Aerosols

AEROSOLS is the first book dedicated to European spray paint cans. After giving a brief historical summary, it presents colour photos of nearly 200 different spray paint cans from across Europe, made in the years from 1965 to 1999 and featuring contributions from several international collectors.

Leaf through the varied visual world of spray paint with original cans, advertisements, colour charts, and more. Including cans by AUTO-K, belton, DUPLI-COLOR, Kurt Vogelsang GmbH, Marabu, Montana Colors, SPRAY-COLOR/SPARVAR, and many more. It also reveals background information on many of the manufacturers’ company histories. One exclusive chapter is devoted to the production of spray paint cans in former East Germany.

“This book will give you a brief tour of European spray paint cans. My passion for aerosol cans began in 1985 East Germany at the young age of twelve, when my parents gave me my first paint can (see the story starting on page 24). After the political transformation in East Germany a few years later, I began to collect more cans. I got my first Western European cans from friends, on holiday, or at various graffiti walls. Some of my cans from those years are missing their caps, which weren’t considered so important back then and simply got lost over the years. I used many of the old cans myself when the graffiti craze crossed over from West Berlin in the early ’90s.

On the pages to follow, you will read about nearly 200 different cans from all around Europe. The paint comes from the collections of both my friends and myself. The cans are in alphabetical order by brand with few exceptions. I’ve included the production dates to the best of my knowledge.

Since these are only a small fraction of the cans that have been on the market in Europe, I would be grateful for help in preparing a second volume. There are some amazing collectors in places like Lille, France who have enormous collections of spray cans. It might be possible to put together another book of those.

I’ve decided not to include American cans because the range of spray paint available in the US alone could easily fill multiple books. For information on US spray cans, check out the work of Cap Matches Color, a group devoted to American cans that has compiled a tremendous collection.

Thanks for sharing my interest in spray paint cans and I hope you enjoy reading!” ROSKO