--- title: Born in the Streets — Graffiti description: When it starts inspiring the motifs that adorn designer handbags, graffiti's entrée into the world of mainstream culture is no longer in doubt. It is... canonical: https://time.com/archive/6938073/born-in-the-streets-graffiti/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2009-08-12T04:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-22T07:27:56.923Z og:title: Born in the Streets — Graffiti og:description: When it starts inspiring the motifs that adorn designer handbags, graffiti's entrée into the world of mainstream culture is no longer in doubt. It is... og:url: https://time.com/archive/6938073/born-in-the-streets-graffiti/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60365979b69124a0/698a4f4fb3fce389dc0cc77d/360_graffiti_0824.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 360 og:image:height: 203 og:image:alt: 360_graffiti_0824.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Born in the Streets — Graffiti twitter:description: When it starts inspiring the motifs that adorn designer handbags, graffiti's entrée into the world of mainstream culture is no longer in doubt. It is... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60365979b69124a0/698a4f4fb3fce389dc0cc77d/360_graffiti_0824.jpg?branch=production&width=360&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Born in the Streets — Graffiti > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Its journalism is reported and edited by a professional newsroom led by Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs, with named correspondents on politics, climate, health, technology and culture. It reaches 1 million US print subscribers and 1.15 million globally, plus more than 1.1 million newsletter readers. #### How do I subscribe to TIME magazine? Subscriptions are at time.com/subscribe-agent. Choose digital only at $20 a year, or print and digital from $29 a year or $49 for two years. TIME also publishes seven free email newsletters at time.com/newsletters, which do not require a subscription. #### Can I cancel a TIME subscription? Yes. TIME states that subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. #### Does TIME have free newsletters? Yes. TIME publishes seven free email newsletters reaching more than 1.1 million readers, covering daily news, Washington politics, health, AI, climate and energy, culture, and the newsroom itself. They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=5876340c-60fb-4a06-a084-d68698845b84&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=5876340c-60fb-4a06-a084-d68698845b84&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) by [Jeffrey T. Iverson](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-t-iverson/) Aug 12, 2009 4:00 AM UTC  Street art Graffiti goes inside Street art Graffiti goes inside VITCHE by [Jeffrey T. Iverson](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-t-iverson/) Aug 12, 2009 4:00 AM UTC When it starts inspiring the motifs that adorn designer handbags, graffiti’s entrée into the world of mainstream culture is no longer in doubt. It is in this spirit that the expansive exhibition “Born in the Streets — Graffiti,” which runs until Nov. 29 at the Fondation Cartier in Paris, is being held. At the same time, curator Thomas Delamarre says that he isn’t about to “hang some canvases on the wall and say, ‘That’s graffiti.’ Graffiti exists because it was born in the street.” The show recounts the art form’s inexorable spread, from the New York City tenements of the 1970s to the streets of São Paolo in 2009\. Pioneers like PHASE 2 and Seen, who by the 1980s were transforming New York subway cars into traveling canvases, here reproduce their works in full scale. Pieces by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring from the same period reveal graffiti’s impact on fine art. Rare films and headlines describe the deaths (spray-painting on busy subway lines is hazardous) and municipal cleanup efforts that ended graffiti’s golden age, at least in New York, by 1989\. [(See TIME’s Global Adviser for exotic, beautiful and interesting getaways.)](https://www.time.com/time/travel/tipsadvice/globaladviser) Graffiti has since spread far beyond New York’s boroughs, and its cross-fertilization with other art forms and traditions around the world is highlighted through original works by seminal street artists like Dutchman Boris Tellegen, who draws on his design background to create three-dimensional, industrial landscapes, and Brazilian Vitché, whose elaborate mural paintings evoke Indian and Aztec culture. Hervé Chandès, the Fondation Cartier’s director, calls graffiti “a dance with the walls, with the night, with the police.” As this exhibition proves, the dance is still evolving. See [fondation.cartier.com](https://www.fondation.cartier.com) for details. [Read TIME’s stories about romance on the road.](https://www.time.com/time/travel/tipsadvice/loveonthefly) [See the best new travel products, gadgets and trends.](https://www.time.com/time/travel/tipsadvice/checkpoints) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938073/born-in-the-streets-graffiti/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6938073/born-in-the-streets-graffiti/"},"headline":"Born in the Streets — Graffiti","datePublished":"2009-08-12T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-22T07:27:56.923Z","description":"When it starts inspiring the motifs that adorn designer handbags, graffiti's entrée into the world of mainstream culture is no longer in doubt. 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