What’s Trending this Year: Graffiti Canvas Art
Ask anyone their thoughts on graffiti, and you’ll get opinions right across the board : some people find it a nuisance, others a subtle artform. On the one hand, gifted graffiti artists such as Banksy have made walls a place to put a political point across, employing stencils to produce technically difficult artworks loaded with a subtle meaning attached. This type of graffiti was likely to grow fashionable with both the masses and the artworld : attractive to both eye and intellect. This sort of graffiti is even bought as graffiti canvas art, and placed on the walls of middle class homes and corporate reception areas.
Nevertheless, what about the opposite end of the spectrum? – the scally, the tagger, the gangbanger sort – this kind of graffiti is frequently seen as vandalism, an offence perpetrated by the talentless. But is graffiti only an artform? To numerous people, it’s not only an artform, but a means to put your stamp on a district, or even two fingers up at society : anti-art, anti-social, anti-establishment.
Spraying has always been an undercover activity, although the results are very much public facing. The intended audience is oftentimes unbeknown. Is it for a rival gang? A communication to an individual? To the public at large? Or….maybe it’s merely uncalled-for and out of boredom.
Whatever the causes, there seems to be some kind of enduring demand to spray on walls. Some city councils have conceded that graffiti isn’t a short-term craze, so they’ve marked off areas where graffiti is allowed – normally derelict areas, but now and again busier zones like boarding that surrounds urban buildings under construction.
