In recent weeks I have written a lot about art history but focused mainly on movements from many decades ago. While the ideas associated with those times are still relevant and speak eloquently about truth, art and human nature one hundred years later, of course there are just as many important contemporary movements. Although you probably would not associate Matisse, Mondrian or Manet with artwork you see on the underside of an overpass, I argue that for many street artists, their aims are similar to historical innovators. The urge to fight against established norms of art making in order to express ideas about culture, class or the lived world is the common denominator between all of these disparate artists. Street art is accessible to the general public and demonstrates art's ability to change the world and get people thinking. It removes the restrictions, both on the viewer and the artist, that come with exhibition in a gallery. By taking art out of the gallery and into everyday life, creators achieve what many past artists set out to do, and the transitory nature of street art means it can always be renewed and is forced to deal with new issues as they come. Now, I could talk about this even more, but instead I am going to let this YouTube video do the job for me.
-al