The mainstream artworld has had a love/hate relationship with graffiti. On the “good press” side, talented creatives such as Banksy have made walls a place to put a political point across, employing stencils to produce technically challenging graphics with a nuanced political point. This sort of graffiti was likely to get fashionable with the public and the art critics : attractive to both eye and intellect. This type of graffiti is now even bought as graffiti prints, and hung on the walls of middle class homes and corporate reception areas.
Yet, what of the familiar sort - the gangbanger, the tagger, the street urchin - this sort of graffiti is frequently seen as hooliganism, a crime committed by the untalented. But is graffiti just an artform? To many individuals, it’s not just art, but a means to put your stamp on a neighbourhood, or even a rejection of society altogether : anti-establishment, anti-social, even anti-art.
Spraying has invariably been a secret pursuit, even though the results are public facing. The targeted audience is often unknown. Is it for a rival crew? A communication to a single person? To the public at large? Or….maybe it’s simply gratuitous and out of nothing to do.
Whatever the reasons, there appears to be a permanent need to spray graffiti on walls. Some cities have acknowledged that graffiti isn’t a short-term craze, so they’ve marked off areas where graffiti is permitted - normally unoccupied areas, but now and then more civic areas like boarding around urban buildings under construction.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.