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Jean-Michel Basquiat Graffiti Painting Live - video

Wanna see SAMO / Jean-Michel Basquiat piecing live downtown NYC? This graffiti video clip which dates back to 1981 shows the graffiti artist in action.

This video art clip nicely demonstrates some of the unique nature of graffiti art:
* its illegality bringing the need to work ‘under cover’ and enhancing the importance of signature tags
* it being performed at night, i.e. a time when none is watching, which brings a different mood and reality to the surface
* it being directed by night light, night guards, and the likes
* its need to be completed fast
* its incorporation of unique surface features: poles on a wall, the curves of cars, or hard to reach places
* it being a cryptic street language to communicate with others on the street scene ~ a hard to understand by the general public
* it being a competitive art: to gain respect one has to be prolific (besides skilled & understanding locality)

“I don’t think about art when I’m working.
I try to think about life.” ~ Jean-Michel Basquiat

2 Lives: Graffiti Wall Artist & Graffiti Canvas Painter

Before becoming a famous and an outrageously well-paid canvas painter (style: neo-expressionist), Jean-Michel Basquiat was a celebrity graffiti artist who developed his public reputation as SAMO.

Actually, both Basquiat and his buddy Al Diaz signed their cryptic massages and drawings on the walls of New York with SAMO, together with the copyright mark ©, often a stylized crown above. SAMO was his graffiti tag, a signature, standing for ’same old shit’. Then, sometime in 1980s, graffiti statements that ‘SAMO is dead’ appeared. It was a time when Basquiat showed up in person in public. He moved into his second life as as artist.

By A. Lee
© copyright A. Lee, http://www.eArtfair.com 2009

Graffiti Party Art Piece

Ever found some money behind the wall paper? It happens to some people.

Developers of a run-down loft business discovered they had more than the spaciousness they had hoped for in their New York City’s SoHo building.

They found a large, genuine collaborative artwork by Jean Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Fab 5 Freddy, Futura 2000 and other contemporary artists behind a faux wall. Collectively, these are the very artists who started the graffiti movements, which makes the piece historically valuable.

The work is a genuine demonstration of the artists partying together. Basquiat was friends with Edit deAk, an art magazine editor, who lived at 151 Wooster in the early 80’s, when it was probably little more than a squat.

The mural was on a kitchen - bathroom wall. The mural was created in the late 70’s - early 80s’s and was excellently preserved. It’s pretty wild to discover a genuine artwork by famous artists behind your kitchen cabinets. So, never mind their RE blurb at the end of the video. We appreciate the video.

This was back in June 2007. What has happened to the mural since?
It is now the centerpiece of Gallery 151, which was opened last December.

Who are the artists who established the New York City graffiti movement?

The style of Graffiti Artist Keith Haring (1958 – 1990) has become so universally well known, that it has become a visual language on its own. He moved from chalk, to graffiti paint, to canvas. His first mega fame was build upon ‘Radiant Baby’ in 1980. Haring was an openly gay, social activist. Interested in art at an early age where he grew up in Pennsylvania, he moved to New York City where his subway art fame began. He had quite a bit of formal education in graphic design.

Currently popular and influential artist Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was first known as New York City graffiti artist, and then as Neo-expressionist artist. In contrast with Haring, Basquiat was a high school drop-out.

Futura 2000 (1955- ) was an early New York City graffiti artist, painting in subways in the early ’70s. He is now a graphic designer and gallery artist. One of the most distinctive features about Futura’s work is his abstract approach to graffiti art, while others’ focus was lettering. His works feature thin, fine lines. These days, Futura 2000 a designer, illustrator and gallery artist.

Fab 5 Freddy ~ real name: Fred Brathwaite (1960- ) offered another angle to the team. He is an American Hip hop historian, Hip hop pioneer besides being a former graffiti artist in New York City who was active in in the ’70s- early ’80s. Fab 5 Freddy’ s credited with creating exposure of Hip-hop beyond The Bronx.

By A. Lee, 2008

Click image to see the video

Graffiti Art Lingo & Artwork Type

In his article ‘Types of Graffiti Art’, Benedict Hunter links graffiti to modern culture, and by doing so explains the various types of graffiti artworks.

