Piece by Piece documents the street art scene in San Francisco from the 1980’s to 2004. It was produced by Underdog Productions in 2005, directed by Nic Hill and narrated by Senor One, know on the street as Renos, Norm, Grey, Saber and Deen.

Although a few years old we thought it was important to share because it gives some background on the local scene. The movie begins with a vibrant bay area scene with local writers whose unique style was influenced by writers from the East Coast and LA to the formation of crews and the impact of law enforcement on their activities. It features artists and crews, recognizable by both newcomers and long time followers of the San Francisco street art scene, who share their reasons why they do it and what it was like with footage and photos they took during that time period to document their own work.  Some of the featured artists are Cuba, Giant, Poesia, Reyes, Saytz, Twist(Barry McGee),Twick and crews AWR, ICP, Lords,MSK TMF and TWS.

Having lived in San Francisco during this time period, where I saw the extensive tagging and bombing, was charmed by Remininsce’s horses and noticed the impact of the graffiti laws passed in 2000,  I found the movie gave me a better perspective for where we are today. Apparently the Examiner had the same sentiments when the movie was released. The movie is also available for purchase online on several sites.

“You’ll never look at graffiti the same again” — San Francisco Examiner