Street Art

Art Essentials

by Simon Armstrong

A comprehensive history and interpretation of the street art movement, featuring all of the key practitioners in a colorful combination of sharp images and insightful commentary. Street art is a phenomenon and subculture movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Despite having earned a place in the canon of twentieth-century art history, its qualifications are often disputed by both the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. This book examines how street art evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti scene to embrace many new materials, styles, and techniques. The once marginal art form has graduated into art galleries and the art market, while also heavily influencing design, fashion, advertising, and visual culture. Simon Armstrong walks readers through its controversial history, taking in the movement’s significant artists, artworks, and methods, and showcasing the works that have come to define it. He also discusses its close relationship to pop art and digital art, and explores possible futures for street art. Packed with detail and written in an engaging, accessible style, this latest installment in the Art Essentials series is a must-read for lovers of street art and anyone interested in the way art movements gradually join the mainstream. 85 color illustrations

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short survey of street art which is a (somewhat) commercial outgrowth of graffiti. The author does not say it outright, but street art appears to be a legal (or at least quasi-legal) form of graffiti. Urban art which can be either is a commodity that can be owned and collected.The book, which focuses on street art, has examples of all three forms from around the world.

The evolution (graffiti to street art to urban art) can be seen in Banksy of the UK who popularized stencils (speed is needed when you create illegal art) which is a common method of creating street art and in Shepard Fairley, who created the graffiti image that became the Obama–Hope image which is street art in that it appears everywhere (legally and illegally) and urban art in that it is marketable and collectable.

You learn the vocabulary specific to these art forms. A “throw up” is a big bold image, sometimes only a few letters that stand out. A “piece” is a masterpiece. “Wild style” is a new rendering of the graffiti motif that expresses the (wild) individuality of its artist. “Buff” is the act of the authorities in cleaning up graffiti. A battle of buffers and a graffiti artist is shown on pp 92-93. “Subvertising” is a graphic message added to a piece of advertising. There is a glossary at the end.

There are short write ups covering personal branding, taggers “who try to become as well known as possible, while remaining anonymous" (p.76) and the influence of hip hop.

The chapter on the global reach of street art is heavy on New York City with write ups on legends such as SEEN, Dondi, Lady Pink, Patti Astor and Keith Haring. Other places getting a short notice are Paris, Northern Ireland, Nicaragua and Cairo.

The most impressive examples of street art (for me) were from countries not listed: a face chiseled on a building by Alexandre Farto in Alamado, Portugal (pp. 20-21 – there is another in Paris is on p.130), pixacao lettering in Sao Paulo Brazil (p 78), murals in Berlin, Germany (p.122) and Luzhi, China (p.150 & p. 165) and a spray painting in Barcelona, Spain (p.133) .

There is info on the art form's influence in ads, album covers and film. Blogs and on line forums dedicated to it are mentioned. There is a section on characters, many influenced by comic books (the cover photo is an example from Paris, France). There are samples of new styles as shown in galleries and animations shown on buildings. A new format for street art is sculpture which shows the graffiti attitude.

I expect the future will see more development of “legal spaces” for which there are good examples on pp. 158-159 and 161.

This survey leaves you wanting more. The scale of the art work suggests a larger format would be appropriate.

[Anne Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice compact overview of a nuanced subject from a clearly passionate inerlocutor, on subculture and art ranging from the illicit to the commercial, and the complications of that relationship. A little wandery or repetitive at times for a book that has "key points" at the end of every chapter, but still clear and interesting. Nice detail and images in the examples as well.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few notes on street art.

Stencils are often impressive. The two best street artists documented here (Banksy and Shepard Fairey) both work with stencils. I note that stencils seem to demand planning, talent, and thoughtfulness.

The form otherwise values boldness and audacity. Armstrong argues that it is also a pillar of hip hop culture. Last but not least, it is often embraced by people who either reject or who feel rejected by the "system" they live in. I don't agree that graffiti in a poor neighborhood typically signifies optimism and I've never once looked at graffiti / tagged subway cars and thought "we need to go back to that." For most street art, stencils or otherwise, a lot of the planning is akin to planning a heist.

Tagging sucks, sorry. It's mostly bad, mostly cheap, and mostly annoying. It's like trolling but in the meat space. Writing is mostly tagging. A tag might be impressive if it is put in a place that leads the viewer to wonder how the tag was made--i.e. if it is in what seems like a very challenging location.

Murals don't seem to be the same as street art. But if street art is commissioned, does it at some point become a mural?

[Tracey King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Street art is an amazing culture and comes with an interesting community. This book covers how street art has developed from a criminal offence to an accepted, admired style and symbol in the art world. Simon Armstrong has an exciting style of writing, which helps you explore the foundation of street art and its development over the years. The movements' complex relationship with graffiti, the law, the commercial art world and how it evolves with new materials, style and techniques. This is a good book for challenging your thinking around street art and what it means to you.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good intro into the graffiti and the street art. I bought it at the Moco museum in Barcelona. It references a lot of contemporary artists, explains where the graffiti came from, and dives into the modern street art dilemma - if your anti-capitalism art brings you money, is it still anti-capitalism?

I enjoyed googling all the artists and looking up more of their works. I have to say, I am looking even at the basic graffiti and tags a little bit differently now and I for sure started noticing and appreciating way more street art around me.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really great read to get a thorough history of graffiti and how street art has evolved out of it. It writes less about "street art" as it is today and more about how it came to where it is today, which is what I was expecting, but I was pleased to instead get a comprehensive background to help better understand the street art that exists today.

[Lukas Rupp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein fantastischer Überblick, über die Geschichte der Street Art, wie sie aus der Graffiti-Kultur geboren wurde und sich hin zum Mainstream und Kommerz entwickelte.

"Die Street Art hat eine Schlacht gewonnen, aber der Kapitalismus gewinnt den Krieg, indem er sich die Kultur nimmt und sie wieder an die Menschen verkauft."

[Thomas Vos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Simon Armstrong for making me Google Image practically every artist in the book and for making le go and see the Keith Haring retrospective.

[Stanislav Gruzdov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Для такого экспресс-формата хорошо, даёт направление покопаться глубже и поискать по конкретным темам. Иллюстрации высокого качества.

[Yaryna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good overview of street art. Indeed, an art essential.

[Diana Abellán · Rating 1 out of 5]

Es IMPOSIBLE leer un libro (o intentarlo) cuando está maquetado con una tipografía a 5pt, poco más y tengo que sacar la lupa. Prometía muy interesante pero leerlo es agotador, no duré ni 10 hojas.

[Vorik · Rating 5 out of 5]

interessanter kunsthistorischer Einblick in die Graffiti- und Street-Art