Art History

It is interesting to be that there are not a lot of schools that offer art history classes on graffiti. Graffiti happens to be a part of the history of art no matter how illegal it is. I am approaching my senior year of college and this the first college class that I have had on graffiti. This also happens to be the first time that my university (West Chester University) is offering the class. I that it is crazy that we have not been taught these things before. I feel like my art history minor is not complete without learning about these forms of art. There are also so many new terms that are associated with this style of art too that are not used in other forms of art. Graffiti is also interesting. That is the biggest reason why I love it. I is another way to express yourself. I think that its an amazing way to do art. Its creative to say the least. We need to be taught about this!

Mural Arts

In my summer class we went to Philadelphia were we had a chance to learn about the mural arts program. We learned that in the beginning, 1984, the program was not simply for the purpose of  putting up murals in the city. Its first purpose was to  be an Anti-Graffiti program to "fix" the graffiti problem in the city. This was an effort started by Mayor Wilson Goode. Jane Golden, a mural artist, was asked to be a part of this program and allowed the graffiti artist to work with her because she saw that they really did have talent. The city really needed something for these artist to do and what Jane turned it into was just that. With the murals that they were putting up the are able to touch the hearts of these young people in the city, and even those hearts of their family. The program is still going strong today. I think it is important for this program to stat because they are removing art from a lot of the schools in the city. Kids need art in the early stages of their life so that they can develop. Art teaches children different ways of thinking and problem solving skills that can be applied to other subjects. It is a way to express yourself without words. If we don't have more programs like this and remove art from schools there will be more graffiti in the city.

Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia

Copy Cats...

This piece is simply amazing to me. The problem with this that since Banksy is so secluded and private that many people do not believe that this is his art. It is hard to ask someone if this is their art when you don't know who he is. I like this piece because of the underlying message. That message to me is to face your fears even when everyone else is telling you to "run for your life". If you have love on your side you can conquer anything. To me the lion represents all of your fears, problems. and doubts that you may have.

CLAW

CLAW

Commonly known as "Claw money or claw" Claudia started doing graffiti work in the late 80's. Her signature sign was a big paw with three claws.  Her mentor while she was really influenced by Zephyr who taught her a lot of the things that she knows about graffiti. She now has a very successful clothing line and collaborates with many different well known brands. It is very nice to see that a graffiti artist is still doing what she loves to do but has really achieved great success in another artistic area. 

R.I.P. Graffiti and Hip Hop

     I was not around when hip hop first started but I did get to exprence parts of it. Hip hop was a big part of my life because of my family who are very much intuned with this movement. Many people have linked graffiti to hip hop. Hip hop was not only a style of music it was much more than that. It included rhyming, djing, breaking and graffiti. Some people believe that hip hop started graffiti however, we know that graffiti started in the 60's before hip hop. Over these past few days we have seen countless movies about the history of graffiti. Some of the graffiti artist have said that they believe that graffiti is DEAD. This is really interesting to me because there are many people that say Hip Hop is dead too. I believe that both are dead unfortionatly. There are a lot of new artist but I feel that they are more POP than anything. I am no expertbut I do believe that hip hop and graffiti are both dead weither related or not.

Lady PINK

LADY PINK

She was born in Ecuador but then moved to New York. She would have never thought that an art that was predominately male art. In 1979 she start writing and claimed the title of being the only women that could compete with the guys. She was the star in he movie "Wild Style" 1982 and started showing her work at Moore College of at and Design. I think that it was extremely important for her to start doing graffiti because we need strong women to prove that we can do anything and potentially do it better than anyone else. It makes it even better that her driving force for doing it was proving MEN wrong. Go Girl!! 

Graffiti hurts?

   The law informant team in Oregon have made a program that is titles "Graffiti Hurts." What this program states is that graffiti is hurting Washington County of Oregon. They have the idea going that all graffiti is bad. They have made the distinction that gang graffiti is different from tagging. They say that this art is harming the community and the people who live there. 

    I for one think that this is hilarious because a piece of art can not harm anyone, unless it is falling on you or something of that nature. The people who are making this art simply just want to make a statement. There is something beautiful about what the art is trying to say and it needs to be separated from the work that is gang related. Quite frankly no one cares about the gangs listing names of there members and whatever nonsense they chose to throw up on a wall. That is simply NOT art. 

What makes you an artist?

