Graffiti Art
“Existence and Everyday”
Graffiti is the art of regular people; these people are not considered artists but the criminalised voice of the populace. For most artists, gaining recognition and selling their works for high-prices is a life-long aspiration and for the most recognition doesn’t happen before death. Graffiti artists don’t have these ambitions and from city to coast we can admit to admiring the aesthetic value and eccentric expressions that are portrayed by Graffiti artists. They portray quirky, humorous artworks and provide a political voice for the lower class people of the world. Largely emerging in the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s, Graffiti was the people’s way of expressing their feelings about anti-consumerism, anti-war, feminist and political issues. It is the art that has attitude and makes every surface of a city an installation that brings people together and provokes thought about the world as it is. A largely popular quasi-anonymous graffiti artist that is supposedly from Bristol, England is Banksy. As his artworks were considered criminal he ensured that his real name was not discovered by the media and to this day remains anonymous. Inspired by local artists and the Bristol underground scene, Banksy initially employed freehand and stencilling techniques to create his pieces but later converted to stencilling entirely after “realising how much less time it took to complete a piece” (Wikipedia, 2008). He used graffiti to “promote alternative aspects of politics from those promoted by mainstream media” (Sewell, 2010) and provided a voice for people affected by political issues that could not express their emotions.
It is highly debated as to whether graffiti is in fact art or vandalism with many people regarding the work of Banksy and similar artists such as Blek le Rat and Jef Aerosol as straight up criminal destruction. In regards to Banksy’s work being vandalism he states that “Some people become cops because they want to make the
Graffiti is the art of regular people; these people are not considered artists but the criminalised voice of the populace. For most artists, gaining recognition and selling their works for high-prices is a life-long aspiration and for the most recognition doesn’t happen before death. Graffiti artists don’t have these ambitions and from city to coast we can admit to admiring the aesthetic value and eccentric expressions that are portrayed by Graffiti artists. They portray quirky, humorous artworks and provide a political voice for the lower class people of the world. Largely emerging in the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s, Graffiti was the people’s way of expressing their feelings about anti-consumerism, anti-war, feminist and political issues. It is the art that has attitude and makes every surface of a city an installation that brings people together and provokes thought about the world as it is. A largely popular quasi-anonymous graffiti artist that is supposedly from Bristol, England is Banksy. As his artworks were considered criminal he ensured that his real name was not discovered by the media and to this day remains anonymous. Inspired by local artists and the Bristol underground scene, Banksy initially employed freehand and stencilling techniques to create his pieces but later converted to stencilling entirely after “realising how much less time it took to complete a piece” (Wikipedia, 2008). He used graffiti to “promote alternative aspects of politics from those promoted by mainstream media” (Sewell, 2010) and provided a voice for people affected by political issues that could not express their emotions.
It is highly debated as to whether graffiti is in fact art or vandalism with many people regarding the work of Banksy and similar artists such as Blek le Rat and Jef Aerosol as straight up criminal destruction. In regards to Banksy’s work being vandalism he states that “Some people become cops because they want to make the
Bibliography: Ciuraru, C., 2006. Writing on the Wall. [Online] Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20061113004456/http://www.tonykids.com/features/13/k13.ft.writing.html Hofschroer, M., 2010. Blek Le Rat is Banksy 's Biggest Influence. [Online] Available at: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/blek-le-rat-is-banksy-s-biggest-influence-119756 Sewell, B., 2010. Banksy Biography. [Online] Available at: http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html Vidar, 2011. Street Art Utopia. [Online] Available at: http://www.streetartutopia.com/?p=720 Wikipedia, 2008. Banksy. [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy