Street Art or Grafitti

Jo Lowes

A mural of graffiti.By MataOne in Renaix. Photo by Startape

Photographe.

Ghetto product placementSatyr, Goser, 4Gets and Mr. Ef in East Bay.

Photo by FunkandJazz.

Pop-contemporary egoismAdek and MQ in San Francisco. Photo by FunkandJazz

Slap-stick vandalism By Lush in Australia. Photo by Merciful

Fate.

Caricature of a “graffiti artist”

painted illegally.

By Graphis in Brazil.

Noncommissioned neo-cubist muralBemsGF in France. Photo by GhettoFarceur.

Graffiti disguised as street art.Ed Mun in Brazil.

Art school vandalismSnek, Graphis and Terone. Photo

by Graphis.

You Decide Street Art or GraffitiCranio in Brazil.

Feustay, Sway and Kalouf in Niort. Photo by Startape Photographe

Mr. Wany and Coze. Photo by Heavy Artillery.

A tag by Amour in Paris. Photo by Morac19.

The Difference….• Graffiti writing and street art are often confused with one another. Both are

subversive art movements where work is displayed in public rather than a gallery setting. While graffiti artists place their work in public, generally speaking they are not interested in the public understanding their work; they want to speak to other graffiti artists. Street artists want everyone to view and be engaged by their work. They are trying to make a statement. Graffiti writing and street art are closely related contemporary art movements, however, they differ in terms of technique, function and intent.

• Graffiti is as old as human civilization. “Graffiti (sgraffiti), meaning drawings or scribblings on a flat surface and deriving from the Italian sgraffio (‘scratch’), with a nod to the Greek graphein (‘to write’), originally referred to those marks found on ancient Roman architecture” (Manco 9). “Tagging” is a modern form of scratching one’s name in the wall. It is usually done with spray paint or markers. The first ‘tags’ appeared in New York City in the late 1960s (Manco 9).

• The tag is the core of graffiti writing. A graffiti writer might be insulted to be called a “graffiti artist” or “street artist.” Within this subculture there exists one main delineation between graffiti writers and street artists, and that delineation is marked by the intention of the artist. Street art is a subset of graffiti writing. Although there is a distinct difference between the two, they are closely related and there is a great deal of crossover between the genres. Because graffiti writing has a bad public reputation as a destructive and vandalistic behavior, many artists prefer to be called “street artists.” Conversely, many graffiti writers, specifically “taggers” are out to destroy and vandalize public property. They find the term “art” offensive and are happy to be known as “saboteurs” (Lewisohn 18).

• Because they are conceptual artists, street artists want the general public to not just see their work, but to interact, understand what they are seeing and have an emotional response. Although a street artist may have a tag name, most don’t use just a tag to get their message across (Lewisohn 21). Their artwork may contain their tag name, but it is not usually the focus of the artwork. If a tag is used, it is more like a signature at the bottom of a painting or a form of branding. Street artists generally focus on iconic visual symbols, rather than tags. “Street Artists have taken the concept from Dada and Pop art that iconic images of popular culture or even unremarkable objects can be elevated into symbols of expression” (Manco 150). Because of this use of symbolic imagery, it is fairly easy to visually differentiate street art from a tag.

• In addition to symbolic language, the materials and techniques that are commonly associated with street artists also help them stand apart from graffiti writers. Such materials include: stickers, stencils, wheat-paste posters, and the hijacking of outdoor advertising media. Part of the visual surprise or captivation that one receives from street art is due to its unexpected placement in public, where it is juxtaposed against functional signage or advertising.