• Carlos Fresneda. "It hurts to tell it, but more not to tell it"
  • Our dear son Alberto. London's Brotherhood of Graffiti

Graffiti and death sometimes travel in the same carriage. In all the great cities of the world we will see the well-known Rest in Paint (Rest in painting) in memory of the writers fallen in action. The graffiti of RIP Trip, Lover, Kbagare still appearing as if by magic in London after almost five years. The brotherhood of the spray does not forget them...

To the passengers of this imaginary train that is life it can be absurd that young people – and not so young – risk their skin trying to leave their stamp on the tracks. But it is something that inevitably happens for more than half a century, when TAKI 183 wrote its tag everywhere in New York and lit the fuse all over the planet, propagated by that relentless persecution of vandalism that continues to this day.

"Illegal graffiti is the germ not only of urban art and street art, but of everything we currently know as urban culture," proclaim Alberto Feás and David B. Rock, co-authors (director and director) of the video In the name of the son, with which they have decided to explore the taboo of the "danger of death" that stalks every self-respecting graffiti artist.

The son in question is Alberto Fresneda Carrasco (Trip), who died on June 18, 2018 at the age of 19 with Harrison Scott-Hood (Lover) and Jack Gilbert (Kbag) when they were painting at the crossroads of Loughborough Junction and were hit by a train without the driver even noticing their presence in the middle of the night.


The coincidence of the name had long intrigued Alberto Feás (Barcelona, 1985), more than 20 years making graffiti. His tribute piece Trip on a Civia de Rodalies train (Cercanías) was something like his business card. He told me that he worked in the communication department of Montana Colors, the leading brand of spray paint created almost 30 years ago and implanted in 80 countries. I had invited him to travel to London, to the exhibition Beyond the streets at the Saatchi gallery, and I wanted to take the opportunity to tell if possible the story of the other Alberto.

We said yes, perhaps without intuiting that both my wife, Isabel, and I would hurt more than we thought we remembered everything that happened and go through the tags of Trip and Yuck (his previous name) still visible near our house in West Hampstead. We spent with Alberto and David a particularly intense day under the eternal clouds of London. We joined them to interview Stone (Trip's crewmate with the NWS, Norht West Sprayers) and Temp32 (the last one who saw them alive that night). In the end we were left with that mixture of sorrow and relief that always accompanies anniversaries.

Alberto Fresneda Carrasco would have turned 24 on May 25, 2023, and now we thank In the name of the son as the best possible gift. More than 31,000 views in a week endorse the work of Alberto Feás in the direction and David B. Rock (Valladolid, 1984) with the camera. The intention of both was to penetrate "the hermetic side of the graffiti writer" and contribute at the same time to the knowledge of a phenomenon misunderstood by a large part of society.

All the epic that fuels graffiti writers comes from the fact that they are persecuted.

Alberto Feás and David B. Rock, filmmakers and co-authors of 'In the Name of the Son'

The comments to the video speak for themselves. "Brutal, thank you for making this effort for culture in both languages." "An especially emotional documentary." "I haven't been able to hold back my tears, how nice it is to be raw sometimes." "A fat cap held high for all those who left and for all those who remember them (Real graffiti always)." "Many forces for the family, his son was a great artist"...

Since we presented En el nombre del hijo / In the name of the son, at the Montana Café in Barcelona, the reputation of the documentary has been growing inside and outside the graffiti community. "More than transmitting a message, what we wanted is to discover a new dimension," say Alberto and David. "To the graffiti writer, to make him aware of the risk and his responsibility towards those around him. To the affected families, grant them a moment of catharsis and remind them that the weight of their pain can be shared."

"And to those who have no idea about any of this, know that behind a signature that dirties the street there can be a story as exciting as life itself," add the authors of the documentary, who remember how graffiti is generally "reviled by society and persecuted by law."

Alberto Feás and David B. Rock, in the exhibition 'Beyond the Streets'.

The video highlights the contrast between that apparent openness – with the recent irruption of graffiti with full honors in the Saatchi gallery in London – and that relentless persecution precisely in cities like London, one of the most restrictive in Europe (one of the star graffiti artists of Beyond the Streets, 10Foot, spent a year in jail).

