Street Art

Key Developments and Influences in Street Art Historical and contemporary developments

Introduction

History of Graffiti

The word graffiti is a plural of graffiti and it was used in the late 18th and early 19th

centuries when studies of Pompeii discovered wall markings. These markings were

described as an uncultured art form. The graffiti in Pompeii was AD 14-86 during Nero’s

reign. In the Roman world, graffiti was only the way to talk back to the authority.

People began to give negative attitude towards graffiti around 19th century because it

started to be associated with the lower level elements of society. In the 1930’s a

photographer called Brassai brought graffiti back to the public's eyes through this

pictures documentation. Brassai was a close friend of Pablo Picasso and many more,

Picasso also admits that when he was young he copied ideas from graffiti on walls.

Pros of Graffiti Cons of Graffiti

Graffiti and political issues. Some people see graffiti as being Vulgar.

It can be used to raise money for charity.

Graffiti can be used for gangs to mark their territory, this can be viewed in a negative point of view.

Graffiti can be inspirational, Emotional and cultural.

Bad influence on children.

It can be decorative and make an empty space look good.

Its costs the government a large amount of money for Graffiti Removal.

Tagging

Tag can also be used as a verb meaning "to sign".

Writers often tag on or beside their pieces, because

they want to be remembered.

Facts and figures for Graffiti

● The most commonly reported targeted areas in 2015 – 2016 in the UK were:

● Residential dwellings - 26.8%

● Public transport – 19.7%

● Business/Commercial – 18.6%

● Outdoor public places – 15.3%

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Street Art

Street Art Pros Street Art Cons

Freedom of Expression Can be viewed as vandalism

It gives life to a blank wall It is illegal unless they get permissions

Street art is cheaper and more accessible Money for removals comes from people’s pocket not the government's.

It expresses a political and personal issues.

Vapors from the spray paints are released into the atmosphere.

What is the history of street art where and why did it start?

Street Art has been around since the 70s and evolved from the freestyle graffiti seen in

the New York City subways and streets. Some earliest expressions of street art were

certainly the graffiti which started showing up on the sides of train cars and walls. As the

culture started spreading around with the rise of hip hop in the 1980s, so did the stencil

graffiti genre. Stencils began to appear in cities all around the world from New York City

to Melbourne, Australia, however the artist stayed anonymous and kept it as a mystery to

the subculture. The first traces of stencil graffiti were seen with the work of John Fekner.

He was the first to move his art outdoors. He would spray paint stenciled words, symbols,

dates and icons linking to the environmental and social concerns. He painted his stencils

in New York City, England, Sweden and Germany. The Artists wanted everyone to see

their work and the easiest way possible was to move it outdoor in the open space where

everyone could see it.

What is the characteristics of street art – define it what counts as street art and what doesn’t?

Street art can come in many forms as in recent years, there are different works of graffiti

that have been decidedly labeled as works of art rather than works of vandalism. There

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is not much of a difference when it comes to graffiti and street art, it has come into

debate whether certain works quality as art or not. Street artist do not aspire to change

the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own

language.

What has it been influenced by?

Most of the artist get influenced by looking at different artists and how they work.

However, street artist wants to communicate directly with the public at large, street artist

sometimes present socially relevant content regarding the things going on with the

environment. They found their streets or their hometown “BORING” so most artists

started graffiting around old trains and around streets to make their hometown more

alive.

What relationship does it have to other art forms?

Artists weren't allowed to graffiti everywhere and it was known as vandalism originally.

What impact has it had on society and art?

Artists have turned to street art to gain their countries governments attentions. More

rules are being put in place to stop the street art, but theses artists are not backing down

and want to be heard. In thailand, a group of young artists are standing up with the

people of Myanmar. They are saying, “ The government has no respect for the laws,

religions or the country’s youth.” Also in Myanmar the government does not grant artists

access to work on public spaces.

How has technology had an impact eg the design and printing process?

Stencil - Painting with the use of a homemade stencil,

usually a paper or cardboard cutout,to create an

image that can be easily reproduced.

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Sticker - sticker art is usually known as postmodern art.

Artists use homemade stickers to put the message out in

public.

Video Projection - Digitally projecting a computer-manipulated image onto a surface via

a light and projection system.

Yarn Bombing - Yarn Bombing is a type of street

art that employs colourful displays of knitted or

crocheted cloth rather than paint or chalk.

Flash Mobbing - A large group of people who

assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an

unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse.

This can be considered mass public performance art.

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What art / design movement is it part of?

Modern artist in cities such as Miami, are embracing graffiti as a legitimate art form,

trying to enhance the reputation of graffiti artists.

