In his latter-day work, Greco has been shifting from the rigid practice of graphic lettering to a more imaginative style since beginning to practice as a Toltec, or man of knowledge. His increasingly abstracted typography looks at once like someone put ancient writing from every world culture in a blender—and like an altogether alien language of its own. “The reason that Arabic, Hebrew, Gothic and Roman calligraphy look the same to some extent is because of the tool: It’s a chisel pen,” says Greco, explaining that written languages, and calligraphy, all derive from just seven directional marks that can be made within a graphic space (such as vertical, horizontal, and left and right curves). “Elements of this exist in many cultures, but they never really put it together the way I did.” Which is to say that Greco, who was never formally trained in the calligraphic arts, is an ardent autodidact. He has lately begun to call his art “Toltec calligraffiti,” in honor of his philosophy, his calligraphy and the fact that
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DTLA BOOK 2018
STENCILED STYLE TOP LEFT: Greco in front of his mural Save the Planet. He’s wearing a Calvin Klein jacket, made for his 2016 solo show at the former LosJoCos Gallery, on which he stenciled and handpainted his Toltec calligraffiti designs. RIGHT, FROM TOP: His original hand-lettered, ink-onMylar title art for the 1993 film The Age of Innocence, the LAPD’s D.A.R.E. program and the 1984 film Splash.