While graffiti is often the vehicle for political message or protest, its initial practice and adoption was simply driven by the need for expression - graffiti was popularized by individuals in urban areas with limited economic means but a desire to create artistic works: materials to make graffiti were much less expensive than art supplies, and canvasses in the form of subway train doors, walls, abandoned buildings, etc. were plentiful. As the creation of graffiti rose in popularity, the practice became illegal, and works began gaining a political and/or subversive edge (Chackal, 360).

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Due to the illegality, graffiti stands in stark contrast to most art forms as artists are unable to reveal their true identities. They can use this required anonymity, however, to perform a different identity, and to publicly speak-out against social norms via their art as the "authentic" version of themselves, which they may have felt uncomfortable or incapable of doing in their "social" persona (Handelman, 1984).

 

This level of forced anonymity can be particularly important for artists in oppressed social classes who fear persecution by the ruling classes that oppress them if caught speaking out. In this way graffiti can serve as a public forum by which artists can admonish their oppressors without fear of immediate retaliation or injury.

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