Donovan Gonzalez
Ghost of NYC Past
My artistic inspiration for this drawing stemmed from the iconic Banksy and the
impactful documentary “Style Wars.” Born and raised in New York City, graffiti has always been a familiar sight, though not as common as in the past. While we now see graffiti on buildings and occasionally on trucks, there was a time when it decorated trains, billboards, and various structures across the city.
My concept was to illustrate the J train on Jamaica Ave with graffiti on it, set against the backdrop of apartment buildings and a bodega. I chose Jamaica Ave because it’s my hometown and the route of the J train. On one train cart, the graffiti reads “Don,” one of my nicknames, while the other cart proudly displays “Queenz.” The latter serves as both a homage to my upbringing in Queens, NY and a representation of Queens College.
Using a different graffiti style, I incorporated initials on one of the train carts. The initials “QC” stands for Queens College, “MHC” for Macaulay Honors College, and “DonG” for Donovan Gonzalez (myself).
Banksy, known for his unique graffiti style, particularly his shadow figures on buildings, influenced my approach. His realistic and creative shadow art often depicted figures engaging with their surroundings. In my piece, I aimed to imitate Banksy’s shadow art by featuring a shadowy figure spray painting a knight on a building. This artistic choice draws inspiration from Banksy’s works like “One Original Thought” and “Blank Walls Are Criminal,” where his shadow figure engages in graffiti.
The knight in my drawing symbolizes the Queens College Knights, our mascot, while
also conveying themes of courage and sacrifice. The act of graffiti itself is controversial, and those who partake in it must be willing to take risks, as it is considered vandalism. This boldness and willingness to put oneself in jeopardy for the sake of artistic expression represents the courage displayed by graffiti artists. Despite the risks, the temptation of graffiti lies in its ability to provoke thought and challenge societal norms.
My title “Ghost of NYC Past” is a spin-off of “Ghost of Christmas Past.” When thinking of a name, I wanted to include something that shows it’s representing how NYC used to be. I wanted it to be as if the past was coming back to life. I didn’t want the title to be boring or academic. Something fun and can summarize the drawing.