“Modern day Graffiti art is closely associated with the Hip Hop Culture. It started out with names like TAKI 183 and JULIO 204 who wrote their tag names all over New York to more accomplished artists that have shown their work in respected art galleries. But, for those loyal to the art of graffiti, it is the pieces found on the streets and public walls that remain as the purest form of the art.

Street Graffiti have various well known styles. The styles may be a result of time constraints or as a way of marking territory. The style of the artwork itself greatly affects the look and feel of the piece, these include styles like: Wildstyle, Blockbuster, Throw-ups and Fill-Ins and Pieces.”

A “Piece” is a form of Graffiti art that has a very elaborate design. These pieces tend to take time, therefore there are fewer pieces created illegally in public places because the artist runs the risk of being caught in the act of making it. Most graffiti art “pieces” can now be found in dedicated galleries. Of course, there are always the brave few that still plaster their work on public and private walls. Graffiti tributes are also known as “pieces”. Tributes pay homage to ‘greats’ who have passed away. In the past we have seen tributes to the Big L, Tupac, Mother Teresa and others all over New York when they died.

“Throw-Ups and Fill-In” are graffiti that are done quickly, sacrificing detailed style for time. This is the most common form of graffiti that can be found. It is often made in only one or three contrasting colors and the letterings are in bubble or block form. The letters are often outlined with the boldest color available to the artists. Compared to Wildstyle, throw-ups and fill-ins are often easier to read because the designs are less complex.

“Wildstyle” is a form of graffiti art that sports all sorts of arrows, interlocking letters and points. For the untrained graffiti eye, Wildstyle pieces are often hard to read because the letters tend to blend in into one another and result in what looks like a jumble and wordless mix. Wildstyle Graffiti art is often found in various places around bustling cities like New York, New Jersey and San Francisco.

“Blockbusters” are large graffiti pieces that have been created to cover entire walls with the intention of blocking other artists from using the same wall. The design is often simple and done quickly.

Another form of Graffiti that is similar to Blockbuster is “Rollers”. Rollers are Graffiti styles that involve blocking out an entire wall with a single color. This is considered to be lazy graffiti writing.

“Stickers” are also used in creating graffiti and is one of the quickest ways to post graffiti on the wall. Like “rollers”, “stickers” are also considered to be a form of laziness on the part of the artist. But, more and more artists are coming up with elaborately designed stickers that combat even the most detailed pieces designed.

Stencils are also commonly used in graffiti art. They provide the artist with a way to create presentable pieces without compromising time.”

About the writer
Art Prints and Photos on Canvas are available to buy from GetCanvas.co.uk. Benedict is a freelance article writer for Dolphin Promotions SEO Company.

No Name For Art - # 1

How We Live with Art - Banksy video

This is an interesting video of how people interact with a work of art. It shows the mix of appreciation of the art itself aestetically, of its whimsy and fun, of its serious message and and a ‘trying it on for size’ - identification with the art.

Banksy

This fine art video shows graffiti artist Banksy’s latest street work on the Essex and its people:

Banksy Books

A little book review
Wall and Piece: this book is great ~ page after page after page of stencils and stories. A how to stencil book that makes you think. Highly recommended.
Banging your head against a brick wall: pocket-sized. The art speaks for itself, and it will change your mind. Commentary included.
Existencilism: unmatched collection of brilliant works. Shows Banksy’s sense of rebellion and genius.
Banksy locations: at first only in London, you now have to travel around the world to find them all. A new updated version.
Cut It Out: a third pocket-sized book in color, showing Banksy’s works, including museum pieces.

Meet Banksy - video

Bristol graffiti artist Banksy to me is an interesting artist of our time: with heart & humor, fast and efficient, and largely anonymous.

Here is an absolutely excellent informative video on Banksy with something as close to an interview with this graffiti artist as you’ll ever get.

Wanna know who Banksy is, how is thinks, what moves him to make graffiti, and which way he’s developing as an artist — here it is:

April 2006.

