HISTORY OF STREET ART & GRAFFITI
In the beginning, there was graffiti and then street art was born. Today, both street art and graffiti can be seen easily in our everyday lives, it is appreciated by many as a form of art, showcased in galleries and even auctioned for big values, but where did it come from? Was it always like this?
The desire to draw on the walls and sides of buildings always existed for as long as human existed. Over 2000 years ago, small carvings could be found on the walls of markets and other public spaces.From direct and personal love messages or curses to images about disenfranchisement. Urban art has evolved in great ways.
Spray paint graffiti first started appearing in the 1920s and 1930s on the sides of trains and walls in New York. Unlike today where people choose to become an urban artist, urban art at that time were the work of gangs. Later on, this turned into what is called subversive culture and was even recorded in the book The History of American Graffiti by Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon. It was meaningful at that time as it gave young people the power to respond to their socio-political environment.
Cool Earl and Cornbread were the first writers of graffiti who in the middle of 1960. They wrote their names in every place of the city to gain attention from the local press and community for a girl. At that time, Cornbread was just a high school student from Philadelphia. The 1970s is when graffiti really exploded into popularity and they were first showcased in galleries during the 1980s. Since then many great writers such as Banksy, Vhils, Roa and Hyuro (and so many more) have helped street art/ graffiti continue on its legacy.
Nowadays, street art and graffiti can be found almost anywhere in the world and there are way more writers (refers to artists of graffiti/ street art) than ever before. They are considered unique as they are able to merge with the surroundings and come together with the images and spaces that we live in. In other words, it becomes a part of the city it is made in just like cave paintings of ancient man; it unites art and people.Graffiti and street art really have found themselves value in the art world.
