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Introduction

SKILL is one of most influential Graffiti Artists in the history of Los Angeles. He is a well-known style master in the art form of painting graffiti lettering, characatures, and large wall productions. He represents top LA crews, such as "UNITY THREATENS IGNORANCE", "WEST COAST ARTISTS", "IN IT TO WIN IT", "SETTING THE PACE", and "CONSIDER DAT PAINTED". His active graffiti career lasted about 16 years, from the early days of the Los Angeles graffiti scene, in 1985, until his retirement in 2001. Since then he continued in other forms of mural art. He is one of the founders of the U.T.I Crew, a 120 member group of local graffiti art celebrities, with factions in Reno, Nevada, Salt Lake City, Utah, Mexico City, and Paris, France. He is also responsible for staging many important Hip Hop/Graffiti art events in Los Angeles, biend one of the first to use abandoned warehouses and generator equipment. He participated in various lectures and speaking engagements at places such as Amherst University, UCLA, and was invited to speak at the inauguration of the Hip Hop Section of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.

Background

The 80's-, Skill began his career in 1985 in Burbank, California under the tag name "Jonski". He served as a lookout for then local Graffiti celebrity Eric "Jski" Reynoso. He later met Snap, who became his main writing partner as well as co-founder of the U.T.I. Crew in 1986. After moving to the Watts area of Los Angeles, Skill became prolific in the art of "tagging" busses. In the graffiti scene of the late 80's, street respect was gained by the 'quantity' of tags actively rolling on the city's public transportation system, RTD. The main core of the U.T.I. crew membership was formed during this time, consisting of 15 original members, all considered accomplished graffiti writers in their particular nieghborhoods throughout Southern California. During this time, Skill was developing styles, and painting in every major and minor Graffiti Yard throughout the city. He founded the "Santa Fe Yard", near santa Fe and Olympic, as well as the "Soto Yard". He was invited in 1989 to paint in the city's first public Graffiti art exhibit, "Burning Desire", at the Pico House Gallery, a historical landmark in the city, and former home of early L.A. politician Pio Pico. The show featured the work of 5 of the best Los Angeles graffiti artists at the time, "Hex", "Slick","Mandoe", "Duke", and "Skill". Skill was awarded an honorary certificate from the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles for his participation in the event. In 1987,Skill and The UTI crew gained popularity by producing graffiti murals, known as "masterpieces", or "pieces" for short, all around the greater Los Angeles area. In 1987, an intense rivalry started with the D.C.K/K.I.L crew, which was a major test for the crew at the time. The feud was settled in 1988.

The 90's- The early 1990's brought on the era of "Freeway Bombing", in which graffiti writers began to apply their trade to the public highway system. Tags and pieces were produced on high-visibility spots, such as factory rooftops, freeway walls, and underpasses, and soon became a local epidemic. Many large silver and black colored letters, bearing the names of "Skill" and "Snap" began to appear all along the interstate 5 fwy, which were later considered classic graffiti paintings. Apart from several run-ins with law enforcement, The second test of the U.T.I. crew occured in 1990, when a graffiti "Battle" was waged with the T.C.F. Crew at the legendary Belmont Tunnels graffiti yard. The yard was a "hall of fame" of sorts, located at the intersection of Lucas St. and Beverly Blvd., near Belmont high school. The battle was based on style and overall artistic creativity. The contest was judged by both crews and was unanimously voted in favor of U.T.I. During this time Skill and the U.T.I crew appeared on several news reports, as well as a spanish talk show, and the television show, "The Reporters", hosted by Ron Reagan jr. Shortly After, The now historically famous "Hip Hop Shop" was formed by Hex TGO crew. Skill worked at the shop and painted several important works around the Melrose Blvd. area, and took part in several key art shows. He also painted a huge mural on five walls of the Cine Video film studio on Cahuenga Blvd. in 1991. He soon became an integral part of the Earth Crew 2000, an all-city crew with members from all of the major crews in Los Angeles. They united together to paint major murals with environmental and "stop the violence"-type themes. In 1992, Skill and the Earth Crew took part in a cultural exchange with the government of Mexico City, in which 26 artists and musicians painted murals and played music in the Mexican capital. This visit was considered a major influence in the development of the Graffiti artform in that city. In 1997, Skill traveled to paint in his ancestral homeland of Budapest, Hungary. The late 90's brought on a new wave of recruitment for the U.T.I. crew, which expanded it's membership to boast over 90 members. During this era, Skill founded the TD12 and TUF crews, and the Jesse/Santa FE Yard in downtown Los angeles. He organized and painted many large scale productions, often incorporating the work of over 20 artists on a wall at a time. He became editor of Sp magazine's graffiti art section, writing various articles for that Hip Hop publication. He also helped organize huge murals that incorporated all of L.A's major crews, such as K2S, STN, CBS, AWR MSK, CDP,SH, COI, K4P, LTS, for "A Day In the West", an event that united the majority of all of Los Angeles' famous Rapartists. The purpose of the event was to support peace on the streets, in light of the deaths of Rap starsTupac shakur and Biggie Smalls, as well as to document the pioneers of the L.A Rap movement. The day ended with a historical photoshoot of the musicians with the murals serving as a background. In 1997, Skill painted the largest 'piece' ever painted in an L.A yard, covering the entire 700 ft. length of the Belmont Tunnel. The 2000's'-The early part of the 21st century saw the U.T.I crew expand to 120 members. Skill was presiding as leader, and the crew was traveling to paint at major Graffiti conventions and events in Tijuana, Mexico, St. Luis, Missouri, and Pheonix, Arizona. It was during this period that his long-time associate, D.J Rob One, was diagnosed with cancer. Skill was tremendously impacted by his passing, and began to pursue his spiritual beliefs. Shortly after, he announced his retirement in the last issue of SP Magazine, and on May 14th, 2001, he officially ended a 16 year graffiti career.

Present Career

Like King Arthur said, when speaking of Merlin the Wizard, on the classic 80's movie "Excalibur"..."He lives now only in our dreams."

References

• The history of Los angeles Graffiti, volumes 1 & 2, by Robert Alva and Relax Reiling [1]

• Photos from the Graffiti L.A. book by Steve Grody [2]

• A New York Times article from the 90's [3]

• An article about the Tijuana mexico event [4]

External links

A television interview in 2000 [5]

A Hip Hop Website featuring Skill's words [6]

Skill's work honored by Kofie [7]

A gallery of some his work [8]

The U.T.I. crew website [9]

A gallery of U.T.I. crew art [10]