Graffiti Continued...

“I don’t know why people are so keen to put the details of their private life in public. They forget that invisibility is a superpower."

-Banksy

 Graffiti has been found in archeological sites thousands of years old. Slurs against rivals were carved into stone buildings, lovers wrote their promises on tree trunks, and caves were painted with flower pigment. Today, most of us associate graffiti with anonymous images or text put in highly visible urban areas. Because graffiti is most often put on property not owned by the graffiti artist, many people consider it an illegal act of vandalism. Others argue that it is a pure expression of cultural, political, or self expression. I tend to agree more with the artistic definition (though this doesn't mean I'm giving anyone a free pass to spray-paint my things.)

A graffiti artist at work.

Because of its anonymous and, often, illegal nature, graffiti is a perfect medium to express discontent with the legal and political system of the society, though it is used for many purposes. Gangs are notorious for using spray paint and stylized writing to mark territory boundaries, and other people use codes to signal to others in their group. Many of us have written on bathroom stalls (called latrinalia). Some use it to respond to advertising and propaganda, and others just want to sign their name, or their girlfriend's, where the world can see it. Some artists want to make the world look a little better. 

Generally, people use graffiti for its many benefits: anonymity, relatively cheap materials, a great deal of exposure, and no need for permission. As I mentioned in my previous post, the art world is surprisingly selective and competitive. As one particularly famous street artist named Banksy puts it, "The Art we look at is made by only a select few. A small group create, promote, purchase, exhibit and decide the success of Art. Only a few hundred people in the world have any real say. When you go to an Art gallery you are simply a tourist looking at the trophy cabinet of a few millionaires." Graffiti, unlike "conventional" art, is uncensored and open to anyone who can afford a paint can and has the guts to put their thoughts out (literally) on the street.


Banksy, the artist quoted in the above paragraph and at the beginning of this post, is a rare breed of graffiti artist. He has reached a level of notoriety unheard of for graffiti artists in the past, and is most well-known for his ironic political commentary expressed through the use of stenciled art and select text. He has held art shows, traveled to countries across the globe, stolen museum paintings, and created a movie for the Sundance Film Festival, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (there is debate as to whether this movie is a documentary parody, also known as a mockumentary, or a genuine documentary.) Though he has accomplished all of this, his identity remains anonymous.

Banksy's ironic commentary on privatization, property rights and government policies.

The London artist Banksy is the modern poster boy for a growing movement of street artists across the globe, including Invader, Shepard Fairy, and Pavel 183. It was the artists Lee Quinones and Fab 5 Freddy, however, who helped graffiti enter into the mainstream art culture during the 1980s when they had a gallery opening in Rome. Soon street art, particularly stencil graffiti, had entered into pop culture and advertising and spread to countries outside of Europe and the United States. Today, street art has been adapted to include pieces that use mediums besides paint and marker, including chalk, snow, Legos, lamp-posts, yarn, or almost anything.

Brazil is now internationally recognized for its street art.

Modern street art spread to Czechoslovakia as well. John Lennon had been a pacifist role model for subversive citizens during the Totalitarian era in the country. In 1980, when Lennon was killed, a monument was set up to honor him by a group of anonymous youth. Though listening or playing western music meant risking jail, the wall grew in fame. A growing number of people wrote graffiti epitaphs and anti-Communist sentiments. Though the secret police white-washed over the writing many times, they couldn't keep the wall clean even after installing  security cameras. As protests against the state become increasingly public, marches and demonstrations were sparked and, eventually, the wall became a centerpiece for the anti-state group during the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

The Lennon Wall in Prague

Graffiti was around before 1980 in Czechoslovakia as well, and will continue. It is, after all, one of the oldest forms of art and communication.

The black and white drawings on the right is a Prague poster depicting the Red Army as liberators in 1945 and oppressors in 1968. The colored drawing on the left is an adaptation of the original poster by street artist Shepard Fairy.

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing. And even if you don't come up with a picture to cure world poverty you can make someone smile while they're having a piss.” - Banksy