In 17th-century Europe, students passed around a type of elaborate autograph book, known as a liber amicorum (Latin for “book of friends”), to be inscribed and decorated with calligraphy, mottoes, and coats of arms.
These similar traditions intersected at the Getty Research Institute, where groups of graffiti artists met to look at rare books, such as a woodcut by Leonardo da Vinci, Wenzel Jamnitzer’s Perspective of Regular Bodies, examples of Arabic calligraphy, as well as a liber amicorum, and began to discuss the idea of a citywide Los Angeles black book. Angst, one of artists who participated in the original meeting, notes in the book, “I related to these rare books as one who recognizes a colleague in arms. Had I been born in an earlier age, I would have been a scribe.”
These artists became creators and curators, crafting artworks and inviting others to participate. Eventually, 151 artists contributed 143 original works on paper to a multivoice “master-piece” artists’ book, called LA Liber Amicorum, more popularly known as the Getty Black Book.
L.A. Graffiti Black Book (Getty Publications, $35) reproduces, for the first time, all of the artworks in LA Liber Amicorum, and commemorates a moment when leading local artists came together to create a L.A. book of friends.
“Hiding in plain sight, graffiti is art history in the making. Its ciphered self-portraits—biography expressed with personal devices and animated objects—compose a recognizable and stylish language to be interpreted among insiders, practitioners who cite one another. Often a moniker is hard to read and difficult to appreciate unless you’re one of the cognoscenti. But this is like all art. Aliens will not know how to interpret The Last Supper, ” writes Marcia Reed, associate director of the Getty Research Institute, in the preface.
Artists Featured
Acme, Adict One, AiseBorn, Angst, Arbe, Asylm, Augor, Axis, Bash, Betoe, Big Sleeps, Blosm and Petal, Bob Roberts (Bad Bob the Worst), Cab, Cache, Cale One, Care, Charlie Roberts, Chaz, Chris, Chubbs, Crae & K4P Crew, Craola, Craze, Cre8, Crime (Rick One), Cryptik, Czer One, Defer, Demer One, Design9, Dr. Eye, Duem and Crae, Dye5, Earn One, Eder, Elika, Else, Enk One, ESK31, Estevan Oriol, EyeOne, Fearo, Fishe , Gabe88, Gasoline, Gkae, Graff One, Green, Gorgs, Haste, Heaven, Hex (LOD), Hex (TGO), Hyde, Jack, Jack Rudy (Mr. Huero), Jake One, Jero and Each (front, back), Joker One, Junior ("Kost One"), K4P (Pranxs, Method, Biser, Crae, Dsrup), K4P (Chelo, Noek, Notik), Kaos, Kasl, Keo One and Wram One, Kofie, Kopyeson, Kozem, Krenz (Yem), Krush, Kwite One, Kyle Kyote, Ler Keen, Look, Mach Five, Mandoe, Man One, Mark7, Mike Miller, Miner, Mister Cartoon, NicNak, OG Abel, Owen, Panic One, Patrick Martinez, P.Chuck, The Phantom, Phever, P. Jay One, Playboy Eddie, Plek One, Pletk P17, Precise, Prime, Punk, Push, Pyre One, Pyro, Rayo, Relic, Relm, Retna, Rev, Rich One, Rick Ordoñez, Risk, Rival, Roder 169, Saber, Sacred 194, Sel, Ser, Shandu One, Sherm, Siner, Skan One, Skez, Skill, Slick, SomeOne, Soon One, Spade, Spurn, Swank, Syte One, Teler, Tempt, Test, Thanks One, Thel, Trigz, Tyke Witnes, Useck, Versus 269, Vox One, Vyal, Werc, Wise, Wisk, Woier, Zes