Hood Rats

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Hood Rats

Artist Gajin Fujita (American, born 1972)

Date2012

Dimensions72 x 120 in. (on six panels)

MediumSpray paint, paint markers, and gold leaf on wood panels

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, by exchange

Object number

2015.46

Not on View

Label TextHailing from East Los Angeles and a member of prominent L.A. graffiti crews, contemporary artist Gajin Fujita takes inspiration from traditional Japanese woodblock prints of the 18th and 19th centuries, Latinx and Black street art, and both American and Japanese popular culture. Merging these diverse influences, he has created a body of work unified by a remarkable visual vocabulary that is uniquely his own. The stylized “Hood Rats” text and the positioning of the two battling figures, who are modeled on woodblock prints of Japanese warriors, recall the imagery of the Star Wars film series, which was itself inspired in part by Japanese samurai films. Similarly, the graffiti in the background and the title itself—a slang term for sexually promiscuous girls in low-income neighborhoods—is a nod to Fujita's close connection to the urban landscape of East Los Angeles. The juxtaposition of these influences and the weaving together of historical and contemporary references reflects the changing reality of an increasingly globalized and interconnected world.Published ReferencesGuiley, Patricia Kathleen, Graffiti, Art, and Identity: Exploring Gajin Fujita's Hood Rats, Thesis (M.A.), University of Utah, 2015, fig. 1 (col.) p. 29.Exhibition HistoryChattanooga, Tennessee, Hunter Museum of American Art, Gajin Fujita , April 10-June 7, 2015.