Street Art: A Rebellious Revolution
STREET ART:
A REBELLIOUS REVOLUTION
--Rian French
Rebellion is a healthy thing. It keeps our civilization from becoming stagnant. It keeps the art world from becoming stagnant. It is the status quo and it keeps it on its toes. Why should art be sanctioned by permission, inside a neat little gallery o museum or something? Why can’t art just be the expression of humans wherever the hell they please? -Lady Pink (Artist/Street Art) Street art is an ever growing phenomenon which can be found all over country, even all over the world for that matter. The term ‘street art’ usually refers to unsanctioned art created by an individual with the purpose of making a statement; this can include but is not limited to traditional graffiti artwork, sculpture, stencil graffiti, wheatpasting, street poster art, and the ever more popular sticker art. Typically the term street art, or post-graffiti, is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art. Most street art contains a meaning, be it political or social, which is intended to influence its viewer. I have found street art to be unique to each individual artist but small cultural variations can be seen in different parts of the country. My goal was to determine if street was actually culturally influenced or if this art was simply unique to the artist.
When did street art first appear?
Initial research pointed to a type of revolution; street artists believe their work is marking a ‘new beginning’ of an art revolution similar to the abstract art moment in the 19th century. Clearly this movement was created with the intention of forming a new culture or shaping current culture into something completely different. This revolution experts claim to have started in New York in the 1960’s. It seemingly begun with a small group of young adults spray painting words and other images on walls and trains with the intent of making a statement or proving a point. This
A REBELLIOUS REVOLUTION
--Rian French
Rebellion is a healthy thing. It keeps our civilization from becoming stagnant. It keeps the art world from becoming stagnant. It is the status quo and it keeps it on its toes. Why should art be sanctioned by permission, inside a neat little gallery o museum or something? Why can’t art just be the expression of humans wherever the hell they please? -Lady Pink (Artist/Street Art) Street art is an ever growing phenomenon which can be found all over country, even all over the world for that matter. The term ‘street art’ usually refers to unsanctioned art created by an individual with the purpose of making a statement; this can include but is not limited to traditional graffiti artwork, sculpture, stencil graffiti, wheatpasting, street poster art, and the ever more popular sticker art. Typically the term street art, or post-graffiti, is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art. Most street art contains a meaning, be it political or social, which is intended to influence its viewer. I have found street art to be unique to each individual artist but small cultural variations can be seen in different parts of the country. My goal was to determine if street was actually culturally influenced or if this art was simply unique to the artist.
When did street art first appear?
Initial research pointed to a type of revolution; street artists believe their work is marking a ‘new beginning’ of an art revolution similar to the abstract art moment in the 19th century. Clearly this movement was created with the intention of forming a new culture or shaping current culture into something completely different. This revolution experts claim to have started in New York in the 1960’s. It seemingly begun with a small group of young adults spray painting words and other images on walls and trains with the intent of making a statement or proving a point. This
Citations: Lawrence, Tom. "Art Alley 's Colorful 'curator '" Rapid City Weekly News 09 Nov. 2006. Print. Lewisohn, Cedar. Street Art: the Graffiti Revolution. New York, NY: Abrams, 2008. Print. Nguyen, Patrick, and Stuart MacKenzie. Beyond the Street: the 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art. Berlin: Gestalten, 2010. Print. Rawlings, Jerry. " 'Art Alley ' Provides Startling, Often Beautiful Works." Rapid City Weekly News 21 Dec. 2005. Print. "Street Art." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_art>. "Street Artists | New Culture of the Cities." Articles in Easy, Understandable English for ESL Learners. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. <http://www.english-online.at/art-architecture/street-art/graffiti-street-artists.htm>.