The Importance of Urban Art in Today’s World

Posted by Rex Norton
1
May 18, 2016
300 Views
When one talks about things with history, art is on the top of the list. Being the highest medium of expression, art has changed forms along with the times. From stencils to pencils, from prints to murals, art has several dimensions and with today’s modern era, we see urban art making its way into our culture. Street art, initially having started out as a rebellious art which involved the use of graffiti, has now made its way into the core of contemporary art.

What makes street art or urban art stand out is the relevance of the art itself and the powerful messages that these art pieces wish to portray? What distinguishes street art is that it is the voice of the public meant to be heard by the public? Instead of restricting themselves to murals and canvasses, the artists use the street as a medium to convey the messages hence breaking free from the so called constraints of regular art.

Today, street art is not only appreciated widely by the public, but is also respected because there are specific galleries for exhibiting such art. Many places now invest in what is known as a street art gallery, used specifically to bring focus to urban art. Since street art is not made on a canvas, exhibiting pieces in a gallery becomes a difficult task, but however pictures of street art are now finding their place in the greater collections of art buyers and institutes of fine arts.

The biggest example of this is Banksy, who started out as a freehand graffiti artist in the early 90s and his style is mostly anti-war, anti-capitalist and anti-establishment and his art usually features striking images with humorous slogans to make it related. He was among one of the first few urban artists whose work was put up for exhibition and his works were such a big hit that he soon landed himself a place in the list of the world’s 100 most influential people, in 2010. Even though his art is on the walls of the street, there are quite a few galleries which put up Banksy prints for sale, however, keeping in mind the multitude of Banksy prints that are in the market, one must educate oneself before making a purchase.

Things to be kept in mind while checking out the sale:

  1. One must learn to identify the original prints from the reproductions. Having become popular in the market, there are many replicas of the Banksy prints also. One should research thoroughly about identifying the original pieces from the rest.
  2. Being one of the upcoming pieces of art, one must look at such modern pieces as an investment because the value will only go up. Hence, it is all the more important to invest in an original piece.
  3. In order for the piece to long last, one must opt for canvas prints when compared to paper prints because of the longevity. One should look for museum quality canvas prints in order to prevent the prints from breaking down.
Comments
avatar
Please sign in to add comment.