Graffiti and Street Art

Goes back to cave paintings and drawings as Ancient Roman graffiti is similar to contemporary graffti.

Killroy US/Chad UK - a figure that makes a joke out of a social or political situation.

Paris riots 1968 - big day for graffiti

We are the Power - Illustrations of workers all fused together.

Urban Graffiti

1970s New York - graffiti exploded, made language of the street visible by having a cultural and political voice on the street.

See John Naar 1973 - preserves anonymity of graffiti art

Was an attempt at making graffiti considered art by the erection of walls specifically for graffiti.

Jean-Michael Basquiat street artist - used written messages and images and used a SAMO tag (stood for 'same old shit'). He has a poetic but at times confusing style which grew into a cult.

Keith Haring - 1990 Subway Art. He did sketches of existing advertising in the Subway, was commissioned to make big wall murals.

He has been criticised for the commercialisation of his work - was making money out of something which was originally meant to exhibit a particular message on the street.

John Feckner Broken promises 1980 - political statements through word art

Jenny Holzer Times Square Show 1980 - digital display of work which mimics the overload of written information on the streets - authoritative statements

Berlin Wall - comments on the lack of availability of technology and brands in East Berlin

Graffiti has been used in advertising in an attempt to communicate with a younger audience (videogame culture).

Invader - French artist deliberately made his street art difficult to remove.

Street art re-emergence

Banksy - Kate Moss made as iconic as Marilyn Monroe

Shephard Fairey - Obama poster

JR - parisian photographer blew up photographic portraits and placed them on the sides of buildings, associated it with locals.

Free Art Friday - group of people that work worldwide putting labels on pieces of work that can be taken away.