About The Damned

I wrote several months ago about the fuzzy line between art and graffiti, and which of them carries within it more value and/or credibility. I suggested that the gradual eradication of an image of Croydon punk pioneers The Damned is strangely appropriate to the movement’s aesthetic. Now I’ve found a tweet by the original artist who seems to view the process with a sort of shrugging fatalism, but crucially he regards his own work not as “graffiti” but as a “cartoon”, which – I infer – is considered to be somehow better.

My Damned and Johnny Moped cartoons on display at St George's Walk, Croydon. Go and see it before it gets covered in graffiti. #PunkLondon pic.twitter.com/9w9Gnj85Xe

— Punk Rock Toons (@punkrocktoons) 23 October 2016

March this year:

A few days ago: