original graffster
by emma anacootee on jun 20, 2003, 00:30
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| cave painting, lascaux, france - 11,000 bc |
while public art was used throughout history to inform the world, street art uses the world to inform art. the earliest forms of this practice dates back to 22,000 year ago with stencils used in cave paintings. this was the beginning of a new concept and a physical artistic process emerged.
the main techniques used were silhouettes of anthropomorphic, hand silhouettes produced by blowing paint through the hand. a simple idea, but highly adaptable. moving away from primitive markings towards new found art movements, art noveau and art deco paintings used the technique of ‘pochoir’ (handcolouring by stencilling), mainly used for producing posters.
by the 1950s and 60s american artists looked towards these archaic techniques with modern facilities to create commercial art. the main players being, robert rauschenberg, andy warhol, jasper johns used street marks in their 1950s work. they saw the potential of simple markings and stencilling shapes to create clear, crisp markings. the use of limited colours also made their work different from what was happening with art at the time. allowing them to create their own unique style and following. the use of mass media imagery and experimentation with different textual surfaces has clearly influenced the evolution of street art today in its many forms of mural, stencil, stickering and more.
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| basquiat |
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| warhol |
as warhol began to use mass culture influenced by street art, new york also became influenced in the 1980s by this art form. jean michel basquait, had his own unique brand of graffiti working under the name samo (same old shit) and not only being a great friend of warhol, he became directly inspired by the textures and symbols of the street. he enjoyed the conceptual and enigmatic combinations of words and symbols and became excited by the simplicity of a sophisticated style. basquiat was able, with the help of warhol, to graduate his work form subway walls on to canvas and then into the new york galleries of soho.
the movement, began to create its own cultural identity, its associations with hip-hop, street style and also the emergence of its own language as with any new culture. its link with hip-hop is self-explanatory since they emerged together in the bronx area as a response to the difficulties faced within their lives. both were a way of expressing identity and ensuring acknowledgement. it became and existed as a mode of self-expression.
during this time spray can art was beginning to become the graffiti tool of choice, where stencils were being discarded for free hand painting styles. it was used to cover subways, walls and trains. ‘writers’ became known as risk takers and were both looked up to and respected by kids who admired their bravery they put themselves in, as painting under cover of darkness, facing danger and getting arrested were and still are all part of a writers lifestyle. graffiti then began to evolve from the wall onto the side of a moving train.
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| lee quinones |
one of the big name train ‘burners’ and graffitists was lee quinones. a burner, being someone who successfully covers a whole train with their design. he began in 1978, by transforming his neighbourhood once in the shadow of the brooklyn bridge, into one of the cities most spectacular displays of public art. it was this piece of work by quinones, that caught the eye of rome dealer claudio bruni, who through this became aware of new york graffiti. he then exhibited quinones work in europe and for many europeans, this was the first experience they had of graffiti art.
in 1978, stephen eins opened a gallery named fashion moda in the south bronx. it was here that graffiti from the surrounding area began to be treated as art. the graffitists would exhibit with local artists, where artists were able to interrelate with the international art community. it did however, cause controversy amongst those who had formal art training, as they did not accept graffiti as art.
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| word |
when it came to london, it brought with it a new meaning to graffiti and the influences of subway art was highlighted through the book subway art by henry chalfont and martha cooper. graffitists saw this as their bible and soon many young london graffitists began experimenting with size and colour, letters became larger and a variety of style emerged in britain. but london already had its own emerging style. graffiti artists took inspiration from its origins in new york but wanted something more relevant to the environment they lived in. it was the hip-hop culture that got london kids into graffiti. in the 80s it caught on in england with the first london appearance of rock steady and came over as a package with b boying, mixing, scratching. mcing and all elements from the movement.
but not all graffitists are into hip hop as a music scene but more the essence of it, with regards to respecting its links with graffiti. most street artists today have moved on from the huge neon lettering styles that first brought graffiti to england and are now creating well planned, abstract figurative pieces of work. each artist now has there own influences, they may be into punk, ska, reggae, funk, drum & bass and have very little to do with hip hop because its what influences them. this creates a more varied style and takes graffiti to a whole new level of working art on the street.
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| banksy |
graffitists have come from all walks of life and their influences vary considerably. stencilling is an aspect of street art that features heavily in its development today. but it has gone through a period of denial before it got to the stage that we recognise it to be. stencilling was where graffiti, being markings on a wall, began. today city streets, billboards and fly posters scream out with stencilled artwork, it has even spread to companies using stencilled graffiti to advertise, fabric for example have begun to stencil there logo on available space around central london, to get people familiar with their brand. likewise, puma, and even calvin klein have been stencilling london in a cynical campaign to connect with urban audiences.
around the old street area, banksy work is more highly concentrated. this use of stencilling has brought it back from being seen as taboo 5 years ago, to something that has become embraced and seen more for its street art than as graffiti. it takes time for product to become accepted and banksy’s work exists in the right time and context.
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| banksy |
it is now at a stage where it can be embraced by everyone and then becomes familiar. he has created his style by saturating an area, which now thrives on graffiti and street art. as street art becomes fashionable, graffiti is no longer a dirty word, but more a social exploration and a way to voice your political views. as the banksy boom continues, it must not be forgotten that this is not new.
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| john fekner |
stencilling has a history and as it becomes more popular, artists such as john fekner should be credited for their unique stencilling back in the late 70s. fekner began by placing random, large stencils on abandoned eyesores. just as banksy’s ‘product placement’ has proved successful, fekners effective placing of these stencils on certain buildings, were not like the graffitist tags, they were generic labels which drew attention.
so street art has changed in many ways from graffiti seen as vandalism, to slowly being accepted for its artistic merit. known by many as simply ‘graffiti’ it uses methods seen as criminal, being outside the conventional art world to create art.
these street artists work in much the same way as conventional artists, in that they take time to plan a piece and consider its location. but most of these serious artists, many of whom went to art college, began as taggers. so to dismiss tagging from street art would be disrespectful to its origins and culture, but at the same time not everyone who holds a spray can is a graffiti artist. the concepts of street art are difficult to compare, although not exclusive from graffiti, they coexist and influence each other with all art on the street being considered simply as art.
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