Art, Street Art versus Graffiti Art
Do you know the difference between street art and graffiti? How do you feel about them? I recently went to a well-known French street artist, Julien Malland (aka Seth)’s exhibition of his work done with acrylic on canvas. I came back contemplating on how I feel about his work on the street building versus on canvases, and also how I feel about street art versus graffiti? To make sure I understand the difference correctly, I googled and found a great article, “The Struggle Between Graffiti and Street Art,” written by Seres Lu from Columbia Journalism School, which explains the following: “Graffiti is word-based and its ‘writers’ are mostly self-taught. The art form emerged from inner city neighborhoods as a type of self-expression for urban youth. Graffiti is illegal, but it is precisely this illegal risk that gives it its counter-cultural edge. Street art, on the other hand, is usually painted with permission or commissioned, and most often done by artists who have received formal training.” Lu also cited Lois Stavsky, along-time curator of Street Art NYC, who explained, “Graffiti predates street art and street art draws its inspiration from graffiti.”An example of one of the most celebrated graffiti artists of our current time is English artist Banksy, who is also a street artist, political activist, and painter. He has been active since the 90’s and used to sell photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, “his public installations are regularly resold, often even by removing the wall they were painted on.” In 2021, his work was sold at Sotheby’s auction for tens of millions of dollars.
Another question I began to ponder was how would street art differ from traditional art done on canvases, and what happens when the same idea is transferred from street buildings to canvases? Do they have the same meaning, value, and the same edge? Why or why not?
Ms. Esther Liu, an architect, a seasoned art collector, and lecturer at Tam Kiang University in Taiwan, responded to my questions with the following inspirational and thought-provoking views which I’d like to share: “Similar to architecture, street arts are site specific, and therefore inevitably respond to the site and the urban context. Perhaps that's why a lot of times street arts or graffitis show critiques on the society. All arts are meant to be put in context, whether the artist had envisioned a white wall behind it or on an abandoned warehouse in the street. By transferring the work from the streets to a canvases, it would not be the same piece of work anymore; it would be like putting a model of a building in your office – you’d get the idea of the concept but it’s never gonna give u a sense of how the space works around you and how it works with the urban fabric. But then sometimes art is about putting things out of context to challenge the audience’s perception… for instance, having old tea cups sold at auctions or moving a chunk of the pyramid to a museum for show – they somehow provide the audience with very different but interesting experiences as well.”
What are your thoughts?
Photos by Irene Chang Studio
