Is Street Art Really Art?

827 Words4 Pages
Parks Thompson
Professor
English 111
16 November 2012

Is Street Art Really Art?

When most people think of graffiti and street art they conjure up crude images of gang related graffiti and useless tagging, which is understandable, but it has evolved into so much more than that. Street art is used an outlet of self-expression and a way to tackle social issues for those whose voice might not get heard otherwise.

To understand street art we must first go back to its origins. The term graffiti comes from the Italian word “graffito” which literally means to scratch. Graffiti can be dated back to times of the pre-historic era, when cavemen would scratch images on cave walls. Graffiti has been found on the ancient walls of Pompeii and even Egyptian monuments. During the Roman Empire, warriors drew images on walls of building in conquered cities and in World War II street art was used as political propaganda. Graffiti and street art have always been used as a means of communication that can be seen or “heard” by a larger number of people.

“Many speculate that it was in fact, during World War II that the use of graffiti began its radical shift to a lower art form. Many began using graffiti for tagging or for vandalism, writing derogatory names and slander in public areas. Gang culture thrived, and members began marking public property with gang names, tags and titles.” (artandcointv)

Soon after graffiti and other street art with a more positive intention started to emerge. This new art form includes stencil art, stickers, wheat-paste, graffiti and more. It encompassed so much more than one medium and thousands of kids across the world started using it to express their creativity. One particular artist is said to be the father of street art. This artist wrote under the nickname of “Cornbread” in the 1960’s. Some of his most notable work was writing his

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