Graffiti exists in our public spaces, our communities, and our streets – and it has many detractors. Why, though, don’t we spend more time worry about the impact of advertising on public space?
Many cities are starting to recognise that street art has both a cultural and economic value.
SalTheColourGeek/Flickr
Speaking with: Cameron McAuliffe on graffiti, art and crime
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Is graffiti art or crime? While many cities have adopted tough legal measures to prevent graffiti, they are also beginning to recognise the cultural and economic value of street art.
Painting over Banksy’s latest work has proved an embarrassment for the local council responsible. Council officials had to admit that they hadn’t realised the work was by Banksy and, more pertinently…
In Buenos Aires, a mural commemorates the bombing in July 1994 of the AMIA Jewish Community Centre. The black wall bears the image of a majestic tortoise. Lady Justice perches atop, her white drapery tracing…
A dance performance at Beijing’s Peng Hao theatre. How does context help us make meaning of works like this?
Gustavo Thomas
On the June weekend the Sydney Biennale closed, I arrived in Denmark to speak at a conference where the Greek theatre artist Alexandros Mistriotis proposed that “art liberates us from meaning”. A week…
Paulo Ito’s recent image joins a long line of socially-conscious street art in Brazil.
Paulo Ito
Just a week before the inaugural game of the World Cup in Brazil, a vibrant wall-painting of a boy crying hysterically as he is served up a football instead of dinner, went viral. The image, shown above…
Julie Shiels has been repurposing streetside detritus to artistic ends since 2005.
Julie Shiels
It all began with a muselet – the wire cage that holds a champagne cork in place. Flattened on the footpath, its complex pattern caught my eye. I began noticing others, and realised that every squashed…
Who yarn bombed these trees? There are many reasons knitters take their work to the streets.
jenniferworthen
Who exactly is behind the knitted bike rack cover that you walk past at the local park? And what is it that drives someone to cover a tree with intricately knitted creations? Yarn bombing – the practice…
Street and graffiti artists such as Ash Keating are recognised in Melbourne Now – in and out of the galleries.
NGV
The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne recently opened what may be its most ambitious exhibition: Melbourne Now, on display until March 23 2014. It features hundreds of works selected by 30…
British street artist Banksy stirred up the NYC artworld during his October residency, ‘Better Out Than In’.
carnagenyc
Street art is the name given to artworks placed in public, usually without permission – and Banksy is probably the most famous street artist in the world. Last week he completed a residency in New York…