STREET CRED
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"Work by graffiti writer 'Bugs'"
Work by graffiti writer "Bugs" is on view until May 21 at the Art Gallery of Calgary in Painting Under Pressure: a Look at Grafitti.
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"Grafitti by Afex and Crum"
Grafitti by Afex and Crum can be seen at the Art Gallery of Calgary until May 21.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings."
Members of rebel collective "26" prepare "prefabs" for street installations known as nailbombings. Photos by Winnipeg photographer William Eakin who has been chronicling the group's art making since 2000.
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"Work by graffiti writer 'Kido'"
Work by graffiti writer 'Kido' is on view until May 21 at the Art Gallery of Calgary in Painting Under Pressure: a Look at Grafitti.
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"Work by graffiti writer 'Bugs'"
Work by graffiti writer "Bugs" is on view until May 21 at the Art Gallery of Calgary in Painting Under Pressure: a Look at Grafitti.
STREET CRED
Graffiti art is crossing the street— no longer stuck in the alley, it is becoming a legitimate form of artistic expression.
By Wes Lafortune
This summer two graffiti artists (they prefer to be called writers) plan to scale a building in Calgary and spray paint a mural on its brick wall.
Instead of being arrested and facing public scorn, brothers David and Matthew Brunning (also known in the graffiti community as Kido and Bugs) will be applauded for their efforts in creating a graffiti mural.
The proposed mural is a partnership between a City of Calgary project called Urban Youth Worx, Axis Art Gallery and Art Central (a collection of art galleries and exhibition spaces within a building under the same roof in downtown Calgary).
Kim Morrison, project coordinator of Urban Youth Worx, says this summer’s much-anticipated project is a way for the public to learn more about the stylistic merits of graffiti art.
“Graffiti by definition is the application of paint, marker, etching materials or stickers to a surface without permission,” says Morrison. “Therefore we are promoting graffiti-style art (or any other mural art for that matter) as a deterrent to illegal graffiti by engaging those who do the work — local youth.”
At the core of Morrison’s comments is an ongoing debate occurring within the graffiti community. On one side are those who want graffiti to become recognized as a legitimate art form. On the other side are graffiti writers who remain outside society’s polite sensibilities and who want to continue creating the type of graffiti long associated with the hip hop culture of 1970s New York — even when it means facing the possibility of criminal prosecution.
“Those in the ‘new school’ would have you believe that it’s about the art,” says Morrison. “Those in the ‘old school’ would have you believe that it’s still about ‘getting it up’ (putting up a piece illegally).”
The Art Central project is just the most recent indication that graffiti — often solely viewed by the general public as the defacing of private property with spray painted signatures known as tags — is moving away from its reputation as a clandestine activity and is being welcomed into mainstream culture. But it hasn’t always been this way. These spray can rebels who have been known to surreptitiously slink around darkened alleys to affix their creations to the sides of everything from skyscrapers to subway cars remain one of the most vilified groups of creative people in the world.
Opponents range from “anti-graffiti” squads that roam city streets in search of graffiti being sprayed onto private property to the extreme that is Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, who recently suggested that those defacing local freeways with graffiti should have their thumbs cut off.
Despite its dubious reputation, graffiti on the whole is enjoying a period of renewed interest. For many supporters, the debate about the status of graffiti as a legitimate form of self-expression is over. Graffiti has not only made its way into the mainstream, but is now being used by multinational corporations as a way to signal street credibility to hip young consumers.
Now, in what could be viewed as a way for graffiti writers to stay in control of their own destiny, graffiti is being taken inside art galleries in an effort to get some respect from the established art world. Two major exhibitions, one in Calgary, the other in Winnipeg, have provided a forum for this typically media-shy bunch to come out of the shadows and show off their work under the bright lights of formal exhibition spaces.
Until May 21, The Art Gallery of Calgary hosts "Painting Under Pressure: A Look at Graffiti", which has gathered together a group that includes some of Canada’s best graffiti writers. Crum, Evoke, Kaput, Bugs and others were brought together to turn the gallery into a showcase for graffiti art.
In Winnipeg, Cliff Eyland, the director of Gallery One One One at the University of Manitoba School of Art, recently featured works from the Winnipeg collective known as “26” (pronounced “two six”). This group, comprised of former graffiti artists and recent U of M graduates, is known for pieces that are executed on the gritty streets of Winnipeg.
“26 includes some of the best young Winnipeg artists around,” says Eyland. “One thing I want to promote is public painting, and this show helped to do that.”
Eyland, who is also an artist, believes graffiti is moving away from its spray-and-run reputation and is evolving into something much more sophisticated.
“One thing that interests me a great deal about graffiti art is its refined calligraphy,” he says. “To me that connects graffiti to ‘book art’ — that is, ancient manuscript illumination. In some of my own work — both in my writing and some of my visual art — I try to bring graffiti back into book culture. That’s the future of graffiti art, I think: it will become more intellectual, more bookish.”
Back in Calgary, Kido (David Brunning) believes graffiti art will continue to be a cultural force by remaining connected to its street origins but flexible enough to evolve into new forms.
“It’s colourful, imaginative, expressive, unique, alive, loud, urban, gritty, clean, word-oriented, futuristic, boundary-breaking, diverse and raw,” he says. “Graffiti art is used by so many in this culture and it’s really expressive as an art form. We live in a culture that is very subdued by media and others telling people what to do, what to like, what to wear and what to pursue. Graffiti breaks that. It’s powerful as it knows certain limits but is open to change all the time. It’s always evolving as an art form and therefore empowering those who do it to realize expression and change outside of the norm. Its relevance is strong.”
Adds Brunning, “Graffiti scares most people, so I can see the officials trying to knock it out and tame it like some lion in the Calgary Zoo. I think that is the worst way to go about it. I hope to see more people learn about it, embrace it, form opinions not based on ignorance about it, and hopefully respect it as an art form.”
As examples, Nintendo has developed a video game featuring the work of a well-known New York City graffiti writer. And in Paris, design house Louis Vuitton unveiled graffiti-inspired fashions more than five years ago.
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