Accouchement Of Street Art
Art In general into public spaces and walls have been common since ages. Many early dwellers used walls of caves as mediums to convey messages and teachings. Writing on walls has been very fascinating for humans to communicate better and it dates back to as of 50000 years, the first ever oldest cave painting discovered in Spain.
Graffiti and mural art in public places started around 1970’s in Philadelphia and New York and evolved into street art (Ross, 2016).
However, with time this form of art has resulted into an identity for a certain group of people and has started to be recognised as a form of folk art.
When Street art or graffiti was adapted by other parts of the world it was recognised as a modified version of art blended into their culture.
But, along with it around many parts of the world, it started escalating as a crime as it was considered as destruction of public property in the name of art and harsh actions were taken to enforce it.
People also started using art on public property or walls to show their aggression or disagreement towards the government or people in power to bring in change.
50 years down the line of evolution of street art, people started using it for various purposes and in spite of it being called illegal through the years, it evolved to be accepted as a form of art and beautification or for promotional purposes around the world.
Gradually, art on walls and graffiti evolved into a movement and was first ever introduced by a 18 year old boy’ CornBread’ who was known for his trouble making skills as a kid.
The evolution of graffiti has been long since then and better, earlier when graffiti was used for rebellious outroar , it shifted into touristy spots , where people started calling it a form of art to be enjoyed visually.
The Voodoo Perspective
As the art grew as a movement, it was taken up by many different people and perceived differently in different parts of the world. It represented a public form of expression which was used to portray different emotions of the artists. Few took it up into their own hands and made it a form for expression of disagreement, being destructive to public spaces and property.
People started developing the kind of a mindset where they wanted to express their thoughts but going against the rules. Alongside it also developed punk culture and other cultures which were very accommodative of such art. These cultures were pretty much disapproved of by society and were considered to be the dark side of the growing society. It developed into the transgressive part of the society which was being ignored and made its own set of rules for the distinguished world they wanted to carry forward.
And therefore it turned into a hideous part of the society, which faced a lot of criticism and surfaced underground for a long period of time.
Society considered the expression of such art to be very much of a crime, as it involved destruction of public property but on the contrary few artists considered it as a new art form and art movement that has developed and was appreciative of it. It was known for its thriving subculture.
Transition
Street art has experienced transition in many perspectives and has travelled a long way to be today called a successful art movement. The transitional phases of it have seen its own highs and lows through decades, being called illegal at times to being recognised and valued as a very cohesive, commercially successful art movement.
Over time, street art became enormously accepted and matured as a medium to conveyance and deliverance, easily to be picked up by the Society, So much so that it was renamed to be Urban Art later on.
Street art never remained the same as its history suggests. It gained popularity and acceptance.
Street art’s journey to the walls of a museum from the walls along the streets was long and bumpy but, this was made a reality by very promising and bold artists like Banksy and many such similar artists, who defined issues to the public through their art. Such art provided a visual interaction that moved emotional strings for the common public and sparked change. Such art started getting recognition and started occupying the walls of museums.
Street art began to be curated, as it held value of change that could be stirred into the society. Banksy’s work started to be valued. The tag of street art being a vandalised form of art was termed logical and came into the good books of appreciation.
It gained recognition and started to be curated, it changed to a movement , considered emotionally intertwined into the society for a change. Connecting each and every individual coming across the piece of art, that could be rejoiced by all, without involvement of currency and mediums that obstructed the message or motif, street art had to reach masses and bring change.
Reference List
A History of Graffiti – The 60’s and 70’s (2018) SprayPlanet By Montana Colors. Available at: https://www.sprayplanet.com/blogs/news/a-history-of-graffiti-the-60s-and-70s (Accessed: August 25, 2023).
Fincher, B. (December16,2019) The Evolution of Street Art, Canvas. Available at: https://canvas.saatchiart.com/art/art-history-101/the-evolution-of-street-art (Accessed: August 20, 2023).
Olivier, C. (2017) Street Art: Commercialised vandalism or a form of art? In what ways did Banksy influence the acceptance of street art into galleries?
Ross, J. I. (2016) Handbook of Graffiti and Street Art. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wrest, R. (2012) GRAFFITI AS VANDALISM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE INTENTIONS, INFLUENCE, AND GROWTH OF GRAFFITI. California State University.
