Paris Street Art

Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations. Typically, the term street art or the more specific post-graffiti is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

Artists have challenged art by situating it in non-art contexts. ‘Street’ artists do not aspire to change the definition of an artwork, but rather to question the existing environment with its own language. They attempt to have their work communicate with everyday people about socially relevant themes in ways that are informed by esthetic values without being imprisoned by them. In 1981, Washington Project for the Arts held an exhibition entitled Street Art, which included John Fekner, Fab Five Freddy and Lee Quinones working directly on the streets. Fekner, a pioneer in urban art, is included in Cedar Lewisohn’s book Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution , which accompanied the 2008 Street Art exhibiton at the Tate Modern in England which Lewisohn was the curator. John Fekner is quoted as defining street art as, “all art on the street that’s not graffiti.”

The motivations and objectives that drive street artists are as varied as the artists themselves. There is a strong current of activism and subversion in urban art. Street art can be a powerful platform for reaching the public, and frequent themes include adbusting, subvertising and other culture jamming, the abolishment of private property and reclaiming the streets. Other street artists simply see urban space as an untapped format for personal artwork, while others may appreciate the challenges and risks that are associated with installing illicit artwork in public places. However the universal theme in most, if not all street art, is that adapting visual artwork into a format which utilizes public space, allows artists who may otherwise feel disenfranchised, to reach a much broader audience than traditional artwork and galleries normally allow.

The 1990 book “Soho Walls – Beyond Graffiti” by David Robinson documents the paradigm shift in New York from the text based precedents established by the graffiti artists towards art in the streets such as the shadow figures by Richard Hambleton and a group of five young New York artists working collectively under the moniker AVANT.

Techniques

Whereas traditional graffiti artists have primarily used free-hand aerosol paints to produce their works, "street art" encompasses many other media and techniques, including;

• Mosaic tiling
• Murals
• Stencil art
• Sticker art
• Street installations
• Wheatpasting
• Woodblocking
• Video projection/LED art
• Yarn bombing

Traditional graffiti also has increasingly been adopted as a method for advertising; its trajectory has even in some cases led to its artists' working on contract as graphic artists for corporations. Street art is a label often adopted by artists who wish to keep their work unaffiliated, and strongly political. Street artists are those whose work is still largely done without official approval in public areas.

For these reasons street art is sometimes considered "post-graffiti" and sometimes even "neo-graffiti." Street art can be found around the world and street artists often travel to other countries foreign to them so they can spread their designs.

Street artists

Street artists such as Above, Jef Aérosol, Banksy, BLU, Cartrain, Ces53, D*Face, Ellis Gallagher, Tod Hanson, Neck Face, Os Gemeos, Swoon, Twist, and 108, have earned international attention for their work and have shown their works in museums or galleries as well as on the street. It is also not uncommon for street artists to achieve commercial success (e.g., Ash, Shepard Fairey, Faile, and WK Interact), doing graphics for other companies or starting their own merchandising lines. Other pioneers of street art who have completely discontinued street art (e.g., Richard Hambleton and members of AVANT) have also successfully pursued their contemporary art careers in galleries and museums.

Key locations

While practically every large city in the world and some of the larger regional towns, host some form of street art or graffiti, there are a few locations that are considered to harbour forerunners of particular mediums or foster a pioneering street art culture in general. Such locations often attract internationally known street artists who travel to these locations to exhibit their works. The following is an incomplete list of a few of the most notable locations;

• Berlin , Germany - has attracted attention to international street artists since the reunification of the city making it one of Europe's street art strongholds. A lot of bizarre post-communist locations, cheap rents and ramshackle buildings gave rise to a vibrant street art scene. Hotspots include; Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain.

• Bristol , U.K. - also is part of a vibrant street art scene due in part to the success of Banksy.

• Melbourne , Australia ( see Street Art in Melbourne ) - home to one of the world's most active and diverse street art cultures, and a pioneer in the stencil medium. Street artists such as Banksy have often exhibited works on Melbourne's streets. Key locations within the city include; Brunswick, Carlton, Fitzroy, Northcote and the city centre including Hosier Lane.

• São Paulo , Brazil - generally viewed as one of the capitals of street art, and particularly murals. The lively and colourful atmosphere of the city is reflected in the street art scene, quickly evolving into one of the biggest and best in the world, drawing in many artists from around the world to collaborate.

• New York City , USA - considered the home of modern graffiti, New York City has a thriving street art scene.

Gallery

References

1. ^ Schwartzman, Allan, Street Art , The Dial Press, Doubleday & Co., New York, NY 1985 ISBN 0-385-19950-3
2. ^ Lewisohn Cedar, Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution, Tate Museum, London, England 2008 ISBN-978-1-85437-767-8
3. ^ Lewisohn Cedar, Street Art: The Graffiti Revolution, Tate Museum, London, England 2008 ISBN-978-1-85437-767-8
4. ^ David Robinson, Soho Walls – Beyond Graffiti, Thames & Hudson, NY, 1990, ISBN 978-0500276020
5. ^ http://avant-streetart.com/avant_street_art_1980s_New_York.htm
6. ^ For the development of style in this medium, as well as an examination of the political, cultural, and social commentary of its artists, see the anthropological history of New York subway graffiti art, Getting Up: Subway Graffiti in New York , by Craig Castleman, a student of Margaret Mead, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1982.
7. ^ As just one example, note the Bronx-based group Tats Cru, whose members began as a subway graffiti crew, but whose work covers traditional neighborhood memorial walls, public schools, hospitals, representation at the Smithsonian Institution's 35th Folklife Festival, and also logo and advertising design for such corporations as Snapple and McDonald's. Some of their work can be found on their website, <www.tatscru.com>.
8. ^ "Neo-graffiti" is a term coined by Tokion Magazine in the title of its Neo-Graffiti Project 2000, which featured "classic" subway graffiti artists working in new media; others have called this phenomenon "urban art." A discussion by the Wooster Collective on terminology can be found at <http://www.woostercollective.com/2004/01/what_the_hell_should_we_call_i.html>.
9. ^ WK Interact Book "2.5 - New York Street Life", Drago Publishing, 2009 (ISBN 9788888493442)
10. ^ Jorge Rodriguez Gerada - artjammer.com

Documentary films

• RASH (2005), A feature length documentary film which explores the cultural value of Melbourne street art and graffiti.
• Bomb It (2008), A documentary film about graffiti and street art around the world.
• Rock Fresh (2004) A documentary film about the challenging world of the graffiti artist.

Festivals

• The first ever street art festival was held in Melbourne in 2004.

• Wacken festival in Germany is an annual Blackened Party art gallery

See also

• List of street artists
• Mission School
• Reclaim the streets
• Street installations
• Street Poster Art
• Wooster Collective

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