Graffiti – Is It Art?

In this essay I plan to investigate what the origins of graffiti art is. I will discuss
the work of two graffiti artists whose work differ in style and technique. The
first graffiti artist I have chosen to discuss is Franck Slama, and the second
graffiti artist I have chosen is Banksy. I will discuss what the two artists work is
about and how they make their work. I will talk about how they manage to
evade the police. I will also include some illustrations of the graffiti artwork
from the two artists I have chosen. In the conclusion I will discuss in my own
opinion if I believe that graffiti is actually art.

The word graffiti is taken from the Italian word “graffiato” which when
translated means scratched. Examples of this can be seen on the Pombeii ruins
in Italy and even before these thousands of years ago prehistoric cave
paintings were found to have similar illustrations which can be seen as graffiti
art using tools such as animal bones and pigments. This seems to be the
earliest known graffiti. In the late 1960’s in Philadelphia one of the first signs of
graffiti was two individuals who signed their names on buildings to attract
attention, this was knowing as “bombing”. This practice of graffiti art crew and
became popular and then appears to have become established in the 1970’s in
New York. Graffiti art could be seen on the sides of buildings and subway
trains. These images were created by spray paint and other materials such as
stencils, stickers, posters and sculptures.

The first graffiti artist I have chosen to discuss is Franck Slama a 53-year-old
French street artist who is best known as “Invader”. Although we know his real
name, he is unseen as he always wears a mask when depositing his artwork.
His name and work were originally inspired by the video game space invaders
and created using pixels. Franck Slama’s work is about making his art
accessible and not locked away behind the doors of museums and art galleries.
He wanted to bring the pixelated illustrations into everyday life. Invaders
graffiti artwork is based on the space invaders game created by using ceramic
tile mosaics in the shape of the pixilated characters. He experimented using
different types of glue and cement. He the selecting the right materials to
ensure his art pieces couldn’t be stolen as they would fall apart when removal
is attempted. His graffiti art is being placed in public spaces all around the
world by a dedicated team of people. In places such as the Eiffel tower in Paris
and under the sea in Cancun Mexico. Each of his invader art pieces has a QR
code linked to his dedicated app “World Invasion”, so anyone can play the
game getting points for each of his mosaic tile artwork and enjoy his work. His
graffiti art is not placed randomly but is planned in advanced. He has created
many pieces of street art, almost 4000 pieces in roughly 79 cities around the
world, from Hong Kong to Los Angeles. He hopes to conquer the world with
mosaics. Initially the maps he made were on paper and are now worth lots of
money that some collectors have paid up to $1000 for. Invader has been
caught by the police before. And during a time when being questioned by them
he used this as an opportunity to display his 284th piece of artwork. He stuck
one of his creations in the office of the policeman that was questioning him. It
was a piece that was red with white eyes.

Franck Slama “Invader, Pac-man”

2013

Franck Slama “Invader under the

sea in Cancun” 2021

Possibly one of the most

controversial street artists in the world is Banksy. He is believed to have been
born in the mid 1970’s. He began his career by looking at the works of Blek Le
Rat he would recycle old ideas from other artists. In the early days he was a
member of a graffiti crew in Bristol called DBZ. His artwork would combine
dark humour with politics and philosophy. He moved to London in the early
2000’s where his work become well known. Banksy’s identity is unknown, and
he refuses to be pictured or interviewed. Street art fans are fascinated with his
work but are always left wanting more. Banksy uses stencils to create his
artwork. This method is believed a faster way to produce his art. Banksy is not
just a street artist, he has also made paintings, drawings and even created his
own theme park called Dismaland. His artwork is extremely valuable and can
sells for thousands, sometime millions of pounds. In 2007 “keep it spotless”
was sold for over 1 million pounds. Despite the amount of money, you can buy
a Banksy piece for he has made it well known that he doesn’t like it selling for
lots of money. He famously destroyed his artwork before it sold for 1 million
pounds. Banksy covers himself head to toe in protective clothing to protect his
self from spray paint, it is also believed that he also does this to conceal his
identity from the public. He has also been known to dress as tradesman to
make out that he is carrying out maintenance work on buildings. He would put
up scaffolding to reach heights where he would put his artwork. When Banksy
was part of the DBZ grew, he narrowly escaped getting caught by police by
hiding under a dustbin. This prompted him to use stencils as this was a much
quicker way of producing his artwork to be able to escape the scene faster.

Banksy “Keep it spotless”2007

Banksy “Girl with Balloon” 2018

Having looked closely at these two graffiti artists my opinion remains mixed. I
believe that yes, it is artwork, however I also feel that it is an illegal act and is
classed as vandalism. What artists like Bansky and Invader have done is make it
fashionable and people want to be the ones to find the sought-after pieces of
work that they have created. I have read recently that a Banksy print will be
going to auction to raise money for Kyiv hospital and war refugees in the fight
between Russia and Ukraine. In my opinion I feel this is a good use of the
money made for illegal artwork. I do think that what they produce is art but
they should not be putting their artwork on buildings that are owned by other
people.

References
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