Graffiti Is Art Persuasive Essay

Art is defined by Oxford’s Dictionary as works produced by human creative skill and imagination. The argument of whether or not graffiti is art has been around for an indeterminable amount of time. Because of many different and valid reasons, graffiti should be considered as art.
To begin with, graffiti is exhibited in many museums and galleries along with art. London is home to many galleries that showcase graffiti, such as the Lawrence Alkin Gallery. If graffiti is displayed in galleries along with art, this should qualify it as such. Secondly, art has changed and is still changing throughout many phases, from the era of cave painting to the era of postmodernism and deconstructivism. Graffiti has also gone through many movements and changes in style, from the first simple scribble to the large murals. Its display in galleries and its development into more complex forms suggest that it is a form of art.
In addition to its displays and evolution, graffiti

is art by definition and by aesthetics. In brief, art is the expression of creativity. Even with a little scribble or tag, there is human skill and emotion applied in the piece, which makes it art. Along with this, aesthetic means concerned with the study of the mind and emotions in relation to the sense of beauty. Graffiti makes people feel some emotion. The emotion in the piece and the mood the observer feels contribute to graffiti being considered as art.
Finally, art critics and people travel from all around the world to see graffiti displays in many places.

In San Francisco, California, the Mission District has many murals which attract public attention. People travel to see art everywhere, so it is not different when traveling to view graffiti. Additionally, it often communicates political messages on current events. The graffiti artist Banksy often applies political statements into his artwork. Most art is made to communicate messages, similar to graffiti. Based on the public attention and messages, graffiti is art.
On the contrary, many argue that since unauthorized graffiti is illegal, it is not art, instead it is vandalism. The New York Times insisted that graffiti’s most important quality is the fact it is illegal. However, regardless of its legality, graffiti is art. A flower growing in the “wrong” place is still a flower. Likewise, art in the “wrong” place is still art.
The exhibition of graffiti in museums, its evolution, the emotion that goes into

its
creation, the emotion graffiti instills in viewers are all elements associated with art. All of these shared characteristics lead to the conclusion that graffiti is, and should be considered, a form of art.