Are street artists also vandals? An exhibition investigates their work--beyond the wall

From May 4 to 26, 2019, the “Vittorio Arrigoni” Shelter on Via Odorici in Brescia will host the exhibition Art of vandalism?, a group show of Italian street artists who present works made in the studio while investigating the relationship of their work with the action conducted on the street. The exhibition, organized by the newly formed Brescian cultural association Segmenti Urbani, whose research is precise in the field of street art with a particular focus on the investigation of the ever broader and more complex implications of an art born in the street as a spontaneous and illegal act (but which from an underground movement has now turned into a real mass phenomenon), intends to show how beyond those “vandalic acts” with which people usually associate street artists’ graffiti, there is a serious work of artistic research: contrary to popular belief, the intent of street art is not to harm but is to communicate. Therefore, each artist involved in the Art vandalism project expresses different modalities and styles, showing the variety that exists in this world, characterized by increasingly blurred and undefined boundaries, but united by the same impulse, which drives artists to intervene in the street, on trains, among alleys, on the walls of old buildings. The place where the exhibition is held, the bunker, was born as a shelter for the civilian population during World War II: it now becomes a case for these bombs of creativity, feeding the short-circuit created in the world of street art.

Then there is a further aspect that the exhibition explores: how would it be possible to bring an art that was born and lives in the street to an exhibition venue? As a result of the great curiosity and subsequent confusion that has been generated about this movement, the organizers nurture the desire to show the work of some of its protagonists, who are often labeled as vandals. Art of vandalism? is therefore a showcase that highlights artists who continue to work without breaking the link between the work to the freedom of expression, so as to show our point of view on street art.

It all began with graffiti art, which was born in the late 1960s on the streets of New York and from the desire for revenge, the search for identity and desire for affirmation that African-American boys from the suburbs expressed through tags, that is, their own nickname. Since then, the tag (initially combined with the number that identified the area of belonging), has become a weapon to claim one’s individuality. Since 1971, it soon turned from a niche phenomenon into a global movement, from simple tags to stylistic research, to ever larger and ever more virtuously arty signatures. The movement was evolving and was doing so through the emergence of new styles resulting from formal research, such as “bubble style,” “bar letters,” “wild style,” or “3D letters.” Over the years, the artistic awareness of the authors changed and the desire to emerge led graffiti artists to create increasingly spectacular, impressive and sophisticated works.

Toward the end of the 1990s, a momentous crossroads was reached in the world of graffiti art: on the one hand, a current remained strongly tied to its roots; on the other, a burgeoning artistic movement was released, still close to the street but aspiring to communicate to a wider audience. This new movement was promptly labeled as street art by those who wanted to exploit its commercial appeal. Fully influenced by the 1990s, while retaining its roots in graffiti art, street art drew heavily fromaerosol culture, the rave movement, the grassroots production of community centers, skateboard graphics, fanzines, comics a conglomerate of influences that have created a clear separation from writing, introducing new cultural and aesthetic references, a new concept of the uniqueness of the work, new techniques and new tools (in addition to cans and markers, painter’s rollers, stickers, stencils, posters and installations executed with a very wide range of materials are used). Nowadays, street art is fashionable: from underground culture it has become a mass phenomenon. Used by big brands for advertisements, it is showcased by gallery owners unrelated to this movement, but attracted by the possibility of making money, who go so far as to remove portions of the wall to display them in their own gallery (thus killing the work).

The exhibition, following the historical path just described, begins with writing: through S.B.’s shots, the exhibition audience experiences that cross-section related to trains, to stations, where works run along the tracks. The canvases of writers Tommy Sper and Bone, on the other hand, will show their artistic and stylistic journey, from walls to canvas and vice versa. Daniele Tozzi, a Roman artist, signed himself Pepsi in the 1990s, but what he is exhibiting now are his delicate calligraphic games, the result of a stylistic research marked by the study of lettering. The stencil can also be considered an evolution of writing: a means was needed to limit the risk of being stopped, speed up the execution of the work, without losing the quality of the image. Again, research and the desire to stand out pushed and elevated this basic technique. An example are artists such as Nabla&Zibe, Uno and Icks, among the most prolific and original Italian stencil artists who have been able to reinterpret this technique in a completely personal key. For artist Nemo’s, too, everything started with cans, but experimentation (using a mix of techniques) is the main feature of his works, seasoned by a figurative interest in anthropological anatomy.

It is easy to notice the gigantism of the murals, but there is also a rich hidden microcosm that enriches our streets, and the sticker is the main protagonist. With the Bombing Bunker combo, which collects small creative projects from around the world, and with posters by the artist StelleConfuse, among the Italian cornerstones of this art, the exhibition offers an overview. Posters will also be discussed with the Guerrilla Spam collective: their works are dense with social issues, with the main purpose of communicating to people. As mentioned above, street art is a global phenomenon: thanks to the shots of Giovanni Candida, Robby Rent and Anton Akimov, the exhibition also displays works born “spontaneously” in different cities of Europe. To conclude the roundup of techniques and styles, the organizers invited urban artist Biancoshock: his interventions interrupt the monotony of everyday life, simple ideas that make people smile but simultaneously reflect. He will present a specific side project for the exhibition. The last artist involved is Ivan Tresoldi, a poet from Milan, who together with Segmenti Urbani and Simone Pallotta brings “Vuoto a rendere,” a street poetry and poetic assault project.

For more info you can visit Segmenti Urbani’s page.

Pictured is one of Tommy Sper’s works.

Source: release

Are street artists also vandals? An exhibition investigates their work--beyond the wall

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