It has been my honor and my duty to moderate the Chicago Graffitti forums. And with that many artist have come and joined me into showing what Chicago graffiti is. They have posted storys and open there world to show the history of Chicago both good and bad,And everyone knows being the moderator we get allot of spam and writers playing games such as getting a request for  
flash has an  ego@yahoo.com. , if not someone always will try  to sign on as an oldskooler or as another writer . We do things that others don’t like such as a word filter and remove unnecessary comments about writers. But the idea has always been to teach on the forums and for those who participate and those who just want to read about Chicago writers.  Our goal has always been for to have a place for Chicago writers to find finds from the past,And last to bring any artist who from the past that wants to show their history and open their memories and hearts to us.

And every year I do find SOME 1 who wants to be remembered for the golden era of graffiti, an era inwhich we had only one rule. The rule was to get up in the morning and think about what am to do to “GET UP” today. In October of this year I received that email that SOME1 and he was trying to sign on as KLTA. Of course I didn’t and after a few emails we met on a sunny Saturday on a rooftop. I wanted to meet the way it was suppose to be back in the day. We all met up on the rooftop and had a chat about old times.



“I just wanted to see if anyone remember” said KLTA as he views the piece done by Boyband Risk.  But never in his mind did hethink that people were looking for data on him or would not allow his name tobe used.  It is why we all still do it.Because in the end we all just want to be remember.

Between 1982-1987 anyone who would ride the trains would see swirls and dashes with 3 to four lines evenly spaced that looked like ” aliens were talking to each other. Allot ofpeople thought it was a group of people. 

           

Some even said he rode a tricyle toget the proper spacing Everyone has their own meaning to what they were and what how it was done. As one who has documented other artist I am still kicking myself in the butt for not even taking a picture.  If some people do have pictures no one would post them knowing that they would be posting the artwork that no one had seenin over 20 years.  So here are the questions asked to KLTA by his own community.

Please state your name:

Keith Lawrence Turner Alexander

When and where and how did you start writing?

My memory is tricky, but I think it was around 1983. I got a donation of paint from Gillman’s Hardware on Milwaukee Avenue, and Art, the owner of Julies 5 & 10, also on Milwaukee Avenue, gave me permission to paint a mural on hisbuilding.  That was the first.

What lines did you rock?   

All of them.The city is my canvas. I actually thought a lot about how to connect all 65murals across the city into one city-sized mural, visible only to people whoride the trains.

 Can you remember the first tag or piece you saw in the chi?

The first tag I remember that made an impression was by TK SEEN.



 

Who were your partners in crime thru the years?

Cops who ignored me, cops who complimented me, motormen who stopped their trains to watch me paint, and who tooted their horns at me, people on the street who saw me wearing my lines who complemented me, other taggers who respected the work and tagged around my stuff, and my family.

How did you get the paint on the roof?

I tied one end of the rope to my belt loop,and tied the other end to the can of house paint then pulled it up after me.

What was your favorite bombing spot?    

All the roofs I did, and those yet to come.

What’s your favoritepiece, production or master blaster of the early 80's? 

 What I love is that we are our own artistic authorities.  We are passionate, driven,talented, smart and tough.

What part of the city did you grow up in and describe a little what it was like?

I lived on Point street,close to A/C, where gangs shot at each other, and couldn’t hit shit; junkies,scammers, dirty cops, asshole cops and skanks.

 Did you have any mentors or influences artistically?

 Other writer sand Van Gogh.

When and why did you stop doing art on roof tops?

 Summer of’89, when I moved to Northern California.

Did you remember anybody putting up graff when you were painting?

 Like four shorties on the North/South line at Argyle saw me painting and came across the tracks, and we painted together.  It was great.

Any good chase stories while painting roof tops?

 Ask me in person.

Did you always paint alone?
Mostly. I did one by TrumanCollege at Wilson with a girlfriend who was an artist that one was in color, but after that I stuck to white on black.  I move faster working alone, and there are few witnesses.

How did the rumor start that you used to do the rollers on the roof tops with a little unicycle start?

 Someone must have seen me pulling the thing onto a roof.

 Were you inspired by the desert drawings in peru?

 No, but we had photos of them when I had to go to court.  I got busted painting a mural on Halsted street,near Oakdale (Belmont), but the cop dropped the charges before we could show the photos. Both have similarities in common; especially bypassing the gatekeepers of ‘art’museums, galleries, critics, etc.

Why did you use tribal looking art?

‘Tribal’? Idon’t know about that. The designs are spontaneous and meant for the world tointerpret.  What I do is for ordinaryfolks, not the rich elite.  I painted only on business rooftops ‘cause I believe business can do much more to nurture local art.

 Do you have any formal art training?
I went to UIC, UCSD and my mother and her father are artists as well."

Why did you stop?
 who says i stopped?

What made you do something so different using other than a normal graffiti style to bomb the lines?

People have been writing graffiti as long as we have existed,using whatever we could to leave our mark.  Paint and a brush are easier for me to work with.  I envy taggers, writers or bombers, whose work has dimension, color, energy, power and presence.

 What made you do something so different using something other than a normal graffiti style to bomb the lines?  
People have been writing graffiti as long as we have existed, using whatever we could to leave our mark.  Paint and a brush are easier for me to work with.  I envy taggers, writers or bombers, whose work has dimension, color, energy, power and presence.

Any advice for the new generation of Chi-town Graff writers? 
Consider that who they (or anyone) are is a function of the communities they are a part of.  Whether the communities are people we know from work, church, family or school, or from wherever, each of these communities influences who we are, how we treat others and how we exert our artistic expression.  Lastly, the new shorties should be honest with themselves about their work, and have fun doing it!


THIS INTERVIEW WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FLASH ABC.