Despite a show of some kind coming up, we haven’t heard much from the Borf folks or John Tsombikos in awhile. It’s probably best for young Mr. Tsombikos, since he is still not allowed to handle art supplies according to his probation. The last time we heard his name, we watched a “video communique” projected on a wall on 12th Street, in which some kids dressed like Zapatistas claimed Tsombikos was “purged.”

But while Borf’s graffiti isn’t popping up much anymore, we’ve seen a few names over and over. Most haven’t done anything as large as Borf did, but we have seen some large tags on fences and on buildings in Northwest, like those on Flickr.

So who are the new taggers? We’ve seen a lot of Nehi, Inca, Rob, Pear, and Hoa around, but none seem to have the omnipresence of Borf. And there have been some rumors that Pear is in fact Borf, as one Wikipedian claimed. That anonymous Wikipedian claimed to be a member of a rival graffiti crew, and it’s Wikipedia after all, so who knows how accurate the posting is. The Prince of Petworth isn’t a big fan of Pear, whoever they may be. And another rumor on a Columbia Heights message board says some of the graffiti writers in that neighborhood were from Silver Spring.

And besides the more recognizable taggers, we’ve written about an increase in graffiti in general, especially in Logan and Shaw. So what do you think of graffiti around the city and these new taggers? Do you admire their gumption, wish they’d get a job, or hope they’ll be dipped in a big vat of paint? Anybody miss Borf?

Photo by epmd