Old Timer’s Day Held for Legends of Graffiti

Old Timer’s Day Held for Legends of Graffiti

by David Greene
Graffiti artists from several states gather for a reunion in the Bronx. Photo by David Greene

Graffiti artists from several states gather for a reunion in the Bronx. Photo by David Greene

More than 100 graffiti artists from several states converged on a street in the Allerton section to pay homage to the founders of modern day graffiti.
Billed as the graffiti reunion, held on Sunday, May 7, alongside a wall that housed a phantom business called Graffiti Universe, along Paulding Avenue between Adee Avenue and Boston Road.
Graffiti artists gather for a yearly reunion along Paulding Avenue in the Allerton section. Photo by David Greene

Graffiti artists gather for a yearly reunion along Paulding Avenue in the Allerton section. Photo by David Greene

A lot has changed since man first wrote, or carved information and drawings on the walls of caves more than 40,000 years ago. Graffiti was first introduced when allied troops began writing, “Killroy was here” during World War 2.
Darryl McCray AKA "Cornbread" sparked both the graffiti revolution and today's hip hop culture. Photo by David Greene

Darryl McCray AKA “Cornbread” sparked both the graffiti revolution and today’s hip hop culture. Photo by David Greene

In the graffiti world Darryl McCray, 65, is a living legend. McCray says he got his start at a juvenile detention center in Philadelphia when at age 15 he missed his grandmothers corn bread, when he began to “tag” his beloved nickname on the walls of the jail.

McCray explains, “The jail was full of gang members and I use to write my name next to theirs.” The gang members didn’t mind because McCray use to write poetic love letters for their girlfriends back home.
“I had the whole jail talking,” McCray continues, “So when I got home I took the same concept of giving a hall to the street and I started writing Cornbread all over the freakin’ city. I was the only person in the world who wrote his name for the sole purpose of establishing a reputation.”
That reputation was solidified when a man was shot and killed and was misidentified in the local media as the artist “Cornbread” and McCray recalls, “I knew I had to do something amazing and bizarre to let the public know I still exist.”
McCray’s stunt was to sneak into the Philadelphia Zoo and spray paint the words, “Cornbread Lives” on the back of an elephant. He later gained international attention when he spray painted an airplane carrying the musical group, The Jackson Five.”
Darryl McCray (white hat) joins his fellow graffiti artists from Philadelphia. Photo by David Greene

Darryl McCray (white hat) joins his fellow graffiti artists from Philadelphia. Photo by David Greene

McCray now says, “I am the first element of hip hop, the world’s first modern day graffiti artist and the youngest person to ever establish an international art movement. I changed the course of my generation and gave birth to a global phenomenon.”
Today McCray works closely with The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program as well as a public speaker and youth advocate. McCray was inducted into the Smithsonian Institution in 2016.
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