What is the wider cultural context? Think how it documents significant events wars, social change, politics, migration, freedom of speech, individualism.

Graffiti has been into many categories with criminals, minorities and inner cities gangs or

punks. It has been categorised as vandalism, with ideas that suggest a decrease in

property value, or in turn poor areas. Street arts are all around the world and it means a

lot to some artists. It has been used from the medieval times but they used to show their

art by drawing around grounds etc for example in Australia the Aboriginal art also relates

to Street and graffiti art as the aboriginal artists used dots to get their image done.

How is it used and created around the World and in other cultures?

Graffiti has to be one of the most democratic methods of plastic expression these days. It

decorates abandoned buildings, gives colour to dark spots in the city, and most of all it

shows different means of expression for artists who are unable to reach out to the big

world. It’s also a form of cultural expression.

Graffiti is growing and there are various different graffiti around the world.

Singapore

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Haji lane is a hipster neighbourhood in the downtown of Singapore. All walls here are

covered with colourful graffiti. In general paintings topics are to buildings purposes for

example, fashion shops have huge portraits of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe and

restaurant's’ walls are covered with food illustrations.

Istanbul Turkey

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Turkey is continuously growing and developing, drawing international artists as well as

local. It has interesting displays. Boyali Eller, a well-known graffiti artist in Turkey, created

this artwork where pop culture meets sarcastic humor and equals incredible street art.

He manages to mix mainstream phenomenon with old school ideas. The best example

being three Angry Birds displaying the proverbial principle of see no evil, hear no evil,

speak no evil”.

Bomb IT

Its an international graffiti and street art documentary directed by Jon Reiss. It explores the interplay between worldwide graffiti movements. It was filmed on five continents featuring cities such as New York, Cape Town, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Berlin and Sao Paulo.

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Bansky

He is an anonymous England based graffiti artist. He often draws in high visibility public

places such as on buildings or train stations. His paintings are often about politics, war

and other important topics. Hes graffiti is done with a stenciling techniques, he believes

that stencilling is much more easier than spray painting. His graffiti are mostly on street,

walls and bridges of cities all around the world. He likes to remain anonymous and not

let people know his identity.

Some of his work:

Space Invaders

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Space invaders is known for his uses of tiles and all his works are illegal, but he still

continues with this because he wants to be known. He took his name from the 1987

arcade game Space Invaders, and much of his work is composed of square ceramic tiles

inspired by video games characters. He works incognito, often masked and largely at

night. When it comes to interview he pixelates his own image or covers his face by

wearing a mask. He is only known by few people.

Some of his work:

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Shepard Fairey

Frank Shepard Fairey is an American street artist, Graphic designer and illustrator who emerged for the skateboarding scene. He is well known for his ‘Andre the giant has a posse’ (OBEY) campaign. He is also widely known during the 2008 presidential election for his Barack Obama “Hope’ poster. Shepard Fairey’s work has been used in screen-prints, stencils, stickers, masking film illustrations, wheat paste, collages, sculptures, posters, paintings, and murals. Shepard Fairey enjoys working with the colors black, white, and red.

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Some of his work:

Cornbread Darryl McCray known by his name “Cornbread” is a graffiti artist from Philadelphia, credited with being the first modern graffiti artist. During the late 1960’s he and a group of friends started “tagging” in Philadelphia by writing their nicknames all around the streets of Philadelphia. And this is how tagging got famous, it also got famous around europe in the early 1980’s. He has developed a close friendship with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. He is also a public speaker to the young youth.

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Pop ART

Andy Warhol was an american artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement

known as Pop Art. Pop Art is meant to be fun. Pop Art began in the 1950s, but became

very popular in the 1960s. It started in the United Kingdom, but became a true art

movement in New York City with artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. Pop Art uses

images and icons that are popular in the modern world.

Andy warhol's was the most famous pop

artist. His work consisted of prints using

repeated images of familiar images from

everyday life, including banknotes, soup cans

and Marilyn Monroe.

Bibliography

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/fall09/gurrey_s/evolution.html

http://www.widewalls.ch/defining-street-art/defining-street-art-does-not-have-a-conclusi

on/

http://artradarjournal.com/2010/01/21/what-is-street-art-vandalism-graffiti-or-public-art-

part-i/

https://dstarlip.wordpress.com

https://bkpk.me/streetart-graffiti-around-the-world/

http://schriftfarbe.com/the-difference-between-street-art-and-graffiti

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http://www.streetartbio.com/shepard-fairey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

http://www.widewalls.ch/is-urban-art-the-new-pop-art/

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