Street Art

Street Art is not a recognised art movement, nor is it indeed one in the traditional sense, but that is exactly the point of it: artists that use the public environment to show their work are using something that was designed to look one way, and making it their canvas.

This kind of artwork is more controversial than others. The general impression around street art is that it is graffiti. What most people don't realise is that there is a distinct difference between the two. Graffiti is made without artistic intent, with nearly no effort put into the artwork or any underlying message at all. Street Art has a message in it, and is very well produced so that it is a pleasure to look at.

Of course, whether even that work is good or not is subjective; politicians, authorities and many members of the public will say that it is all an eyesore. However, what these people will forget is that they could say that about nearly everything they would see in an art museum, the difference is with street art is that the artist isn't giving you a choice but to see it, and that is one of the reasons why it is so powerful.

This 'movement' spans many different types of media: Stencils, wheatpasting, mosaics and sculptures are all used to varying extents. The most known artist is Banksy, who is known for creating politically heavy artwork with stencils in a matter of a few seconds, often in broad daylight:

This is one of his pieces which simply references cultural elements whilst taking advantage of the scenery.

Banksy is known for taking the traditional paradigm of being classed as a vandal and turning it on his head:

This works on the principle that advertisers are just as much, if not more, of a vandal than he is. 

He was quoted as saying "People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish. But that is only if it's done properly"

Other artists who have a less political message include Ces53, a dutch artist who uses very vibrant colours to make environments look nicer. 

It isn't clear why, but Ces53 seems to create art simply to make walls and buildings look a little brighter.

Ces53 gained fame by being one of the first to paint on trains in Holland, Belgium and Germany, the amount of artwork he created as well as the variety made him very popular among enthusiasts.