Graffiti artist to display work

Malcolm Mobutu Smith developed an interest in graffiti when he was 12 and began practicing in Flint, Mi., Philadelphia, Pa. and Kansas City, Mo. Although his days as an active graffiti artist are over, he came out of “retirement” to create a piece for the ArtsWeek signature event “Writing on the Wall.”\nSmith, now an associate professor of ceramic arts, is one of five graffiti artists who will display their work at the event, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the School of Fine Arts Gallery. \n“Writing on the Wall,” an exhibit that uses graffiti to explore the meaning of democracy, is the brainchild of local artist and project curator Joe LaMantia and Sherry Knighton-Schwandt, coordinator of ArtsWeek.\n“Writing on the Wall” will begin with a panel discussion led by LaMantia; Miah Michaelsen, Bloomington’s associate economic development director for the arts; Jon Simons, associate professor in the Department of Communication and Culture; and Michelle Facos, history of art professor. At 7 p.m., the exhibit will open to the public.\n“(Knighton-Schwandt) asked me to think about doing something with graffiti,” LaMantia said. “I felt I had no understanding of what democracy is as a citizen. The use of the word was so elusive, I wanted to address that as a question to students and the city proper by using graffiti.”\nThis event features artwork that has been composed by five professional artists as well as graffiti art that has been composed by the entire community during the course of several months.\nBack in October, LaMantia installed blank panels at several campus and city locations and invited passersby to use graffiti to express their thoughts on democracy. \nHe chose to investigate the meaning of democracy through graffiti because it is the medium that is most accessible to people.\n“Graffiti art in itself is the most basic art form going back a thousand years,” LaMantia said. “It’s a political way of expressing yourself. People wanted to say something, so they just wrote. It was a people’s art.”\nOne theme that appeared in this community graffiti experiment was the political uses of fear, LaMantia said.\n“We’re always told we have something to fear,” he said. “We had communism before, and now we have terrorism.”\nSmith, the graffiti-artist-turned-art-teacher, represents democracy in his piece as a giant Petri dish with test tubes pouring out the words “democracy” written in “old-school graffiti script.” \nHe explained the meaning of his work.\n“My criticism and understanding of democracy is that it’s a protracted experiment – humankind organizing itself,” he said. “Democracy is out of control. We enacted it, but it’s not something we have control of.”