Mark SmithStreet art is an amazing concept that has attracted artists and viewers alike from time immemorial. This particular art form is almost like an obsession for the street artists who make pale walls come alive with vibrant colors and the most relevant and awe-inspiring ideas.
Any art form developed in the public space can be called street art. In this case, public space denotes anything and everything from murals on walls to 3D paintings on roads. There is no specific format or genre that the street artists follow in the process. Some artists get engaged in street painting individually while others hit the street in groups to reflect a specific idea that they believe in. Like the concept, even the medium of street paintings can be varied. All forms of stencil work, graffiti and street installations are different forms of street arts.
Street art can never be equated with different forms of vandalism like, dirty poems written on the wall, gang territory marking or wayward splashing of color to make the wall look dirty. Street art was born to oppose the idea that only museums and art galleries can exhibit art works that reflect intense thought process of intellectual people. The style of this form of art is so simple that it can engage laymen and help them to connect with the thought process of the artist.
This form of art is exposed to a larger audience group as people passing by can have a look and appreciate them. If the street and the walls are your art galleries, they will remain open 24/7 for public view. The artist can work freely without raising the eyebrows of critics or dealing with schedules for exhibitions to be open for art viewing. The artwork, on the other hand gets a fair chance to reflect the socio-political and economic scenario of the particular city and country.
Despite reaching out to a larger group of audience, street art fails to earn proper recognition for its artists. The art form that was born during the days of Graffiti movement, has evolved a lot. Of late, it has become the tool for disseminating soft political messages, criticizing what is wrong through satirical drawings or simply creating populist art. The evolution is still on and in certain styles this form of painting has attained the status of high art.
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