When is Street Art art, and when is it Vandalism?

The graffiti artist known as Tox has been convicted because a jury decided his art was vandalism. His street art consists of his name with the last two digits of the year.

We all love Banksy: his environmentally-themed graffiti art is followed by many and sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But this guy is going to get a few years in jail. What's the difference? When is graffiti vandalism and when is it art?

Tox has been at it for 10 years. He is considered to be "the number one most prolific" graffiti writer in London graffiti history. The subway system is covered with his tags and he has been charged and arrested before. He claimed that others were copying his tags and that he had retired. However he has been spotted many times since; he just can't stop.

At the trial there was a disagreement over whether his graffiti was art or not. Everyone is an authority. The prosecutor said "He is no Banksy. He doesn't have the artistic skills, so he has to get his tag up as much as possible."

Another graffiti artist, turned straight tried to help. Ben Flynn, known as Eine famously had one of his pictures given to President Obama by Prime Minister Cameron. He said that ""His statement is Tox, Tox, Tox, Tox, over and over again." According to the Guardian, in his opinion, the Tox "tags" or signatures, and "dubs" (the larger bubble lettering) were "incredibly basic" and lacking "skill, flair or unique style".

The anarchic and the rebellious spirit of graffiti are fun and exciting. Banksy spreads an environmental message in his art that makes it popular and eye catching. But it is not only a question of whether graffiti is art or not, there is also the matter of graffiti and the law.

Some would make a distinction between Tox's repetitive tagging and the more creative pieces by the likes of Eine and Banksy. But in the eyes of the law, if its private property and it is defaced then there is a penalty, regardless of the artistic merit. The police have spent years trying to catch him because he has caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. They believe that it isn't art, just "selfish vandalism that not only scars the railway environment but contributes to fear of crime."

From Painting, To Patrolling

 After over a decade on the streets of NYC, legendary all-city graffiti artist Neo squeezed out his last drop of spray-paint, and decided to  try something completely different: Being A Police Officer.

He joined the NYPD in 1995, and patrolled the streets until 2001, when he injured his leg during a homicide investigation and was forced to retire. Now, police say 43-year-old Steven Weinberg is back to his old tricks again, tagging up familiar haunts out of sheer boredom.

Neo’s true identity was exposed through a trail of personal info that included a photo of him wearing an NYPD raid jacket, and a MySpace page for his alter-ego that revealed his birth date.

An interview with SubwayOutlaws.com, in which he identified himself as police officer and “a cripple,” also did much to help those who were working on tracking him down.

Weinberg was arrested in his Flushing home on August 3, 2010, and is currently awaiting trial. Police allege that Weinberg confessed to tagging the Clearview Expressway, but his attorney, Patrick Broderick, says that claim is bogus.

“He hasn’t been Neo since 1988,” said Broderick. “It is ludicrous because he is physically incapable of doing that.” Broderick blames the fresh tags on a Neo copycat.

He and Weinberg have filed a lawsuit against the city for an arrest they say was made using “defective information.”  

To me, this guy is still fully capable of tagging.  Unless he used his legs to paint, he's good.  So yes, I do believe that he is still tagging, but that doesn't mean I think he should be prosecuted.  Going from illegal Street Artist, to police officer, is a huge change, but I don't think it changed his heart in the slightest.