     Sometimes you have to ask yourself the hard questions. What makes you an artist? Are you a master? Who makes that decision? What degree do you have? Do you have to go to art school to be an artist? What makes you better than me, or anyone else for that matter? Is art limited to pens and paper? I don't know the answer to those questions. I think that anyone can be an artist. To me art is not limited to just pen and paper or any of the other "approved" medium for that matter. I feel like there are no rules to art there are many different styles that people can learn from to help their skills. 

     As far as graffiti, I think that it is an art. It does not matter that it is illegal. It is a way for people to express themselves. I knew a lot of people who did graffiti and it seemed like they needed it to express themselves. It is an emotional release. I think that you have to look at it in both ways that is someone came out and said that painting on canvas was illegal, that it was not art and that all paintings in the world were going to be destroyed. There would be many mad painters in the world. The same example could be changed to include music and dancing. These are all ways that people can express themselves.   With that being said the real question then would be; what would artist do without art?

This is another Banksy piece that clearly is saying something. Even though the troops have guns all they want is peace. There is something that is so contradicting about "fighting for peace."

I am not sure who did the painting but it has a clear message that states that you can change something. You voice not only matters but you voice will be heard. 

This is a piece that was done by me in 2009. I was really affected by the death of my dog. I but all my emotion into this drawling. For me art is a release of my motions and I am not sure what I would do if I did not have it. 

The Female Banksy

     There is another anonymous who's name is Bambi. She is an artist from London. Some say she is the female Banksy but she will tell you that she is just fulfilling another of her passions. She is a performer and has many albums out and no one knows that she is "Bambi" also. There are said to be only three people that know her true identity. She uses her manager Lenny as a middle man to discuss her work. She is a rather new artist and is inspired by many artist that include Andy Warhol and Banksy. Bambi is much like Banksy in the way that her pieces speak abut something that interest her. A lot of her work comes to her in her sleep and other are commissioned by celebrities that are really fond of her work. Rihanna, Brad Pitt, Kate Moss and David Beckham have all requested work from the up and coming artist Bambi. Her true identity says anonymous just like Banksy despite the fact that all of these pieces have been done. 

This is a piece done by Bambi that is of pop artist Madonna. I think that this piece really exemplifies the beauty of Madonna. The style of the piece is beautiful. The shadows and lack of outlines is amazing. there is no defining line to the piece but there is a lot of detail to it. Madonna's lips are bright red with adds a "pop" to the overall image. Bambi's take on Madonna is a very different view from the other work that I have seen around. 

 Bambi did this piece of David Beckham and gave it to him for free. She said that he is one of her biggest supporters and he is a one of a kind person that men want to be and that women want to sleep with. I think that she really admires him also but t hen again what woman doesn't.  When she was talking about this piece she said that she wanted to put him in a setting that people could associate with him it also happens to be his favorite place.  

Rihanna wanted Bambi to create a piece for her. This work of art shows both the beauty and seductive personality that Rihanna has. The style of her work is colorful which is different from the work that Banksy does.  It is a very interesting work and I like that this piece does have color. It seems that all of her pieces are signed by her and also have the names of the people in the picture that she is doing.

Amy Winehouse had passed and this was one of the works that Bambi did near her Camden home to commemorate her. Unfortunately, it was removed by someone. It was said that it was done by someone related to Banksy because Bambi is getting very popular.  I am not sure that I believe that but that is what the speculation. 

Banksy

     Banksy is a famous British street artist is known for his street art, paintings, and films.  He has been doing graffiti work for years and I believe that he is very good at what he does. His street art is very profound and makes a huge statement. Everyone of his pieces says something different. He is a man with something to say and he is not afraid to say it. Banksy seems to be a very opinionated person and he displays that through his art. I like the style that has has mastered. Most of his work seems to be done in a stenciling type manor with meaning behind it. 

Take this piece below for example. The message that I get out of this is that graffiti is illegal because artis use it to make a statement. Artis have been using different mediums to make a statement for years but i believe that since graffiti is placed anywhere and can not be "regulated" that positions and police officers are afraid that is can help start a movement  I believe that it only takes one person to start a movement and Banksy could be that person.

This is one of Banksy pieces that is quite funny if you actually think about it. A business man with a suitcase heading to work but has no interest in people at all. He probably sees people at work everyday and fakes being interested or happy to see them. There are a lot of people that have corporate jobs that have no interset in what they do or the people that are working with everyday. These people need to find what makes them happy and do it.