Don’t know whether the world is getting dirtier or whether advertisers are looking for a cheaper, more earth-friendly way to get their message across, but “reverse graffiti” is proliferating in all parts of the world. Instead of spray painting words and images on walls, buying billboards or doing wild postings, marketers are using stencils and water to power-wash selective areas of grimey walls and sidewalks to make words and images appear. The technique is being adopted to post silhouetted corporate logos, community service messages and public art murals in sooty places.
Reverse graffiti – also known as clean graffiti – has been perfected by a Brit from Leeds named Paul Curtis, better known as “Moose.” Years ago Moose discovered the amazing design possibilities of grime when he tried to remove spatter from a greasy restaurant kitchen wall, only to note the stark contrast between dirty and clean areas. Since then, Moose has found his calling and has accepted commissions to create art from grime in places as far from home as San Francisco and for institutions as diverse as GreenWorks and the Scottish and English governments.
But it is not just Moose who is practicing reverse graffiti. Now it is occasionally employed as sidewalk signage by small shopkeepers and as a kind of guerrilla advertising. Where there’s dirt, there’s art.
