A TOP graffiti artist has called for councils to provide public spaces for legal street painting.

Professional street artist Tony Brady, from Hulme, who paints under the name Kayze, made his call at an exhibition in Manchester celebrating street art and hip hop music.

The Upper Space gallery on Newton Street, in the Northern Quarter, invited street artists from all over the world to take part in the exhibition.

The event was set up to encourage people to ask whether graffiti was art or crime.

Thomas `TJ' Dolan, 20, was sentenced to 15 months in jail last year for spraying graffiti on railway property with his tag `Kreky'. His friend Thomas Whitaker, 19, was jailed for 12 months after the pair, from Macclesfield, caused damage worth £13,000.

The sentences triggered a huge campaign and the convictions were quashed on appeal.

Over the weekend, spray artists were asked to transform the outside of the Upper Space gallery as well as paint canvasses erected on the walls inside.

Gallery bosses wanted to highlight the artistic skills of the painters, as well as asking local councils to provide somewhere safe and legal for them to express themselves.

Tony, 38, said: "I've always done it legally. I've painted all around Hulme on buildings the council were knocking down.

"From that, I got a lot of commissions, painting a set for EastEnders and the Beastie Boys' shop in New York.

"Just because you own a spray can doesn't mean you are a detriment to society - I do a lot of good with my time and I've worked with disabled kids and young offenders.

"I've been professional for 16 or 17 years and I've travelled the world. I've made up to £20,000 for one commission - I've done really well out of it.

"Manchester is a brand new city and whether it's in the city or just outside, there should be somewhere people can just paint in front of their friends."

Earlier this year, Tony spray-painted a tribute to the late pop mogul Tony Wilson, after the former Factory Records boss died of a heart attack.

Measuring 28ft across and standing 8ft high, the Ancoats painting pictures Wilson smiling wryly against a backdrop of his pioneering Manchester nightclub, the Haçienda.

Tony dedicated the mural to Wilson's partner Yvette Livesey, who became his agent in 2001. She and Wilson helped him make the transition from graffiti guerrilla to exhibited artist, he says.
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