, focusing on art and lifestyle, from Berlin, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Liège, London, Milan, Paris, Prague and Stockholm.

“This is my personal struggle against the Joe Bloggs life. I need excitement and challenge in my daily life. When I paint a train with my friends, I feel free. And also, it’s my little contribution to the battle against zero-tolerance and the one-track mind of modern society.”
- Cave, Copenhagen

Graffiti writers:
Berlin           Clint 176 (124ers)
Copenhagen      Cave (FYS)
Hamburg         Rage (DSF)
Liège           Apollo (ERS)
London          Tox (DDS)
Milan           Chob (THE)
Paris           O’clock (YKS)
Prague          Cakes (DSK)
Stockholm       Aman (VIM)