Camel & Baby, the King and Queen of San Jose graffiti?
Welcome to the first monthly edition of our “Artist Spotlight,” a new segment on our website where we showcase local creatives that inspire us. This month’s featured creatives are the graffiti artists Camel and Baby.
Camel and Baby are a new addition to the Bay Area graffiti scene, as they just started getting up about 2 years ago. During that short time, Camel and Baby have been a tireless duo, covering an area that stretches from Oakland to the South Bay, and even going as far east as Livermore. They are already all city in San Jose, so it can be argued they are the current king and queen of the San Jose graffiti scene.
In San Jose, they have hit up nearly every overpass that crosses the 280, 680, and 880 freeways. Many of their tags are only visible from the freeway, so please excuse my dirty windshield, or slightly blurry photos. (pictured below)
This gigantic Camel tag appears on the overpass where the 280 meets the 880 freeway in San Jose. (Pictured below)
They are relentless, and when one of their tags gets covered, another one replaces it often just a few days later. Around the end of July of this year, these Camel throwies and Baby handstyles appeared on the freeway signs above the crosstown 280 in San Jose. It was covered up about 3 weeks later.
About a week after it was covered up, another Camel throwie appeared in the same location, this time in a mirrored version and a regular version. On the mirrored throw-up, “try again” appears on the bottom right corner, taunting law enforcement. These tags are still up and have yet to be taken down.
Their go-to styles are the bubble and block letter style.
One day it was blank, the next day, it was a mobile canvas. (Pictured in my neighborhood in downtown San Jose)
I also found this Camel Baby handstyle on the way to my local corner store.
One of their most impressive, and longest standing pieces is on a rooftop facing the overpass where the 280 merges into the 101 freeway. (Pictured below)
Unfortunately, there are some more detailed pieces that I was unable to capture, but as long as Camel and Baby are still out bombing shit, no heaven spot in the Bay Area will be safe. The next time you are traveling through the South Bay, keep your eyes peeled for some Baby Camel artwork.
Thank you for reading the first edition of our "Artist Spotlight."