Pepergasthuis

In my father's studio, I flipped through a stack of old drawings. Among them was a realistic work, something he had stopped doing before I was even born. Among all the papers was a small piece of cardboard with an unfinished painting on it.

The painting showed a wall with a small window. The wall was daubed with the word Dadaism and a graffiti tag. Some friends of mine did graffiti, which made the tag catch my eye immediately. This tag read 'Cortex,' or at least I thought so, I had never heard of it before. 'What is this painting?” I ask my father. He takes it out of my hands, looks at it and replies 'I made that when I was in Minerva, it's the Pepergasthuis'. It turned out he had made it in the early 1980s. The drab, urban atmosphere appealed to me and I asked my father if I could have it.

Years later, I worked with graffiti archivist Kladmuur on the documentary 'Small names in a big city'. This documentary tells the story of the pioneering years of Groningen's graffiti.Immediately I stumbled upon a photo of the Pepergasthuis. The long wall on Peperstraat, totally hidden under the tags. An article in the Nieuwsblad van het Noorden even calls it “The most famous draft wall of the Northern Netherlands'. “The police often do not dare to show themselves at night in this entertainment street, which is the reason why people are undisturbed and have been able to spray, paint or draw on the walls.” Said Jacques Hermus in Verbeeldt (December 1982). The 'Cortex' tag repainted by my father can even be found in the photo. 'Vortex' turned out to be, by the way, a Groningen rock/metal band. The tag was made by the band itself.

The concept of the 'street gang' was very popular at the time. Many bands modeled themselves after the image of a youth gang, and that included marking your territory. In films from that time, such as 'The Warriors (1979)' and 'The Wanderers (1979)' or the music video for Michael Jackson's mega-hit 'Beat It (1983)', this was easy to see. Rock 'n Roll songs are also short and sweet, like gang fights. Fighting (and gangs) therefore have more to do with Rock 'n Roll than you might think at first glance. Working on the Draft Wall documentary, I discover that the same wall also plays a special role in the encounter between graffiti schoolers Mickey and Pinox. Both are nowadays seen as leaders of Groningen's graffiti past. In Mickey's own words: ''The city was completely full, rammed full! I stared my eyes out and thought ''I want that too!''

On a Sunday afternoon I was squatting in the Peperstraat and put my tag on one of those old buildings. Suddenly I heard someone shouting and there a very big guy came running towards me. I thought ''Now I'm screwed, it must be undercover police''. Running away I couldn't, I looked frozen. He looked at what I was doing and said ''Give me your spray can. He went crouched down too and put a very large tag next to mine. PINOX. I was really starstruck, the big PINOX! That's how we got to know each other.' Today, you can hardly recognize the wall. This one is clean, white and therefore a little lifeless. Perhaps somewhere, under all the layers of paint, the tags of Mickey, Pinox and Vortex are hidden.

In Mickey's own words: “The city was completely bombed! I looked my eyes out and thought ‘I want that too!" One Sunday afternoon I was crouching in the Peperstraat and put my tag on one of those old buildings. Suddenly I heard someone shouting and a really big guy came towards me. I thought “This is trouble, it must be undercover police". I couldn't run away, I seemed frozen. He looked at what I was doing and said "Give me your spray can". He also crouched down and put a really big tag next to mine. PINOX. I was really starstruck, the big Pinox! That's how we met.'

Nowadays you can hardly recognise the wall anymore. It's clean, white and therefore a bit lifeless. Maybe somewhere, under all the layers of paint, the tags of Mickey, Pinox and Vortex are hidden.