Atlanta graffiti-style writer VAYNE explains the magic behind his notoriety

For some artists, Atlanta is a giant canvas. And that seems to be true for VAYNE, one of our city’s most notorious, admiree and internationally recognized graffiti-style writers. You’ve likely seen his name in huge block letters, sprayed or paint-rolled on some of Atlanta’s seemingly impossible-to-reach billboards and overpasses. “All Over the Place” is the first-ever solo exhibition of VAYNE’s art, and it opens Cat Eye Creative on Nov. 9. VAYNE joined managing producer Kim Drobes on “City Lights” to discuss the lifestyle of an anonymous icon. VAYNE’s identity was masked for the interview, his voice distorted and pitch-shifted, at the artist’s request. “For me, graffiti is magical, and it has a bunch of mystique to it,” he explained of his request to stay difficult to identify. “When I think of … other graffiti artists that have done big things before me or people that I’ve looked up to, [I used to] want to know who they are, what kind of person they are and stuff like that … But once you kind of figure out those things about them, the magic is kind of lost.” The other, more obvious reason for staying anonymous is, of course, “because some people...