Iranian graffitists feel walled in
The life of a graffiti artist's work can be as short as an hour in Iran, where municipalities wage a determined war on underground street artworks, unless the cities commission the wall paintings.
“You are no artist if you are drawing on a wall with spray paint. You are either a vandal or a political activist scribbling a slogan,” Iranian graffiti artist "Mad" said of the longstanding public’s opinion on street art.
The first generation of Iranian underground graffiti artists started painting on Iran’s walls around the beginning of the 21st century, and the new generation of Iranian artists continue to transform the walls of Iran’s cities — from Tehran to Tabriz, from Mashhad to Shiraz.
