Graffiti becomes respectable
Posted by: isiria, in ARTS, critical thought, culture, world of money
More signs for how street art is moving towards high art. Under the title “Art sales: Graffiti draws a new crowd“, the Telegraph in Britain published an article on burgeoning market for graffiti, stencil art and the like. More and more galleries are opening in their doors to keen buyers, with works from famous street artists like Antony Micallef, José Parlá, Swoon or Banksy selling from £35,000 to £323,000. Only celebrity of course can splash around that kind of money, or smart investors. So it’s not surprising to find well-known figures such as designer Paul Smith, artist Damian Hirst, rock star Eric Clapton or actress Angelina Jolie joined by City traders and small-business executives lining up to get their mansions and bank safes filled with the popular wares.
Where does all of this leave urban art? First of all, let’s not forget that this is not the first commercial assault on urban art. For years now artists have been working for example for the fashion industry as well as for marketing products from mobile phones to cars. Yet street art is still alive and kicking. So, with the move from the street to the gallery, we’ll probably lose some of the great street artists to the wealthy end of town . But, even if, in the worst case scenario, street art’s purpose might be totally and utterly blunted, like that of many other forms of grassroots cultural expression and political resistance before it, I doubt that commercialisation and commodification will spell its end any time soon. While some corporatisation of the rebellious and often anti-corporate element is happening, and while graffiti is being transformed into tourist attractions, there is still so much passion, energy, creativity and a strong spirit of civil disobedience and subversiveness left which not only creates great urban art, but that for various reasons will never be for sale - let’s continue to celebrate that!
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