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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 2017)
Street Roots • April 21-27, 2017 News Page 4 P H O T O B Y JOE G L O D E Gats, or G ra ffiti A g ain st the System, painted this m ural at fa n u s Youth Services in Northwest Portland. H is trademark m ask represents anonym ity, he says. BY STEPHEN QUIRKE After a recent mural painting at Janus Youth Services in Northwest Portland, I had the opportunity to sit down and interview t isn’t every day that a phantom comes the artist. Because of the controversy to Portland. around unpermitted art, I’ve been asked not to share certain details from my interview Gats, or Graffiti Against the System, with Gats. If only to fill the gap, I have is a mysterious street artist known for the re-imagined our meeting for my own ubiquitous mask he paints across the amusement, which I suspect is no less country - especially in the mossy underbelly believable than “broken windows theory.” of the West Coast. "We don't h a w to The interview, I assure you, is 100 percent Gats says the mask represents w ait around lo r fund real. anonymity - the only way to The whole adventure began with a ing, A rt w ill happen survive in a society bent on police mysterious package from a haunted post if we have to smash surveilleance. office, and concluded some time later, No one has ever seen the face the pavement up and around 3 a.m., when I encounter a man in a stack rocks. There are behind the mask, yet Gats’ public ski mask beneath an Interstate 5 overpass art may be among the best known no lim its to our cre screaming along to a tiny boombox playing on the West Coast - and has won a tiv ity and our hunger him international acclaim as an “We’re Not Gonna Take It” by Twisted Sister. Somehow I knew this had to be Gats. for genuine experi icon for graffiti. I approached cautiously with my hands in ence. What is revolu Gats values anonymity - and for the air, offering a level-5 secret handshake. tion if not the product good reason. In addition to his He accepted my handshake and signaled me of human creativity?" print-making, indoor murals and gallery exhibits, he’s also been tied to follow him. I did my best to keep up as he vaulted over walls with spray-paint cans up in the controversy surrounding blasting from both hands - instantly graffiti. plastering masks on either side. As I finally It’s only in the past few decades that caught up, I started to faintly hear words graffiti has fallen into disrepute as U.S. over the roar of paint and sick ’80s guitar police forces have stepped up their efforts riffs. Just then, he tossed me a tattered to control public space and clear it of all notepad and said, “Start writing.” public markings. This has been bolstered by S T A F F W R IT E R I the “broken windows theory” that facilitated the displacement and mass incarceration of poor communities - including their artists. in street art, do you have to enter a phone booth at high speed, or fly into a circular door? Gats: I used to jump into those blue post office boxes to change, but then the USPS’s budget got cut, so the boxes are less common now. You can still find my tags inside them though. I’m actually more like Godzilla, laying in wait to destroy the city. Or maybe later Godzilla where I’m trying to save the city but still damaging a lot of property. In all seriousness, though, we all play many roles. Graffiti is just a lot more literal when you’re trying to blend into your environment. S.Q.: D o you pa int m any free m urals, like the one at Ja n u s ? Gats: The majority of my work is done outside without permission or pay. I prioritize making the artwork accessible. I view it like donating a book to the library. When it’s in the streets, everyone owns it and no one owns it. Everyone can enjoy it. S.Q.: W to motivated you to do the Ja n u s Youth m ural? Gats: I paint for the houseless because they are my most true audience. Most of my work is on the streets, under bridges, in Stephen Quirke: Does Gats have an everyday life, like Clark K en t? Before engaging See GATS, page 5 Janus Youth Services provides more than 40 programs for adolescents experiencing homelessness and addiction across Oregon and Washington. It is among the largest such providers in the Northwest, launching in Multnomah County in 1972.
