​An oral history of the Toronto graffiti movement told through the voices of the writers themselves.
​

THE BOOK

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​Toronto Graffiti: The Human Behind the Wall
An oral history of the Toronto graffiti movement told through the voices of the writers themselves.

Toronto Graffiti: The Human Behind the Wall is a documentary project more than a decade in the making. Built from extensive interviews with graffiti writers and years of photographic documentation, it captures firsthand accounts from inside a culture that is rarely understood from the outside — and almost never heard in its own words.

The book focuses not on the visual art alone, but on the human beings behind it: their motivations, their stories, their identities, and the world they built together on the walls of Toronto.​

Many of the writers featured here are among the first graffiti artists in Canadian history — the pioneers who brought graffiti to Canada, developed it, and shaped it into the art form it became. For most of them, these are the first in-depth interviews they have ever given. Their stories have not been told before. This is the first time they are heard.

What the Book Contains
  • 500 pages of interviews and documentation
  • 20 graffiti writer interviews, many speaking in depth for the first time
  • More than 1,000 photographs documenting three decades of Toronto graffiti
  • Timelines and historical context tracing the evolution of the scene
  • Opinion pieces exploring the cultural, social, and political dimensions of graffiti
  • Legal, health, and safety sections
  • An In Memoriam tribute to writers who have passed​
ARTISTS

​Ren
Bomba
Hope
Daser
Sec
Graffiti Knights
Kid-C
Kane
Skam 
Case

​​Teck
Duro3
Insight
Soy
Sader
Wysper
Junction Joe
Mediah
Elicser
Cola
About This Project
This project took more than a decade to complete.
Book Details
  • Title: Toronto Graffiti: The Human Behind the Wall
  • Author: Yvette Farkas
  • ​Page count: 512 pages
  • Format: Perfect-bound softcover, hardcover, and e-book
  • Dimensions: 8.5 x 11
  • ISBN: 0986655120 / 978-0986655128

The original edition is held in the Toronto Public Library Urban Affairs Collection. https://tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S234C2794193

Where to Buy
Print copies
​Ebook