A Primer on Graffiti Artwork as Canvas Prints
Ask anybody their view on graffiti, and you’ll get views of love and hatred : some people find it a nuisance, others a nuanced artform. On the plus side, graffiti artists like Banksy have turned graffiti into an aesthetic pleasure, utilizing stencils to create difficult artworks with political points attached. This sort of graffiti was bound to become trendy with the public and the likes of The Independent pressroom : attractive to both eye and intellect. This form of graffiti is now even acquired as graffiti on canvas, and hung on the walls of middle class homes and office reception areas.
Yet, what of the everyday kind – the tagger, the gangbanger variety – this sort of graffiti is oftentimes seen as vandalism, an offence perpetrated by the untalented. But is graffiti merely art? To many people, it’s not only an artform, but a means to put your stamp on territory, or even a two finger salute : anti-establishment, anti-social, even anti-art.
Spraying has always been an undercover activity, although the results are public. The intended audience is frequently unidentified. Is it for a competing crew? A communication to an individual? To the public? Maybe it’s just gratuitous and out of nothing else to do.
Whatever the reasons, there appears to be some kind of enduring need to spray graffiti on walls. Some city councils have admitted that graffiti isn’t a fad, so they’ve designated zones where graffiti is permitted – usually unoccupied areas, but now and then more civic zones like temporary boarding surrounding urban buildings under construction.
