story of Sarah Rutledge Fischer | photo by Justin Fox Burks
Brandon Marshall loves Memphis, but he never dreamed that Memphis would know his name. See, Marshall— whose iconic Cooper Young I Love Memphis mural has become a favorite destination of tourists and Memphians alike—began his art career as a graffiti artist, earning semi- anonymous stripes in the literal underground—a world in which people know your art without ever knowing your name. These days, as one of Memphis’s hottest muralists, anonymity doesn’t serve him the way it used to.
Marshall is a Memphis boy, born and raised. He grew up in East Memphis, and when he was 8 or 9 years old, he and
his friends started sneaking down into the vast network of drainage ditches that run under the city. The ditches were originally designed to address the problem of stagnant water and prevent the spread of yellow fever. By the time Marshall discovered them, the tunnels had become a safe place for Memphis graffiti artists to practice their skills.
Marshall and his friends were fascinated by the different artists whose work they saw both under and aboveground. By age 13, the boys were buying spray paint and trying to make their own marks. His friends eventually drifted away from graffiti, but Marshall was hooked. Graffiti had become a way for him to be alone in his thoughts and process emotion. Marshall spent his high school years working to improve his skills and build his identity as a graffiti artist.
After graduation, Marshall joined the graphic design program at the University of Memphis, but struggled to stay on the path. At school, he was surrounded by talented people who only wanted to talk about art, not make it. When he wasn’t at school, Marshall was hooking up with older graffiti artists, painting side by side under bridges, in abandoned buildings, and beside railroad tracks.
Art takes many forms for Marshall, including break dancing.
“It’s always been a therapeutic thing for me,” Marshall says, “a space where I can meditate. When you are alone under a bridge with one or two of your friends, and no one is talking—they’re just focused on their artwork and painting— that’s where I was able to find peace. It’s a literal dump, but in the same way, it’s a sanctuary.”
Marshall dreamed of turning his love of graffiti legitimate and becoming a muralist, but everyone said it was just a pipe dream. For a while, he though he could get a graphic design job, make some money, and do his art on the side. But by the time he reached his last semester, Marshall knew that wasn’t his path. He had to find another way.
Meanwhile, Marshall was throwing regular ” Soul Food” graffiti festivals. He would find large paintable space, obtain permission, and bring 50 or 60 graffiti artists to town to paint. As these festivals grew, Marshall sought the advice of John Weeden, then executive director of the UrbanArt Commission. Weeden urged Marshall to join the Commission’s email list and stay in touch. Months later, Marshall received information about the I Love Memphis mural project. He applied, and the rest is Memphis history.
Since then, Marshall has painted dozens of other commissioned murals throughout the city. The largest is probably the Get Down Mural on South Bellevue Blvd., commissioned by the Red Rover Ad Agency, in conjunction with the Delta Health Alliance for their “Power Over H.I.V.” Campaign. When Marshall met with the team, one of the ideas on the table was the phrase “get down.” The phrase jumped out at Marshall. It spoke directly to their goal–to encourage HIV+ people to follow their medical regimen and get their HIV cell count down–but it was also undeniably Memphis.
“If you say, ‘Get down,’ to someone [with HIV] they know what you mean,” Marshall says. “They know that we’re talking about getting our HIV count down. But also, if you’ve lived for any time in Memphis, TN, and you don’t relate to the phrase, ‘Get down,’ you’ve missed the entire point of living here. . . Because that is truly what I think Memphis is all about. It’s just getting down, having a good time.”
Theme in hand, they ran into another challenge. The location they had secured fell through. They found an alternate location, but the new wall was three times the size of the original. They had a much bigger wall but no bigger budget. The group suggested that Marshall just paint one third of the new wall, but he refused. Instead, he decided to paint the entire thing at no additional cost.
“It’s a real cause that I really have empathy for…I wanted to paint the whole wall because that community deserves to be heard and deserves to feel like they are not alone in what they are going through.”
Marshall didn’t set out to give a voice to Memphis’ HIV+ community, but he is proud to have done so. See, the Memphis that Marshall loves, is big and diverse, full of all sorts of people, and leaving none of them behind. It invites everyone in, and wants everyone to get down.
“It makes us a better city to not be exclusive, to be inclusive,” he says. ” It’s making Memphis a more culturally rich place and how can you argue with that?”
