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from ammocity.com art, design and style dreph is a painter, who like most others took inspiration from the artists of new york and wanted a new way of expressing his experiences about his own environment in the uk. dreph sees the need for street art to evolve, the environment and influences are always changing so as a street artist, you to have to develop your style. street art has to move on from the graffiti seen in the late 80s, where back then influences came from books, comics and cartoons. being exposed to new things and interests will always affect what your graffiti says about you, “my mind has developed and i look at my art in a broader context, i first got into street art in 85. my motivation came from tagging and painting trains, i look at things differently now, i wasn't brought up in new york, so i strive to express my way of life and experiences through my art creating something relevant to me.”
modern art is evolving and will continue to reinvent itself, creating fashions and trends. galleries are quick to say they embrace street art as an art form and are willing to exhibit work, however it still comes down to fitting in with what is seen to be ’in fashion’. catto contemporary gallery in east london, had an exhibition titled perverse pop. this challenged consumerism and how people are taken in by fashion and told to fit into a trend. however within this exhibition a stencilled street art piece by banksy was used. he was chosen due to his anti establishment graffiti. but when it comes to exhibiting individual graffiti artists work in the gallery environment, there is both a sense of acceptance by the establishment but also a loss of the essence of street art, almost as though it may have sold out. a spokesperson for catto contemporary said that when changing its context it can bring a whole new light to the artistic nature of street art, “people may begin to look more at the art and understand the techniques behind it rather than looking only at the image itself, which is what they would do, if they were faced with it in a different context.” on the other hand, if graffiti was to be accepted on sterile gallery walls, it takes away the origins of street art being born to operate on the streets. it was meant to go against the system and the art world can be seen as another system. think of it this way, its like taking an animal outside of its natural environment and putting it into a cage. you’re taking an outsider, inside.
when you consider the amount of people who use the internet from all over the world, the audience is far greater than any gallery could ever offer. as an artist the main aim of your practice is to get your work seen by as many people as possible and receive feedback from them. but being involved within the art establishment is not the only way you can achieve this. the street acts as the gallery and the environment its subject, far more people of all cultures, backgrounds and social classes get to see the art in every available public space and at the same time having access to a website provides immediate responses from people who may never have visited your work in a gallery environment. it gives the artist more control over what they want people to see and how they want them to view it.
an art, fashion and design website showstudio.com, founded by photographer nick knight, has various contributors from the artworld. when considering the different types of art that is now being combined with street art, artist julie verhoeven, uses this site to put her designs, of figurative, simplistic line drawings onto t-shirts. her t-shirts then become art on the street, as people begin to wear the t-shirts and her work gets shown to more people than practically any exhibition. society and the public will always infiltrate what they consider should and shouldn’t be classed as art and will always view street art as graffiti in the most notorious sense. fine art tutor, paul eachus, from central saint martins art and design college in london, feels that art has lost its solid definition and skilled visual art such as street art is maybe not contemporary or different enough to be a recognised art form in today’s varied art world, “art has become a fashion, some things are in fashion and the next minute they are out. street art is a valuable art form with a reputable history. lots of people are influenced by its origins and the figurative fine art element of street art should be a recognised art form. art is always changing what it wants to be.” it is true that art will never be able to categorise a single element which defines what it truly means. add your comments, art, links in the citizens forum © copyright 2003 AMMO CITY INDUSTRIES LTD |
