Is Graffiti Art?

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Is Graffiti Art?

Graffiti has loomed between the borders of true art, mindless trash

and a way of solely getting your name around. Is Graffiti the

everyday scrawlings of misdirected teenagers or

the well-laced masterpiece by a keen eye? For years the opinions have

changed and shifted. Currently there is not a consensus about whether

graffiti can yet be classed as art.

Art to some people would be the great works of Michelangelo, Da Vinci,

Bottachelli, Matisse, Van Gough, and Monet but in today’s world

anything can be classed as ‘art’. Different forms and styles have

arisen and most people have an opinion on what is art.

A splatter of paint on canvas; art? Brush strokes on a page; art? A

collage out of rubbish; art? Who decides what is art and what is not?

How can someone say “that is not art” when the creator believes it to

be exquisite? Why do some people perceive graffiti as nothing but

paint on a wall and not the true masterpiece that others believe it

really is.

The many forms and styles of graffiti make it hard to distinguish the

meaningless strokes from those that are clearly art if you choose to

see them. Can some writers go over the top and do too much? Or not do

enough for it to be classed as art? To understand this we have to look

back at the history of graffiti.

Graffiti originated with the Romans when they started to write on the

buildings of the towns they conquered and even before words were used,

the cave men painted on walls. The late 1960’s saw graffiti’s current

identity starting to form. It was used primarily by political

activists to make statements and also by street gangs to mark

territory.

The most commonly termed graffiti begins in Philadelphia Pennsylvania,

during t...

... middle of paper ...

...tists themselves. In Chicago their

numbers are high as they have the nation’s top graffiti blasting team

and equipment. New technology has enabled the removal of permanent

spray paint pieces from nearly any surface, through the use of highly

concentrated amounts of baking soda. The thought that graffiti can be

erased nowadays brings strong emotions to the writers, seeing their

hard work, time and money be washed away.

Graffiti can be considered art, because it denotes meaning for the

individual, and hopefully to the people that are viewing it. It is

said that graffiti is a language, an image, a voice and a vision

engaging the spirit when the soul of art is discovered.

There are so many hidden meanings in murals that it is hard for some

people to grasp because they can not relate to it. But for those who

can, the murals and graffiti are considered art.

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