Philly’s Prominent Graffiti Tag Explained

The iconic tag “Boner 4ever” painted in huge symbols on the historic Beury Building on North Broad was brought to special attention when developers announced an upcoming renovation.

The famous graffiti is featured on both sides of the 14-story building, with it reading “Forever Boner” when seen from the south side.

People rallied to the art’s cause when word of the possible demolition reached the news.  It escalated to the point where the developers have promised to pay homage to the artwork in their remodel.

Although many theories have surfaced to explain the famous graffiti, Culture Livingston, a former graffiti artist from the late 80s and 90s who went by DENSKE stated that the tag represents two artists who decided to just go out writing.

Livingston said that one of the artists, Boner, is from the Brooklyn area who came to Philly to write, while the other artist, Forever is a Philly artist whose tags include “kid,” “4ever” and “4eva.”

The city of Philadelphia has attracted artists from around the world because of the city’s unique handstyle, a term in the graffiti culture which means the unique handwriting or signature tag of a specific artist.