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All the epic that feeds graffiti writers comes from the fact that they are persecuted," acknowledge Alberto and David. "Graffiti is born mainly from the human instinct to create and leave a mark outside the limits of the established. All that passion and excitement of stealth art is what some urban artists try to reflect in their works."

In the name of the son explores in passing the perspective of the graffiti father, Snoe, who sees his own son grow up as an astista and finds himself in the position of "explaining the risks" among other aspects of the trade. Snoe also painted on trains, jumped fences and ran in front of the police in his time... "But being a father changes your outlook on life. You have to be responsible and think about other people, how it might affect them if you die or if you go to jail. You have to grow and mature. As it should be."

As the father of a son with artistic interests since birth, I remind other parents that taking the marker or the spray and leaving his tag around the corner is already an initiatory rite in the new generations. Risk is something inherent in the spirit of the artist, and instead of imposing persecutions or drastic prohibitions, it would perhaps be best to wrap them in that impulse and find a spring (perhaps instilling two words like pura vida) that can raise the alarm in case of danger.

It hurts to tell it, although it hurts more not to tell it, was the premise that I repeated to myself

Carlos Fresneda, father of graffiti artist Trip and journalist for EL MUNDO

Temp32 accompanied Kbag, Lover and Trip in the darkest night. He was older than them and knew how to sense the danger. He tried to convince them to get off the tracks, but failed. The feeling of guilt haunted him ever since, although little by little he has begun to see things differently: "For years I have come to realize that death is part of life, and sometimes these things just happen, and they happen for a reason that is inexplicable."

Stone got his start in graffiti with Trip and recalls how the two (in the company of Duke, the Third Musketeer) tried to "make their mark and exist within this culture." His dream, like anyone starting out, was "to see my name on every train line and try to surpass yourself, even if you're not the best or the biggest." Despite what happened five years ago to his great friend, he still feels that impulse and has not stopped making "pieces" in his memory. His advice: "Do what you love, take care of those around you."

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Alberto died doing what he liked", emphasizes in the video his mother, Isabel, who searched for months for his tags as a therapeutic process and discovered that powerful feeling of brotherhood that unites graffiti artists: "Everything we have received from that world has been wonderful: affection, interest, art ... It's been a discovery."

My personal therapy was writing, with a long letter to Alberto that stretched into a book, Querijo hijo. "It hurts to tell it, although it hurts more not to tell it", was the premise that I repeated to myself for a long time, although the mourning is a journey that never ends and sometimes I think if it would not be better to punish in silence.

When I have chosen to talk about all this openly, I have realized the responsibility that we have the media and the misunderstanding that exists towards the phenomenon of graffiti in society. People's comments when we published the story of Enrique Pérez Martín (Goma) and Jaime Alvarez de Cienfuegos Suárez-Inclán (Molas) who were hit by a commuter train in Porto in 2015 after being blinded with a fire extinguisher by the inspector, gave me a lot to think about. I am glad that his story is also remembered in this documentary and I send a hug to his parents.

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Calling a writer a vandal or hooligan is an epithet, since the act of graphite starts from the premise that a large part of society will not like it," acknowledge Alberto Feás and David B. Rock. "Sometimes it seems that for public opinion a graffiti writer is a 17-year-old boy, self-marginalized, who does not know how to do anything better with his time. When the reality is that writers are normal people and many carry it with total discretion."

Alberto and David are grateful for the mediation of BRK192, something like the Iberian ambassador of graffiti in London, in the elaboration of a video that is already having a great impact inside and outside that great family of graffiti that knows no borders.

In the Name of the Son is produced by Montana Colors, which allocates much of the marketing to social and cultural content: from the videos to the magazine Tramontana, which is distributed free of charge worldwide.

The video concludes with a double tribute to Hugo Ftor, a graffiti artist killed in an accident during the process of this documentary, and to Epifanio Feás, who died before seeing In the Name of the Son, with all the emotional burden that was for his son Alberto.

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