Public Art: Street Art

In today’s day and age, the lines between Public Art, Graffiti, Street Art and Urban Art are very blurred. Three weeks ago I started this series on Public Art, looking at its origins, moving to its development into the private sector, and then looking at graffiti. Today I discuss Street Art (and all its accompanying branches).

Generally speaking, Street Art is any art which is developed within public spaces – almost like a modern version of Public Art, with the exception of being unsanctioned by any official organization. The term encompasses many methods of art making and is even referred to as post-graffiti in some circles in order to distinguish it from vandalism and corporate art.

In recent times, Street Art and its developing subculture has gained popularity in many branches of society and is now becoming a predominant art form. Many professionals in the art industry are putting more effort into learning Street Art terminology and styles in order to develop into a marketable art form.

What is the motivation behind Street Art? The inspiration for the art created depends on what that particular artist or group is trying to say – there is nearly always an explicit message behind the finished product. Some artists or groups comment on current social conditions while other make political statements, but the underlying theme of Street Art remains the challenge of adapting visual art within a public space and reaching a wider audience.

Urban Art is one of the various spin-offs from street Art. While Urban Art is in some ways similar to Street Art, Urban Art is inspired by urban areas and architecture as well as the urban lifestyle. It is an expression of the daily trails and triumphs of the people living in urban areas and also acts as a mouthpiece for them.

Urban Art tends to speak for itself, the implications of the images are quite apparent. A tree painted against a building is likely to represent the yearning for nature within an urban environment while the image of a child disarming a soldier is a clear indication that a society wants warfare to stop.

Another branch of Street Art is Guerilla Art, which is the practice of creating art pieces (generally installation pieces) and then leaving them anonymously in public places. Anonymity is the essence of Guerilla Art and it is a very effective way for an artist to not only bring a point across to a large audience, but to create greater interest in the art work as a result of this anonymity. An impressively famous example of Guerilla Art is the bronze sculpture, Charging Bull created by Arturo Di Modica which was originally placed in front of the New York Stock Exchange and which became so popular that it was later installed as a permanent display in Bowling Green Plaza.

This concludes the series on Public Art.

Blessings,

Mel

Sources:

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

Interesting sites:

http://www.capetownmagazine.com/arts-culture/Exploring-the-NotSoSilent-Urban-Art/104_22_10231

http://weburbanist.com/2009/06/14/20-subversive-works-of-urban-guerrilla-street-art/

Featured image sources:

http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html

http://stitchinnetka.tumblr.com/post/5333860506/great-urban-art-example-that-would-be-so-great-to

http://www.an-mag.com/street-art-isnt-just-for-the-streets-anymore/

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5926278