A historical documentary about the Crazy In Style Artists, a graffiti art collective founded in East Chicago, is in the works and is a semi-finalist in an Indiana documentary pitch competition.
Gabriel Barajas, 33, the director and producer, and Adrian Galvan, 37, the co-producer and art director, are working on the documentary “Still Crazy,” about the origin and members of Crazy In Style Artists.
The documentary focuses on the history of Crazy In Style Artists as it began to form in the 1980s, Barajas said. The documentary will include interviews with past and current members of the crew, he said.
“We’re trying to put out as much information on the crew as possible, especially on those who paved the way, where a lot of that information gets lost. I feel like there’s not enough historical documentaries on founding art crews in the area,” Barajas said. “Now is the best time because if not now, then when?”
Galvan said they are currently working on digitizing the materials they’ve collected, like hard-copy photos, and laying out the common threads in the artists’ stories to include in the documentary.
Felix Maldonado, 53, one of the original crew members, said the documentary will ensure the crew’s story is shared thoroughly and accurately. The documentary will also ensure the younger generation of artists “carry on the torch and make sure the name lives on,” he said.
“We’ve got about maybe two or three generations of artists in our collective right now, which make up quite a bit of history altogether,” Maldonado said. “It’s not to beat our chest or to brag about all the accomplishments we made, but to just remind everybody of who we were and who we are today.”
In 1985, Maldonado said he had his own junior crew, the New Wave Artists, when he got into a graffiti battle with the Crazy In Style Artists. During the battle, Maldonado said he and others painted train box cars at an East Chicago train station.
His piece won the battle, Maldonado said, and ultimately a way into the Crazy In Style Artists collective.
“That’s what gave me my first official introduction with these guys. That’s how I started hanging out with them is after that battle. That kind of cemented my spot with them,” Maldonado said.
Maldonado said his piece in the battle was an ode to Mark Bodē, who was a graffiti and comic book artist who influenced the 1980s graffiti scene, with New Wave Artists lettering within the piece.
“At the time, it seemed fantastic. Now, I look at the picture and I’m like, ‘I could’ve fixed that N or why did I do that W that way,’” Maldonado said.
Hearing stories like Maldonado’s, where he sees his former piece in a different light today, underscores the importance of creating the documentary, Galvan said.
“That’s the origin and the story we need to tell: Why we paint the way we paint today and what influences our style and how it has evolved,” Galvan said.
Galvan, who grew up in Gary, said his uncle was a member of Crazy In Style Artists, so the crew – and the documentary – bring him back to his roots.
“It’s a personal project. It’s a passion project for me,” Galvan said.
Currently, “Still Crazy” is a semi-finalist for the Hoodox PitchDox competition, Galvan said. If the documentary wins the competition, they would receive $10,000 to go toward completing the documentary, he said.
People can vote for “Still Crazy” on the Hoodox website under the PitchDox tab.
The documentary will be shown during the crew’s 40th anniversary celebration at the South Shore Center for Visual and Performing Arts in October 2026.
akukulka@post-trib.com
