The Best of Times Are Now

Graffiti Gallery is pleased to present The Best of Times Are Now, a selection of photographs from Winnipeg’s most formative years of modern graffiti (1998 and earlier), from a collection archived by an early Winnipeg graffiti pioneer, mentor, and advocate.

Step back in time to pre-1998, to obscure places such as back alleys and beneath bridges. In pre-internet and smartphone eras graffiti was documented only by those who knew where to find it, and the photographs themselves served as artifacts attesting to marks made by graffiti artists, which were often ephemeral in nature.

The Best of Times Are Now refers to one of Winnipeg’s first public aerosol murals, painted in 1994 in Osborne Village on Winnipeg’s first legal wall. This location and the participating artists were at the forefront of Winnipeg’s graffiti movement, a community built through the need to self-source reference materials and inspiration without resources such as the internet, and with limited access to self-published graffiti magazines. Instead, artists relied on their obsession as the driving force to practice their tag, or nom de plume, repeating it thousands of times in sketchbooks, on walls, bus benches, and foggy bathroom mirrors and windows, eventually practicing two-colour outlines and more complicated wild style works.

The Best of Times Are Now, is intended as a historical archive, featuring over 100 enlarged photographs documenting a glimpse of local graffiti history.  In addition, the original vintage photo album from Frenzee in 1994 will be on display.

Art Opening: February 2, 7-11pm

Music: DJ Steve St. Louis

109 Higgins Avenue

Exhibition on display until April 22, 2024

Graffiti Art Programming Inc. facilitates low barrier youth-led community programming in the North End and Downtown of Winnipeg that promotes social engagement through the arts. Our vision is that all youth have equitable opportunities to participate in determining their future and the future of their communities.