Atlanta's stencil graffiti

Arts and Culture

Arriagada started putting up stencils on public walls and signs eight years ago. He soon went by the street moniker Transmit Device, a reference to the walkie-talkies and CB radios he often depicts in his work.

The Krog Street tunnel in Atlanta, where stencil artist Rene Arriagada showed examples of the art form last month, "is like ground zero" to Russell Howze, the author of "Stencil Nation."

Arriagada, who had an exhibit recently at the Beep Beep Gallery, did this helicopter in the Krog Street tunnel.

Arriagada got his moniker, "Transmit Device," because he often includes walkie-talkies or CB radios in his works. "I don't think anybody's noticed, at least not from the city. I put a few around town. At least one is still left."

East Atlanta and Little Five Points, where Arriagada found this Herman Munster stencil, are popular spots for graffiti artists. "This one is like a crossbreed. It's stencil on paper, hand-cut, then its wheat-pasted to the wall. It's pretty cool. It's the first [stencil] that's put a smile on my face in a while. There's a lot of crap ones, and then you see a good one."

Arriagada used an extension ladder to paint this aviation mask on a wall in East Atlanta six or seven years ago. "Without thinking about it, all my stencils were kind of military -- tanks, helicopters," he says. "I just thought they were things that looked cool. But everybody put it toward the war. So I stepped back. My stuff got more rock 'n' roll-based, more punk rock, tongue in cheek."

"The thing about the Krog Street tunnel is everybody goes over everything so fast," Arriagada says. "You say, 'Oh, yeah, I saw that one a couple days ago,' and you go back and it's not there."

"The [Krog Street tunnel] columns are great, but you have to look out for the drunks taking you out," he says. "Usually, by the time you're doing your thing, they're leaving the bars."

This sidewalk stencil across from the Krog Street tunnel in Cabbagetown advertises a show at Eyedrum, a nonprofit arts organization. Arriagada: "I love seeing this. I like the indie rough cut of it. It's a good way to advertise. It feels more street than corporate."

Clip-art icon J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, known to some as the leader of the Church of the SubGenius, is a popular stencil art subject.

Years ago, he says, graffiti artists often looked down on stencil artists for not having the skills to draw freehand with a spray can. Those tensions have eased.

Arriagada, 30, keeps a customized backpack stashed in his car to retrieve and stow stenciling materials before anybody spots him putting up images.

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The Krog Street tunnel in Atlanta, where stencil artist Rene Arriagada showed examples of the art form last month, "is like ground zero" to Russell Howze, the author of "Stencil Nation."

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