The Kommunitas Graffiti Allery

A couple months ago I got the chance to witness the grand opening of Kommunitas, a curated “allery” (alley gallery) located just off Townsend between 5th and 6th streets in San Francisco’s SoMa district. I had previously known SoMa’s Bluxome Street corridor well, a staple for graffiti enthusiasts on par with Mission favorites, Clarion and Balmy. But Bluxome always had some curious quirks to it and its off the beaten path location kept me guessing.

A bright orange sign greets visitors at each threshold of the alley, casually stating rules for artistic participation. Usually a code of conduct is the result of coping with previous conflicts or misunderstandings, so I called up the number on the sign to get the story behind it. I reached gallery curator and property owner, Tardon Feathered, who relayed that he wanted “to express some guidelines without having to resort to legalese.” Makes sense, a negotiation between private property owner and street artist without relying on the aggression and possible oppressiveness of the law. Free association at its best.

“I decided that good art looked better than bad tags, in an alley which we could not shut down the tagging,” Tardon explains. “I have had to make multiple appearances in front of the DPW folks to convince them that this alley is commissioned murals instead of random graffiti.” It all started when a graffiti artist under the nom de plume, Atom, requested Tardon’s permission to paint in the alley circa ’97. Or perhaps the inchoate beginnings lie with the many tags and non-commissioned murals that adorned the walls in the 90s and 80s. And they still find their way into the forgotten cracks and crevices of the alley’s warehouse exteriors.

But with the christening of Bluxome as Kommunitas, the notion of graffiti inspired, commissioned murals has really soared to the next level. A number of artists constructed massive, abstract masterpieces on an unrivaled scope in the city of San Francisco. The pieces take cue from traditional graffiti arrangements by combining elements of geometrical design and multi-layered coloring to shape stunning visual phenomena. Even these pictures do not come close to doing the murals justice. But hopefully they will convince you to take a trip down to Kommunitas and witness the beauty yourself.

See more pictures of Kommunitas.

Kommunitas Allery @ Townsend between 5th St. & 6th St.
Track its visual history at Cassidy Curtis’ online preservation site