In the early 1980s, the first Art Galleries who started to show graffiti artists to the public were Fashion Moda in
Bronx and Now Gallery in Manhattan. A 2006 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum displayed graffiti as an art form
that began in New York’s outer boroughs and reached great heights in the early ’80s with the work of Crash, Lee, Daze,
Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
It displayed 22 works by New York graffiti artists, including Crash, Daze and Lady Pink. In an article about the exhibition
in Time Out Magazine, curator Charlotta Kotik said that she hoped the exhibition would cause viewers to rethink their
assumptions about graffiti. Terrance Lindall, an artist and executive director of the Williamsburg Art and Historic Center,
said regarding graffiti and the exhibition:
“Graffiti is revolutionary, in my opinion”, he says, ”and any revolution might be considered a crime. People who are
oppressed or suppressed need an outlet, so they write on walls—it’s free.”
Artistic graffiti is a modern day offspring of traditional graffiti that has elevated itself from just scrawling words or
phrases on a wall, to a complex artistic form of personal expression.
Between March and April 2009, 150 artists exhibited 300 pieces of graffiti at the Grand Palais in Paris — a clear acceptance of the art form into the French art world.
Many graffiti artists have used their design talents in other artistic endeavors. In 2009 graffiti artist ”Scape” published
“GRAFF; the Art & Technique of Graffiti”, the world’s first book dedicated to displaying the full techniques of creating
graffiti art. Other books that focus on graffiti include Faith of Graffiti by Norman Mailer, Trespass by Taschen press
and the comic book Concrete Immortalz by Elite Gudz, which has a graffiti artist as its main character.
Figurines by KAWS, featuring icons of pop culture often with x’ed out eyes, run in limited editions and sell for thousands
of dollars. World-renowned street artist Banksy directed the film Exit Through the Gift Shop, which explored
street art and commercialism, in 2010.
(Text taken from
Wikipedia)
