Come and work for me, DJ tells city graffiti pair; COVENTRY PROMOTER SPEAKS UP FOR STREET ARTISTS ACCUSED OF CAUSING pounds 40,000 DAMAGE.

Byline: EMMA RACE

GRAFFITI is positive art, says a Coventry club promoter, who was so impressed with the work of taggers Dock and Dobe that he's given them work.

Shadie, 30, from Stoke, who is also a DJ, said: "They are artists. I've got them to work on promotional projects for me over the last few days.

"I'm as interested in employing them as I am any artist. They've got gusto." .

Shadie, 30, from Stoke, who runs club nights in the city but also works as a forklift truck driver, has defended graffiti artist Dock, accused of causing pounds 40,000 worth of damage by spraying his designs throughout the city.

In Monday's Evening Telegraph, Dock, 20, told how his passion for painting his "tag" on hoardings, in car parks and on buildings, is because Coventry can seem "grey and lifeless".

Promoter and DJ Shadie agrees and believes graffiti actually benefits the community.

He said: "Graffiti is a way people express themselves all over the world.

"It's urban art. In Amsterdam, artists are given money to do their work and a place to paint.

"In Barcelona, the art is done in skateparks and provides a place for young people to go.

"In Coventry, people trying to express themselves through art are hunted down like dogs."

Shadie is furious at Cllr Phil Townshend's claim that the work of taggers is "childish self-indulgence" and rubbished the critique of graffiti by John Devane, principal fine art lecturer at Coventry University.

He said: "It's unbelievable a councillor could call art 'childish'.

"And it's not surprising Mr Devane isn't enthusiastic. He's not an expert on urban art, he lectures in fine art.

"When Andy Warhol began painting, people didn't understand because it was so modernist.

"Graffiti is the most modern form of art. It's about people taking ownership of their community.

"In 40 years' time the council will be gone, but this will still be our town, our inner city and that's what it's about."

For Shadie, true graffiti is all about marking your environment in a way that fosters pride.

In Hillfields and Stoke, Shadie says he's seen racist symbols painted on walls which have not been removed.

He said: "That's not graffiti, that's disgusting. But amazingly the council leaves that up for years."

He added: "Graffiti does not make people fear crime or encourage crime.

"Young people being crushed when they try to find an outlet, and kids being left without facilities or anything to do, creates crime.

"If a kid has a can of spray paint in their hand they don't have a knife. They've found an outlet and should be encouraged."

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D18517_1 POSITIVE EXPRESSION: Shadie admires graffiti on a city railway bridge. Picture: RICHARD NELMES