Graffiti Indoors: a Look at Prints on Canvas
The mainstream artworld has had a love/hate relationship with graffiti. On the plus side, creatives like Banksy have made walls a place to put a political point across, utilising stencils to create technically difficult graphics loaded with political messages attached. This kind of graffiti was certain to get trendy with the public and the art critics : visually pleasing and intellectually satisfying. This kind of graffiti is even purchased as prints on canvas, and hung in suburban homes and office reception areas.
All the same, what about the other end of the spectrum? – the gangbanger, the tagger, the street urchin – this is just seen as antisocial, a crime perpetrated by the talentless. But is graffiti just an artform? To many individuals, it’s not just art, but a method to put your stamp on territory, or even a rejection of society altogether : anti-art, anti-social, anti-establishment.
Spraying has invariably been a secret pursuit, even though the effects are public facing. The intended audience is often unknown. Is it for a rival crew? A communication to an individual? To the public? Or….possibly it’s merely uncalled-for and out of boredom.
Whatever the reasons, there appears to be a perpetual demand to spray graffiti on walls. Some cities have conceded that graffiti isn’t a fad, so they’ve marked off zones where graffiti is allowed – usually uninhabited areas, but now and then busier areas like temporary boarding that surrounds urban construction sites.
