Lee Quinones: The Passion And Love Of Graffiti

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When it comes to art, many people pay attention to the greats such as Leonardo De Vinci, Monet, Raphael, Donatello, etc. Often those very people go to art schools to study the arts and advanced in their careers, building a style that is worth millions of money today. In art museums, galleries and all over the world, the art collections consist of various paintings, sculptures, photographs, and even live art or nonfunctional elements. However, frequently other art styles go unnoticed. That style being graffiti. Graffiti is underrated in the art world due to its history of vandal. The act of performing graffiti took place of gang bangers claiming their territory by writing their street names on someone else’s property. Nonetheless, the art …show more content…

Quinones was one of the lucky ones to gain fame and popularity for his work in the New York City graffiti movement. He is an American artist and actor whose style was inspired by popular culture, mostly with political messages, and with influences of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. He was one of the creators of the New York’s street-art movement and is recognized as the most substantial artist to surface from the graffiti era.
Lee Quinones was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico but was raised in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan during the 1960s. His family kept close connections to their cultural heritage although being enclosed by a predominantly Nuyorican community. It was by the of age 5, where Quinones first showed an interest in drawing. Naturally, he was drawn to the colorful attributes of his neighborhood and the more whimsical empire of Japanese post-war science fiction monster films, to be more precise, the Godzilla series and animation series such as Speed Racer and Kimba the White Lion caught his …show more content…

Two-times recognized at the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors awards show and he was a recipient of the late Jam Master Jay Award for the Arts back in 07. For the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he raised about $65,000 for the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of America by riding a bicycle from New York to Miami. For his humanitarian achievements, October 27th is officially marked as Lee Quinones Day in New York, an honor given by both Brooklyn and Manhattan borough presidents. Although Quinones’ work continues to mature, his art remains grounded in principle and adherence to highly detailed, the composition that defined his work on the subways. Lee Quinones work will forever influence the graffiti world and have an impact on the urban culture. His work definitely impacted me because my dad used to be a writer as well, and I too grew up on graffiti and the influence of the hip-hop culture. His work is truly amazing as he uses his environment as a canvas and he

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