For fifteen years, Peter Rosenstein has been scouting the boroughs of New York City to photograph the very best graffiti murals. His curiosity and energy, along with his extraordinary ability to capture the essence of the murals, has resulted in nearly two thousand color images and an unparalleled documentation of an art which very often is destroyed. Tattooed Walls features over one hundred photographs from Rosenstein's expeditions to the Bronx, Harlem, Spanish Harlem, the Lower East Side, the East Village, and Brooklyn.

The contemporary urban murals in Tattooed Walls depict a wide range of the human condition. They celebrate life; they mourn death; they express religious devotion; they are a communication medium for gang rivalries; they assert political opinions; and some simply bring a splash of color to a drab neighborhood wall. Down the block from vibrant spray-can creations are trompe l'oeil murals, a centuries-old technique meant to deceive the eye. Memorial murals are particularly moving in the lives they commemorate and in the statement they make against neighborhood violence.

Though a few New York muralists—such as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat— achieved worldwide recognition, the majority work in obscurity and exist in a tight-knit world in which their fame is limited to their peers. Tattooed Walls includes a brief interview with the legendary artist and political activist De La Vega whose territory is Spanish Harlem, and a commentary from the artist Chico. It also features a foreword by artist and gallery owner Stefan Eins, who was one of the first in the broader art world to recognize and promote graffiti art.