Graffiti Street Art
As the term "Graffiti Street Art" nudges its way into the legitimate art world's vernacular, it is interesting to recall that in the 1970's, "graffiti" referred to illegal, quickly made works that were ephemeral and not very "artistic."
There was also graffiti's cousin, "Street Art," legal, artistic murals and installations. While street art can be applied to any art created or displayed on a street, including performance art, visual street art (some in museums and galleries, as with Banksy and Shepard Fairey) often addresses socially relevant themes without vandalizing property.
"Street art, with its strong social messages, is controlled, refined, and sophisticated in technique. In contrast graffiti art is considered more free hand and colorful," explains Newport Beach, CA gallerist Brett Rubbico.
(Yet, graffiti and street art, as related art forms, in time were combined as "graffiti street art," in many cases.)
Soon after the advent of graffiti, "graffiti art" made itself known. The self-defined movement, developed by original "taggers" and their streetwise descendants, included more color, swirls and flourishes. Soon, gallerists, some authentic, others out to make a quick buck, exhibited original graffiti art, when possible, or replications.
Meanwhile, street art murals and installations, some from San Francisco (by Barry McGee and now-deceased wife, Margaret Kilgallen), others from Sao Paulo (by the brilliant Brazilian twins, OsGemeos) were evolving into magnificent works, combining folk art, youth culture, city life and found materials.
But artists and art movements progress, intersect and collide, inspiring each other. (Barry McGee was at first a graffiti artist. Now, he's a graffiti and a street artist.) The inspiration/collision of graffiti and street art, occurring for years, has informally been called "disobedient art," "neo-graffiti," "post graffiti" and "Mission School," named after San Francisco's District where it started.
MOCA
The first time I heard "Graffiti Street Art" used in a formal sense was April 14, 2011, at L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art's (MOCA) press opening for the "Art in the Streets" exhibition. Museum director Jeffrey Deitch stood in front of a graffiti covered bus, and said, "Graffiti street art is ephemeral." He then talked about the importance of photography in the show, capturing graffiti and street art before it has been painted over, washed off, or otherwise disappeared.
Was Deitch inadvertently inventing a new phase in this rapidly growing art genre, combining the illegal with the legal, the unadulterated vandalism with magnificent street murals? Having just completed weeks of work overseeing the enormous, magnanimous, "Art in the Streets," he might have unintentionally mashed the movements together in his mind and in his words.
Yet "Graffiti Street Art" is a fitting term, referring to the show inside MOCA's warehouse sized Geffen Contemporary venue in Little Tokyo.
Art in the Streets
"Art in the Streets" is fascinating and familiar in a déjà vu kind of way. There are pictures, signs and settings you've seen before on subways, buses, bridges and tunnels. But they're displayed in a new way and in a new place giving the viewer an instant sense of recognition.
"Art in the Streets" is dense, comprehensive and historical - tracing the history of graffiti - from the 1970's (in some cases, earlier) to the present. It is also massive, comprehensive and very raw.
There is so much graffiti street art, as well as installations, including narrow alleys with small, decrepit, trash-ridden graffiti covered shops, with complementary sounds and music, you might think you've wandered into the South Bronx in the 70's. The only elements missing are smells and muggers.
Here also are various forms of graffiti, including individual markings, slogans, slurs, political statements and "tagging" or "graffiti writing" to more elaborate well-thought out works, some called "masterpieces" or "pieces" by graffiti artists.
Banksy
"Banksy's works are here, including "Best of Show," a stuffed dog peeing in front of a framed picture of dog pee splashed against a wall. Another Banksy work is an enormous stained glass looking window covered with graffiti writing.
There is a timeless, three-story high installation by OsGemeos. Standing in front of this enormous assemblage piece, combining discarded pieces of demolished buildings, including doors and trimmings, interspersed with primitive drawings, sculptures and scratched mirrors, is to witness a beautiful city in a state of devolution. Perhaps it is a testament to the world today!
Nearby is a large mural by Margaret Kilgallen. This classic work combining folk art drawings, sign painting and mural painting, infused in an urban setting, is a classic work from the Bay Area Mission School of painting. Its primitive, yet sophisticated style speaks of the hopefulness of youth and the possibility of positive change in this world - also a theme of much of the exhibition.
"Art in the Streets" demonstrates that graffiti street art is born from the street, from the authentic yearnings of people from all classes to be seen and heard and read, that is developed and nurtured over the decades.
(Read more about art in the streets, graffiti art, graffiti as art, and graffiti writing.)
