Graffiti artist shows work at Boxcar Books

It's a legal venue showing an illegal art.\nFrom 7 to 9 p.m. tonight, local bookstore Boxcar Books located at 310A S. Washington will showcase an opening of graffiti art by local artist Levi Jamison. \nFor Jamison, a senior at Bloomington's Harmony High School, shows featuring graffiti on "legal walls" are a good way for the public to experience the controversial medium of graffiti art.\n"Legal walls are cool," he said. "It's the way the general public can view everything."\nJamison said graffiti artists commonly refer to each other as "writers."\nTypically, artists choose a name to focus on and develop, Jamison said. Some artists keep their name forever, while others change often. These names are chosen based on how well the specific letters fit together and how they can be developed, Jamison said.\n"You take different letters and create different shapes with them, and eventually develop your own style," Jamison said. \nThese words are often hard to read and Jamison said he hopes this forces those viewing them to take a closer look. \n"I want people to stop and look at my work and get a headache first," Jamison said. Then they can try to figure it out for themselves."\nThe materials used in this art form are endless, but Jamison mainly uses basic spray paint and homemade markers for his pieces.\n "I have taken pretty much every art class I could take," he said.\nFor the past two years, Jamison said working exclusively on graffiti art. He did an art show with his school last year and a teacher helped him in get in touch with Boxcar books. \nAli Haimson, one of the managers of Boxcar books, said she is looking forward to this opening. \n"We mainly feature local artists," she said. "We don't require people to be well-known."\nJamison has been working on some of his featured art for a long time, while some of it is newly developed. \n"Most of the art is new, but it took quite a while to get where I'm at," he said.