Is Graffiti Art?

It’s the great debate in street art; is spray paint on concrete, brick and board; art, or is it just mischief? Does it depend upon the generation of the viewer, the subject matter or the consent of the “canvas” owner? Like all art the validity and the worth is entirely up to the viewer. There isn’t a universally recognised system assigning some sort of numeric value for art. You can’t look in a directory and see that the Mona Lisa is a 97.5, that drawing you did of a cow in the third grade a 23 and Castro stencilled onto a bus shelter a N/A. Thankfully beauty and art really is in the eye of the beholder. Where some people see vandalism, defacement and angst-fuelled youth looking for kicks – others see more, much, much more. In my mind it’s the cave drawings of the 21st century.

Scoff if you will – but remember that these artists are giving away their art, they are not selling it. They are creating art for the sake of art - all awhile commercial art is becoming more and more homogenized, these artists are truly looking outside the square and pushing the boundaries of artistic, and often politically fuelled, expression.

Two things you must know – one is a person and the other is a term. Let’s start with the terminology. Tagging – this isn’t art. This is when some guy comes and spray paints his name on some random wall, bus shelter or any space – this is the graffiti that gives all gorilla art a bad name. Tagging looks like shit, it’s the product of idiotic vandals that should be made to clean it up – this isn’t the art that I love, don’t get them confused.

The second thing you need to know is a name – Banksy. Banksy is a superstar in the world of urban art. He’s exhibited in the Louvre, The Tate and The Met. His art has transcended the medium and has validated urban art as a genre in many ways – he is the Picasso of the gorilla art world. And the pièce de résistance – nobody knows who he is…

Have a look at these pieces and see if you still think this is “graffiti”…



http://www.banksy.co.uk/menu.html

Cheers,
Scott