Historical Item
Neanderthal Hand Stencils Dated in Spain
Neanderthals created hand stencil rock art over 66,000 years ago, U-series dating reveals
Dario Radley
(Link)
A discovery in Maltravieso Cave, located in Extremadura, Spain, has fundamentally challenged long-held beliefs about the origins of human artistic expression.
Neanderthals created hand stencil rock art over 66,000 years ago, U-series dating reveals
Researchers have determined that hand stencils in the cave date back over 66,000 years, suggesting that Neanderthals, rather than modern humans, were the world’s first artists. This revelation highlights the advanced cognitive and cultural capabilities of Neanderthals.
Classic Spolvero (stencil pouncing or dusting)
The technique of dusting: how the greats of the Renaissance executed paintings
by Redazione , published on 30/09/2020
From Finestre sull' Arte
One of these techniques was to cast with an awl: the tip of the tool was passed through the paper to leave a groove on the surface. For geometrically patterned decorations, the pierced mold technique could then be used: the design was traced on a sort of stencil through which the contours of the figures could be etched on the surface.
Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt’s Impact on 1960s New York’s Streets
Stencil Archive is always looking for stories and photographs to fill in the many gaps of lost/forgotten/unnoticed history relating to stencils in the streets. Brooklyn…
Read moreAmerican Civil War Soldier Graffiti
While a serious online archive is coming that "will provide scholars, students, and the public access to the graffiti and a reasonably large collection of ancillary archival material associated with the graffiti," Dr. Stephen Robertson has a basic website up that does a great job discussing types of Civil War-era graffiti, mapping the examples, giving interpretations, and even featuring some of the soldiers who marked up walls. Below is Dr. Robertson's text from his About page. Make sure to navigate the drop-down links under the "Types of Graffiti" to see photos. - Stencil Archive
Atlanta Embracing Graffiti Artists
Atlanta BeltLine Embraces Graffiti Artists Amid Changing Urban Landscape
As graffiti morphs from real estate blight to urban amenity, Atlanta’s style writers are driving forces in a conversation about public art.
By Brentin Mock
bloomberg.com (Link to original)
Jun 01, 2024 01:15
The graffiti-slathered Krog Street Tunnel exists at a collision between old and new Atlanta. On one end, its entrance sits blocks away from the Sweet Auburn district, birthplace of civil rights legend Martin Luther King, Jr. and the site of his tomb. On the other end are Cabbagetown, once home to mill workers, and Reynoldstown, founded by formerly enslaved African Americans, both of which have undergone dramatic neighborhood change.
Scott Williams, 'greatest of all stencil artists'...
Scott Williams, ‘greatest of all stencil artists,’ dies at 67 (…
Read moreAdam5100 Graffiti-Stencil Educator Guide PDF (2007)
In 2007, Adam Feibelman developed this educator guide pdf for SPARKed (SPARK in education) to use for K-12 visual arts discipline(s). This was early-enough in the street art wave, and the websites and book resources are telling with their lack of content on what was happening in the streets beyond graffiti. A quick search in the pdf…
Read moreConstruction Demo Reveals Two 1930s Tags
Nearly century-old mural uncovered in S.F.’s Mission District
By Megan Fan Munce
Dec 06, 2023
Nate Halverson was up on his building’s roof taking in the sunrise last Wednesday when some early morning construction caught his eye. At a parking lot near the intersection of Valencia and Cesar Chavez streets, a worker in an excavator was taking down a vacant building to make way for new construction. Halverson watched as the debris peeled away, revealing…
Read moreCapturing Ancient Graffiti with Photogrammetry, Laser Scanning, and 3D Imaging
History From Scratch
Cutting-edge tools are rescuing ancient graffiti from obscurity—and preserving them forever
by Amy Crawford for Smithsonian Magazine
BEGINNING WITH ITS construction in the fourth century B.C. and continuing for more than 800 years, the Temple of Isis on the small island of Philae, set where the Nile flowed out of Nubia, was visited by a stream of pilgrims. Coming from all parts of the Egyptian empire, and even as far away as Cyprus and Rome, they passed between 60-foot towers to attend elaborate seasonal ceremonies that celebrated Isis’ miraculous resurrection of her husband, the god Osiris, and the birth of their son, Horus. They beseeched Isis, the queen of the Egyptian pantheon, for aid and thanked her for interceding in their affairs.
Before heading home, many also etched their marks—a carving of their footprints on sacred ground, a picture of the deity, a name, a date or perhaps a short prayer—into the temple’s massive…
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