![]() Many (still) feel that an artform born illegally in the public space and rooted in promoting nonviolent civil disobedience loses much of its relevance when institutionalized. įrom the very start, the presence of graffiti and street art in art institutions was surrounded by heated debate. Graffiti and street art’s Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mentality, combined with internet and social media exposure, enable the artists to promote and sell their own work without the need of gallerists, buyers and other traditional artworld middlemen. Yet even as they were assimilated into the art world, graffiti and street artists could still retain a greater independence from the cultural authorities than did other artists. The movements have undeniably moved from the periphery to a more central position in the art world. While the institutionalization of graffiti and street art in the 1970s and early 1980s was limited to a few ‘art visionaries’, today it is common to find artworks by (former) graffiti and street artists being sold for tens of millions in auction houses across the globe. As art institutions came to appreciate and value this new aesthetic from the street, renowned museums and experienced art buyers began opening up their collections more and more to these urban expressions. Artists continued to refine their work and experiment across painting, sculpture, music, fashion and film. So where did this institutional interest in graffiti and street art come from? It resulted from the evolution of the artforms themselves. The introduction of the American aesthetics convinced many Dutch writers to start practicing ‘New York stylewriting’. As the first exhibition in Amsterdam featuring American graffiti, the show was a milestone. Three years later, in late 1982, artworks by graffiti artists like Seen, Blade, Futura 2000 and Dondi were exhibited at Yaki Kornblit Gallery. In the same year, the founding of ANUS Gallery by Amsterdam pioneers Hugo Kaagman and Diana Ozon marked the birth of the first (punk) graffiti gallery in the Dutch capital. The exhibition took place in December 1979 after Italian art dealer Claudio Bruni bought ‘graffiti per square foot’ from graffiti veteran Lee Quiñones and hip-hop icon Fab 5 Freddy. The first gallery to showcase graffiti art in Europe was Galleria La Medusa in Rome. The show included works by Basquiat, Futura 2000 and Kenny Scharf, amongst others.įashion Moda, 1981 Photo: (c) John Fekner Then, in October 1980, Fashion Moda, in the South Bronx, organized one of the earliest and most influential exhibitions showing graffiti and street art side by side. For the next half decade or so the underground scene developed in its own cocoon. The first gallery exhibition of graffiti took place in September, 1973 at the Razor Gallery in SoHo, New York and featured the collective United Graffiti Artists – whose original members include Hugo Martinez, PHASE 2, Mike 171 and SJK 171. This thanks to the efforts of a few forward-thinking artists, art dealers and collectors. While graffiti and street art date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, it didn’t take long for these artforms to be assimilated into the institutionalized art world. Ultimately, we invite you to join one of the most pressing debates taking place around street art today: Is street art exhibited inside still street art? With the ultimate goal of providing you more depth in relation to our opening exhibition and this current discussion, this article briefly explores the history of this monumental shift from brick walls to white cubes and the various points of view that help define it. What does the institutionalization of street art mean for this art form? And what are the consequences for the artists themselves? We tackle these questions with Quote from the streets, the opening exhibition at STRAAT. But is street art actually street art when it appears on canvas? Isn’t street art by its very nature meant to slowly fade away into the urban landscape? Isn’t the rebellious spirit so essential to this art form lost once it ventures down the institutionalization path?Īrt institutes have been collecting and promoting graffiti and street art for nearly half a century, but these questions remain as relevant today as they were back in the 1970s and 1980s. Although graffiti and street art emerged as illegal and underground expressions on the streets, as pointed out in our last in-depth article, it didn’t take very long for the traditional art world to absorb them into their galleries and museums.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |