Urban Art Origins, Ramblings and Explanation...

Understanding Urban Street Art

Essentially at the root of all art work is a need to convey a message or emotion to an audience. Urban street art is no different; it is still an artistic form of delivery but with a much greater chance of getting heard as it isn`t solely resigned to galleries and standard art pictures display locations.

Although art on the streets may have started with graffiti, urban street picture art has evolved the movement by introducing many mediums with which to create visual pieces such as street installations, mosaic tiling, video projecting/LED art and stencil work.

Artists have realised that a much larger target audience can be reached by making art available to the masses, and what better way to reach a large chunk of the population than by placing art amongst heavily populated areas such as streets and walkways, train stations and even lamp posts.

It`s not only artists that have realized that relevant and accessible art can reach a wide range of people, advertising companies have also jumped on the urban art bandwagon and in some cases have taken on particularly prominent street artists as graphic designers for their campaigns. This is somewhat frowned upon in the urban art field as the majority of artists wish to keep their work unaffiliated with brands allowing them to keep their messages cutting and with no hold barred. Another reason for the secrecy and anonymity within the artistic movement is that more often than not the art works are completed in public places without the proper permission of governing bodies, another slap in the face for the ruling forces they so often satirise in their work.

It is believed amongst some circles that the first street artist was Gérfrom Zlotykamien from France but since then many artists have started to become more aware in the mainstream public art world such as Banksy, Swoon, Ellis Gallagher, Syd TV, and Nick Walker . It is common place for artists to maintain their privacy with false names such as the well publicised and often sought after D face.

Although most towns and cities now have areas dedicated to street art, whether this has been authorised or not, there are certain hot spots around the globe that urban art fans flock to for their cult appeal. Bristol in the Uk has become one of the Uks urban art key areas thanks to Banksy and his ever expanding fan base.

Sao Paulo in Brazil is often considered one of the capitals of street art in particular its large collection of artistic murals completed in a variety of mediums. The bubbling and vibrant feel and atmosphere of the city is clearly apparent in the works depicted in its street art scene. San paulo has speedily transformed into one of the most prominent and most technically gifted showcases around the globe, hence many street artists making the journey to become a part of the brazillian urban art scene.