On the Draw

This election season, the pledge to fight graffiti is the one common campaign promise among candidates vying for various Denver City Council seats. To voting constituents, the unwanted scribblings are nothing more than garbled representations of anarchy and confusion covering neighborhoods from sidewalk to roof. But for the diverse street army of graffiti writers, a popular painting spot is an ever-evolving message board that tells stories of decade-long crew battles, hubristic proclamations of skills and stylistic evolutions in the history of graf.

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More About

• Jason Brunson
• Donald Ross
• Denver City Council

Though visually ubiquitous, these tales are like a dead language to most of us, obscured in plain sight. Luckily, graffiti artists Donald Ross (aka SCRIBE) and Jason Brunson are piling into town to create Dog Fight, a narrative installation of oil, acrylic and spray so big that it begins at Andenken Gallery, 2110 Market Street, then journeys to Plastic Chapel, 8 West Ellsworth, for the conclusion. It’s a fitting project for Ross and Brunson: While both writers are members of the internationally upped DF Crew — which counts locals EMIT, EAST and JIVE as affiliates — the two are known individually for their whimsical designs and sculptures, which are both kid-friendly and highly conceptual. The free show opens tonight at Andenken, tomorrow at Plastic Chapel; both start at 7 p.m. For more information, call 303-292-3281 or visit www.andenken.com.