Not long ago, street artists
were objects of scorn,
stigmatized to the point of risking jail time in order to smear their messages in alleyways and on overpasses. Lately, however, with a growing public
appreciation for
all things graffiti,
urban communication is no longer such a target of public disdain, but rather is increasingly being appreciated as high art.
Art of Deconstruction: Portugese-born, London-based artist Alexandre Farto, aka
Vhils, takes tagging to a new level, detonating explosives behind stenciled plaster to
deconstruct his work in deserted urban environments. Lest anyone think that this eruptive form of street art would put him at higher risk of being arrested than are other art criminals, Vhils
claims that if he wears a yellow vest and carries a drill nobody looks twice at him. In his early twenties, he’s one of the youngest members of the
Outsiders movement, having made his mark
“scratching the surface” of abandoned
billboards all over the world. His work serves as a reminder that, sometimes, cutting back, chipping away and breaking things down can be the most radical expression of all.
Art in the Streets: Opening this month at
MOCA,
Art in the Streets is the first major museum survey of street art presented in the U.S. Similar to its Parisian predecessor,
Born in the Streets, the exhibit is an ode to graffiti dating back to the ’70s. The works of legends like NY’s
Lee Quinones and
Futura, CA’s
Shepard Fairey and
Barry McGee, and Europe’s
Banksy,
JR and
Space Invaders will accompany those of over 100 artists. The show is noteworthy on two levels—first, it boldly gives the oft frowned upon practice of vandalism much deserved credit for its 20 years of meaningful cultural influence; second, it is expected to draw a younger and more diverse crowd to the museum.
Bomb It App: Four years after the release of his global graffiti documentary
Bomb It, filmmaker
Jon Reiss is experimenting with a different form of media: the mobile app. His new
Bomb It app provides street art fans with a community platform through which they can share photos of works they witness. Users can browse, comment and rate photos in the interactive gallery. Because it uses GoogleMaps to geo-tag all images, it can also push notifications of other graffiti that’s nearby. Bonus features include 18 preloaded short films on the history of graffiti and profiles of street artists from around the world, as well as newly released footage from the original
Bomb It doc. It’s the ultimate antidote to
TAGRS.
