Street Art Essay

 Political Messages in Street Art  

Street Art, originally considered mere graffiti, has now become an established and popular art form that is admired by many who would never think to walk inside a conventional art gallery and is on display in public for all to see. It is seen by many as a controversial art form, as boundaries are often blurred between art and vandalism. From ancient paintings on the walls of caves to the politicised graffiti on the Berlin Wall, seen in the images below where street art in Berlin began with the west side of the Berlin Wall. It quickly became a place for artists to express their ideas and frustrations and to deal with the controversy they faced. People have used street art as a form of expression since prehistoric times. Street art reflects the social issues of the day; for example, during the financial crisis of New York in the 1960s, many factories and construction sites had to board up and close down and opportunists in Spanish Harlem took advantage of these urban surfaces and started a new art style characterised by bold signatures and all-encompassing murals. (Hencz, 2022)

Berlin Wall 1960's

The Berlin Wall 1980's

John Heartfield

John Heartfield was born in 19 June 1891 – 26 April 1968. He was a 20th-century German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. Heartfield's main form of expression was photomontage and he produced the first political photomontages. Heartfield's montages, in the form of posters, were distributed in the streets of Berlin between 1932 and 1933, when the Nazis came to power. I wonder what political impact Heartfield would have had in regard to the Berlin Wall.

Iconic Street Art

During the 1980's, artists who were involved with or influenced street art started to become well known and officially put street art on the map and one of them was the iconic artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in Brooklyn, New York to comfortably middle class immigrant parents. Basquiat dreamed of becoming a cartoonist or writer and at 17 years old he dropped out of school alongside an old school friend and began writing odd poetic messages with a marker pen around SoHo, “ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DIME HYPER COOL ANOTHER WAY 2 KILL SOME TIME”. They signed the phrases with the tag SAMO©—using the copyright symbol to suggest a corporate brand name. Although done anonymously, the graffiti caused a significant stir around New York. Everyone wanted to make it big during the 1970's, whether it be a musician, actor or artist. Unfortunately at that time, Basquiat didn't have money for painting materials and would find anything from fridges, TVs, bits of detritus he found on the streets and just about anything else he could get his hands on to graph into.

Banksy  

  

Who is Banksy? This is the question that has been on everyone’s lips for over 20 years. The mysterious artist’s first known piece was the Mild, Mild West, 1997. The Mild, Mild West name comes from its location in Bristol, which is in Western England. The mural was drawn in response to various unlicensed parties and raves held in abandoned warehouses around Bristol in the 1990's that started to draw more attention from the police. The artwork is popular with the local community who consider it a good symbol of the heritage around Stokes Croft. It is seen as an original piece of Bristol culture that symbolises how the hippie culture can fight back and resist the police and government. A teddy bear throwing a Molotov cocktail at a riot squad? Insane for some, but perfectly in-line with Banksy‘s signature style creating striking visuals and situations to provoke the viewer. How could it be that a gentle and friendly teddy bear would become so violent against the police. Obviously, the situation is never what it seems to be? (Baker, 2008)

Mild, Mild West 1997 Banksy

Banksy has created numerous works since, growing in reputation as an anonymous street artist over the years. His works always have a clear political and social message, fighting for the rights of people and the environment. The location of his works is often as important, if not more than the physical work itself, giving viewers a sense of the piece through his eyes. He incorporates aspects of his urban ‘canvases’ to highlight his work.  (Banksy, 2020). 

Hula Hooping girl 2020- Banksy

His unique way of seeing the world is reflected in his work, using found objects as a way to tell a story. A recent piece in Nottingham, for example, shows a young girl using the missing tyre from a damaged, abandoned bicycle as a hula hoop. (Sexty, 2020) above. Sadly, Banksy’s works are often taken out of their context. His pieces value is removed, and sold to wealthy auctioneers for thousands. This ironically plays into the establishment that he so strongly campaigns against. (Banksy, 2008).

.  Anti-immigration Birds 2014-Banksy.

The Anti-immigration Birds Mural in Clacton-on-Sea by Banksy, created on 2 October 2014 above, is of a group of plain-looking black and grey pigeons, directing their abuse towards a beautiful little green, black & yellow swallow. The pigeons are holding placards at the swallow that are offensive and racist. A couple of them read “go back to Africa” and “keep off our worms”. Banksy has used stencils to create this piece, using the different textures of the walls to highlight the contrast between the birds. They are perched on a crack in the wall, which resembles a telegraph wire. Whilst the size is unclear, looking at the grill gives a rough guesstimate of the scale. Banksy’s piece caused a bit of a stir with Tendring district council, as they painted over it after receiving complaints. ‘Did a member of the public really see these banners and take offence? If so, they misunderstood what is quite plainly an eloquent attack on racism.’(Jones, 2014). It’s a shame it couldn’t be thoroughly enjoyed before its hasty removal. Most importantly, the message is out and received by us all. Even though it has been physically removed, it will remain in the public’s consciousness.

Banksy’s works are relatively small - whilst his largest piece is 7 metres, they are generally life[1]sized. messages hold power, which is to bring awareness to serious issues in equality. (Jones, 2014). Banksy’s work is almost cartoon-like, simply and graphically. He uses crisp outlines and silhouettes to emphasise his subjects and puts across bold political messages. His images are very flat, and he draws upon the imperfections of the buildings on which he paints to add detail. The dark issues highlighted by Banksy are made accessible to all through childish humour and satire. At first glance, it comes across as a joke, until you get it.

Summary

Hencz, A. (2022) What is street art? history & famous artists, Artland Magazine. Available at:

https://magazine.artland.com/street-art/ (Accessed: December 16, 2022).  

Howe, M. and Prial, F.J. (1986) New York Day by day; The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-358386.html (Accessed: December 17, 2022).

Publicdelivery (2022) Keith Haring's crack is wack mural - from illegal to protected, – Public Delivery. Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/keith-haring-crack-is-wack/ (Accessed: December 16, 2022).  

Gallard, J. (2014) Adnate, Widewalls. Available at: https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/adnate (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

Australian silo Art Trail (no date) Australian Silo Art Trail. Available at:

http://www.australiansiloarttrail.com/ (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

Fox Kearney, D. (2018) Sheep Hills silo by Adnate - A Silo Art Trail Mini Documentary, YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/e7t9RLwM3yI (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

  

Baker, L. (2008) Banksy: Off the wall, The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Available at:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3672135/Banksy-off-the-wall.html (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

Sexty, J. (2020) Banksy claims new artwork next to Broken Bike, and takes pop at government 'reskilling' poster, road.cc. Available at: https://road.cc/content/news/banksy-claims-new-artwork-next-broken-bike278059 (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

Eno, B. (2020) Docobanksy: Full movie: Banksy documentary movie, YouTube. Available at:

https://youtu.be/GFRMCls36sY (Accessed: December 17, 2022).  

Jones, J. (2014) Banksy wanted Clacton-on-sea to confront racism – instead it confronted him | jonathan jones, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/02/bansky-clacton-on-sea-racism-tendring-districtcouncil-destroyed-immigration (Accessed: December 17, 2022).