Kelly Graval, better known by his graffiti tag RISK, was one of the first artists to exhibit graffiti and street art in galleries. With a background in fine art, Graval has a style defined by cleanly executed lettering paired with graphic imagery and architectural lines. He has participated in a number of street art crews, most famously West Coast Artists (WCA) and the Seventh Letter. In the course of his nearly 30-year career, Graval has become one of the most influential figures for subsequent generations of graffiti artists, particularly in Los Angeles. He is also considered one of the first artists to have painted on freight trains, as well as a pioneer of “painting in the heavens”—a graffiti term referring to highly elevated surfaces like billboards, rooftops, and overpasses.

 

American, b. 1967, New Orleans, Louisiana, based in Los Angeles, California