Expression is widely used through art and music. People seek the streets to convey the urban experiences of everyday life. Graffiti has considerably moved on from the basic letter ‘graffs’ into a more powerful and evocative form of expression.
Urban street art has become highly influential and also informative because each ‘graff’ stems from a cultural or social reality. The present day urban graffiti is mysteriously captivating in attracting attention and conveying messages.
Street art is vastly compelling and is making much more of a statement about politics and life in 2011 than many other forms of media. It’s incredibly fascinating how a ‘graff’ on a sometimes derelict wall can cause so much controversy by engrossing politics. As street art can be extremely controversial at times when focusing on political issues, this makes it a new media, a powerful media which is gradually gaining more and more public exposure. Street art is more defined to urban areas especially major cities where there is a definitive gap between the rich and the poor.
Urban street art acts as a silent voice in capturing attention, however, it shouts loud in portraying its meaning.
Street artists evoke an immense amount of energy through their ‘graffing’. It is a form of powerful and influential art making it a popular activity where there is also an increase in collaborations between different street artists, highlighting this unity.
Graffiti in London is still viewed by many as a form of vandalism and it is still associated with antisocial behaviour. However, this new form of graffiti which is based on the evolving nature of city life, as a means of expression, vastly surpasses street tagging on a huge level.
There are currently tours available throughout East London which showcases areas specifically concentrated with street art. Going back a decade, showcasing ‘graffiti’ as if it were a form of art would never have been considered.
East London also has some beautiful stencil and drawing graffiti by street artist Alice Pasquini who is originally from Rome. This is the form of graffiti which is regarded as more acceptable.
Stencil work seems to be regarded as more acceptable and viewed as a form of art highlighting its passion unlike the traditional spray paint can ‘graffs’. However, it is the emotion evoked by spray paint canned urban graffiti which gives it the voice that shouts the loudest.
There is the passion of art in graffiti and then there is the voice.
