Dumbo: Acts of Vandalism and Stories of Love

"I dare anyone who has been to Italy, and especially Milan, in the past 10 years to claim that they have never seen the word 'DUMBO' written on the city walls. It's impossible!" Here, the artist behind those five obsessively repeated letters--who has brought the question "art or vandalism" to a country better known for its Renaissance painting and streamlined design--reveals himself and the enigmatic art underground that has nurtured him over the last decade. Photographs depicting the clandestine routines of graffiti writing for Italy's most popular street artist accompany almost 200 color pictures of Dumbo's work all over Italy and Europe. Artist Barry McGee--who honored Dumbo in a piece done for the European opening of the American street art show Beautiful Losers--says in a preface here, "Dumbo represents everything right in this world by doing everything we are told is wrong."