Pop graffiti artist David Ruggeri aims to capture sense of nostalgia in paintings

Springfield is a special place for David Ruggeri. Four years ago, the St. Louis-based pop graffiti artist showcased his new style of artwork on Historic Walnut Street for the first time. Next month, he returns, with a whole new batch of paintings and prints.

Ruggeri will be one of hundreds of artists and vendors participating in the 43rd annual Artsfest on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5. The street festival runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and entry is $5. The first time Ruggeri showcased his artwork in Springfield was at Artsfest four years ago.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Ruggeri didn't pursue full-time art until later in life.

After dropping out of college, where he studied art, Ruggeri worked a hodgepodge of different jobs, including on a fishing boat in Alaska. He then returned to school, where he obtained several degrees, including bachelor's and master's degrees in business, a master's in public health, master's in economics and doctorate in public policy.

It wasn't until about seven years ago that Ruggeri decided to see "how far he could take" an art career and "what impact I could have in the art community."

Although Ruggeri had an incomplete art degree, he said he "always had an interest in art." While in college the first time, during the late '80s and early '90s, he recalled being introduced to different graffiti artists who were making names for themselves in New York and Los Angeles. He had tagged (the process of making quick graffiti paintings, often featuring an artists signature) a bit in high school, but ultimately had been too nervous about getting in trouble to do large projects. But as an adult, he was interested in exploring the graffiti style in a more controlled environment.

Much of Ruggeri's work, which he calls "graffiti pop," references retro pop culture, like characters from "Mad" magazine and video game consoles and characters from the '80s. Ruggeri's latest painting features the original Napster logo — a green-eyed cat wearing headphones. Napster was a file-sharing application, most commonly known for audio file distribution.

"I was watching a documentary about the Internet and they mentioned Napster and I was like, 'Man, I haven't thought about Napster in forever.' It was such a big deal. I was like, 'I got to paint the Napster logo.'"

For Ruggeri, this is often how he is inspired to create his paintings, through interactions he has with media, like books, movies and television. Ruggeri said he carries around a small notebook with him, which he keeps ideas inside. When he's ready to paint a new piece, he references the notebook for ideas he may have forgotten.

One of Ruggeri's favorite series, which he continues to work on, is paintings of Nike Jordans. These paintings, like those that depict retro pop culture, strike a nostalgic chord with Ruggeri.

"The original Jordans came out when I was in high school, and I had a pair of them. There wasn't such a thing as shoe collecting back then," Ruggeri said with a laugh. "I would cut the grass in them, go to the lake, we'd just destroy the shoes. The Jordans were a part of when I was growing up. They helped define fashion, especially for guys. They brought in this era of what 'cool' was."

In addition to original paintings, Ruggeri will be selling 150 limited edition Jordans prints for $50 each at Artsfest, he said.

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Although some of Ruggeri's work contains Rock 'Em Sock 'Em robots, White Castle to-go bags and Animal from "The Muppets," other pieces carry a bit more weight.

One of Ruggeri's most recognized works is a mural he painted at Dunaway Books in St. Louis. The mural depicts six popularly-banned books. The titles include, "The Bluest Eye," "Maus," "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Handmaid's Tale," "Breakfast of Champions" and "1984." The titles of "The Giver," "The Hate U Give," "Howl," "Of Mice and Men" and "The Catcher in the Rye" are also worked into the mural.

Ruggeri also completed a series of paintings featuring endangered animals to raise awareness about climate change.

One way to identify a Ruggeri painting is by his "tongue-and-cheek" tag, "NO GRAFFITI."

"Whenever a city will put up that, 'No Graffiti' sign on a wall, it just tends to be putting a big bullseye on that space," Ruggeri said with a laugh. "The authority is telling you not to do it and the graffiti culture takes that as a challenge."

Artsfest tickets can be purchased day-of, at the festival or in advance on the Artsfest website at downtownsgfevents.ticketspice.com/artsfest-2024.

Greta Cross is the trending topics reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretacrossphoto. Story idea? Email her at gcross@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Pop graffiti artist David Ruggeri aims to capture sense of nostalgia