This article is the second installment of a four-part series — “Married to the Game” — that takes the reader on a journey, recounting the stories of Bronx graffiti artists as told by a Bronx graffiti artist who grew up in the game.
The art world knows him as BG 183 but I know him as Big Bro. He’s one of the founding members of the Bronx-based Tats Cru, Inc. along with Brim, Bio and Nicer. They’ve been producing works for a wide range of clients from small neighborhood businesses to large commissions from corporations like Sony and Coca-Cola. You can check Wikipedia to learn more but they are solely responsible for the Big Pun wall in the Bronx.
BG taught me about loyalty and how to take care of your family, but what has always hit me about him was his focus. A hurricane could rip through Garrison Avenue and if the wind did pick him up, he still would be painting, trying to finish his canvas. Whenever I get discouraged, I think about the blood, sweat and tears that my Big Bro pours into everything he does, and I push on.
Here’s what BG 183 had to share about how he started and where he’s going.
Richard Rodriguez: I’ve known you a long time. You taught me how to shave. How did you start? I never asked.
BG 183: Yo, it was my big sister that got me started. I would be watching her drawing all the time, and I wanted to try it too!
RR: How old were you?
BG183: (laughing) I was like four (years old) and she was nine and I was amazed at what she was doing with a pencil and then I just walk away and I grab a pencil and a piece of paper from somewhere and I start drawing, and then like a few seconds later, she says, ‘Oh, you like to draw’ and I look back, and she’s smiling and then, she was teaching me how to draw. And later my parents would always buy me art supplies.
RR: What inspired you to start painting in the streets, and when did you start?
BG183: In graffiti, I started in the early 1980s and I would go home and just practice my…
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