The street art debate.

What is your view on the phenomenon that is "street art"? While street art is a subculture that has yet to become incredibly popular here in the US, European street artists who have been creating pieces for years like Invader and Banksy are beginning to gain some mainstream recognition. I think we can all agree that in many situations, "street art" is nothing short of vandalism. At the same time, however, some of these pieces are full of artistic merit. Where do we draw the line?

Daniel Lahoda heads the LA Freewalls campaign, which promotes the installation of large-scale murals on what are called "permission walls" (walls upon which street artistry is condoned and encouraged) of downtown Los Angeles, California. Such a project is groundbreaking in that it actively prevents the stifling of street artistry; instead, it uses it to bring aesthetic interest to the walls of failing businesses, drab school gyms, and otherwise unsightly buildings. When there are initiatives like LA Freewalls, i's easy to chastise street artists that continue their illegal activity; many say that if these artists are producing great works, they ought to submit them to museums - commentary that sometimes brings with it the passive agressive assertion that street art is almost a bastardization of true art. It is important to realize, however, that pieces of street art carry with them certain messages that resonate only within public contexts. Lahoda recently made a statement on this issue that spoke volumes: "Looking at street art in a gallery is like looking at animals in a zoo." That is: it works and it may even be enjoyable - but it's unnatural.

While studying abroad, I ventured to Paris and found this work by Invader (the pixelation in the right hand corner) amidst some other pieces.
Paris, France.
Florence, Italy.
Florence, Italy.
Florence, Italy.

The bedeviled face of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Florence, Italy.

Street artist DopePops installs a piece using wheatpaste on a permission wall on Valencia Street in San Francisco. The wall has been covered and recovered so many times with so many layers of artwork that apparently it is soft and flexible to touch!