​‘Art is, at times, a criminal act:’ an interview with a graffiti legend SHOCK UC MSK

By Jacinta Tens

I have been a fan of graffiti since I first saw it as a child. As a kid who was always into some sort of creative endeavor, the movement, colors and intricate details of pieces I would see on trains always fascinated me. By my teens, I was mesmerized by graffiti.

I never got into writing graffiti myself for multiple reasons. But I have deep respect for graffiti artists, as their dedication to the art and all that entails is incredibly rare, and mastering the art form is accomplished by a minuscule number of people.

I was honored to speak with internationally renowned graffiti writer and multimedia artist SHOCK UC MSK about his life, work and desire to build a creative community. His work is being shown at the North Dakota Museum of Art’s exhibit, “Re-arming Language: Post-graffiti Artists,” from March 5 – May 10, 2026 and he will be doing a Gallery Talk and Reception on April 9 and teaching a drawing class on April 10.

HPR: Thank you so much for the interview. I read a bit on your background, and it sounds like you have lived all over the U.S. Is that accurate?

SHOCK: I grew up in St. Paul, and then moved to Chicago, moved back to St. Paul and then to Minneapolis…and then Philadelphia, and then Minneapolis, and then Detroit…and then Minneapolis. I've always come back to Minneapolis. And then, most recently, I was in New York for six months. I lived in Springfield, Illinois, for about a year. And then just kind of became a traveling graffiti person.

I've spent a lot of time in a lot of different cities. Definitely, yeah.

HPR: And right now you are in Minneapolis. Are you staying in Minneapolis for a bit?

SHOCK: Yeah, I'm back. It's a really messed-up time to come back, given what's happened with ICE here, but that's why I had to come back. I was like, dude, I can't just be gone for this. I gotta be here.

HPR: Thank you for coming back. It is a time in Minneapolis where everybody has to do their part.

SHOCK: When I was gone and watching all the crazy shit happen, I just felt helpless. I just wanted to be there. I've been trying to get back for a minute, but I feel like at the same time, the universe brought me back here when I needed to be back here. I don't want to be in the streets fighting ICE agents. My role in this is a little bit more like…I feel like we have to rebuild the culture here, too. So many things have been destroyed and it is time to help rebuild them. I feel like that's where my skill set comes in.

HPR: Speaking of your skill sets, how did you start doing graffiti? What made you interested in it? How did you start? How old were you?

SHOCK: I always drew letters, even when I was a little kid, and then I learned what graffiti was in 7th grade. I was in class and this kid was tagging on the desk next to me. And I was like, whoa, that's cool.

I asked him, “What is that?” and he was like, “That's my tag.” It was still kind of like an abstract concept to me, but I was like, that's awesome. I need one of those.

This was before I knew what graffiti culture was and all that. And then my mom played a pretty big part in the whole graffiti saga. She brought me home a copy of this book, “Subway Art,” that's kind of like the graffiti bible. That book made me realize that graffiti is a thing.

After that, I started noticing it around the city. And I was basically just drawing it in sketchbooks for a long time before I started actually going out. I was about 13 when I first started dabbling in it, so 7th grade and then 8th grade I started actually painting with people. Then between 8th and 9th grade, we started UC Crew.

Juxtaposition Arts was a big incubator for several other people and me. That's actually kind of where UC started. My friend Silk, who is in the crew, was there. We were both kids there. Their graffiti mural classes are what brought us together. Peyton and Roger at Juxtaposition Arts showed me what the culture was. They ran this mural program and it was very encouraging of the art form. They were encouraging us to further our art and take it seriously, but also letting us know that you have to do the hard part to be legit in the art part.

HPR: When did you start making art that wasn't graffiti?

SHOCK: I guess I always have been, but for a long time I didn't consider myself an artist and I sort of was against the idea of being an artist. I was just seeing art through the lens of how it's viewed by the “normal world.” I was always making art, but it was more like t-shirt designs. I rarely just sat down and made paintings. Or I did, but didn't understand that that was art.

Calling yourself an artist is a huge deal. It comes with a lot of baggage, for sure. That's a very recent thing for me; to introduce myself as an artist. With graffiti, there are definitely artists that do it, and there is definitely graffiti that is art. Graffiti and art are separate endeavors. I feel like the stuff that we do, even the most artistic stuff, is still not considered fine art. It is still in a different category to most people.

But, we're finally getting to this place where art people and people who appreciate art are starting to recognize graffiti itself as just art. For a long time, you could be a graffiti writer-turned artist, but you basically had to change your art to be not graffiti. You have to do something else or find a gimmick, a thing that works for you that is digestible to the public.

At some point, I made a conscious decision to start taking myself seriously as an artist and to make art my main thing. It was like, I'm not going to compromise on that. I couldn't if I wanted to, but also, I'm on this mission to make what we do be accepted by the art world.

For example, I do paintings that are definitely graffiti but should be considered fine art, but because of the stigma of graffiti and its illegality, it's not. From my standpoint, graffiti, just how it is, is kind of against all the fine art stuff. Graffiti art is free to view, can’t be sold and we do it whether you want it or not. You can do amazing artwork, but if it's coming from the graffiti world, people are going to see it differently than if it weren't.

Graffiti did not come from the fine art world. The fine arts don't have any control over it, and they can't make money off of it. You can't commodify it; to appreciate it and know its value. You have to recognize that the art is, at times, a criminal act. To be a good graffiti artist, you have to do illegal graffiti, and that is more than most people are able to wrap their heads around or accept. They're like, ‘Oh, we love the art, but we hate the tagging part.’ And it's like, well, that's where the art comes from.

HPR: I read that you're part of several graffiti crews?

SHOCK: I mean, like three crews that I put up and represent, but there are two main ones: UC and MSK. My friends and I started UC. We all grew up together and kind of lived life together as a crew. That's kind of how it's supposed to be.

With MSK, that's like the U.S. Olympic team of graffiti. That's a different kind of crew than UC, because we didn’t grow up together and don’t have those lifelong connections. But, as I've been with them, I've felt more and more like they are my people and have my back.

The people in MSK are the people with whom I resonate the most in what I do. We all kind of share the same mentality and existence. MSK has become a family, as much as UC, which is cool. It's cool to be a part of this thing. These are the people that I grew up idolizing.

Learn more about the upcoming Gallery Talk and reception on April 9 orregister for the workshopon April 10.

Jacinta Zens is a socially engaged artist who has been working with graffiti artists since 2010. Her passion for the art form has led her to spearhead the creation of several murals in the region — including the first public artwork created by the Moorhead Art and Culture Commission — to facilitate the teaching of graffiti as a fine art at institutions throughout the region and to curate an exhibit at the Plains Art Museum featuring graffiti artists throughout the Midwest, named “Graffiti 101.” Reach her at jacinta.zens@gmail.com.