George Spencer was born and raised in New York. While living in New York City, he frequently traveled between SoHo and upper Manhattan, which introduced him to the world of graffiti. At the age of 13, he began tagging trains, finding them to be the ideal canvas for his artwork. Spencer developed a signature style known as “motion tagging,'“ creating graffiti on the interiors of moving trains. This style defined his work until the early 1980s. Spencer attended the School of the Visual Arts, but left early. This decision led to the beginning of his Boxing Series in New York’s East Village. Throughout his career, Spencer has collaborated with several art organizations, including the arts collective REPOhistory, Art in Odd Places, and ACRIA.
After a four-year pause from his exploratory paintings of boxers, Spencer returned to the Boxing Series in 2001 and continues to work on these pieces today. In 2010, he was featured in the Rizzoli publication “Stickers: From Punk to Contemporary Art.” Spencer’s influence is evident in the art world, with his portrait now included in the new SFMOMA.