Roy Lichtenstein

Introduction

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was an American artist born in New York City. He epitomized pop art, and brought popular culture into fine art. Personally, he described his pop art as industrial painting. Pop Art started in the ’50s and referred to the interest of a number of artists in the images of mass media, advertising, comics and consumer products.

Pop Art Contemporaries

Other key players in the pop art movement included Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, David Hockney, Wayne Thiebaud, Keith Haring, and Sigmar Polke.

Lichtenstein’s Famous Pop Art

Roy Lichtenstein became famous for his comic-strip style paintings such as “Whaam”, “Torpedo . . . los!”, “Grrrrrrrrrrr!!”, his series of crying women, features of Tintin, and his New York graffiti, or murals.

(part of original painting to show Lichtenstein’s style)

Roy acknowledged that his ideas on perception by Fine Arts professor Hoyt Sherman, Ohio State University, were his earliest important art influence, and that his ideas continued to affect his ideas of visual unity over time. This professor used a “flash room”. This was a dark room where images would be briefly flashed onto the screen. Students were supposed to draw what they had seen - a method of grasping an image by copying it. Roy received his MFA from Ohio State in 1949, and subsequently taught at the same university. In 1957 he started teaching in upstate New York.

Lichtenstein’s earlier artwork switches between Cubism and Expressionism. 1957 was a turning point for Roy when he adopted Abstract Expressionism. In 1961, Lichtenstein commenced his now-famous Pop Art style, using comic strip images: displaying hard edge figurative close-ups, and applying his famous painting technique of using Benday dots, sourced from commercial printing.

Lichtenstein’s most famous works were created in the early ’60s. In this phase of his career, he was a cartoon copyist. However, he changed scale, color, treatment and implication. (A convincing project by David Barsalou reviewed 30,000+ comic strips, uncovering the strip images that Lichtenstein used in his artwork. http://davidbarsalou.homestead.com/LICHTENSTEINPROJECT.html shows many source strip book artwork and Lichtenstein paintings side-by-side.) Anyhow, Lichtenstein stopped copying cartoons in 1965.

His art made in the ’70s and ’80s with a much looser style of art, displaying surrealism. He also created hundreds of screen prints in this period.

In 1996, Lichtenstein donated 154 prints and 2 books to the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. With this huge donation, the museum now holds the largest collection of this artist’s work. Other museums holding his work include the Tate in London; SF Moma, in San Francisco; MoMa, Guggenheim and The Met in NYC. And then there is of course the gallery that represented him, Leo Castelli Gallery, also in NYC. There are an estimated 4,500 of Lichtenstein’s works in circulation, shared between private collectors and museums around the world.

The Increasing Value of Lichtenstein’s Art

Lichtenstein’s artwork has been in demand for decades, capturing increasing value. In 1989, Torpedo…Los! sold for a record $5.5m at Christie’s. This sale make Roy Lichtenstein 1 of 3 living artists to have attracted such huge sums. In 1990, a second record price for a Lichtenstein work was set when ‘Kiss II’ was sold for $6m.

In 2002, that record for Lichtenstein was broken when another work ‘Happy Tears’ sold for $7.1m at Christie’s in New York. ‘Happy Tears’ (1964) is a pop art painting of a smiling women with tears. In 2006, Lichtenstein’s ‘Sinking Sun’ (1964) was sold for $15.7m at the modern art auction at Sotheby’s in New York. New York gallery L&M Arts purchased the work. This artwork is considered as ‘one of the greatest icons of the 20th Century’.

copyright 2008 — all rights reserved.
http://www.eArtfair.com

Graffiti Sketches, Tags, Pieces & Labels explained

Neil Campbell

Graffiti sketches is where most newcomers begin but really you should start by asking yourself - graffiti - what does it really mean to you? Most people see it as something that emerged only in modern society, scribbled by urban youth on railway bridges. However, its use can be traced back to ancient civilisations, such as the ancient Egyptians whose hieroglyphics could be considered a form of what we know today as graffiti. One can even say that graffiti or writing, as it is more commonly known, dates back to the origins of mankind itself, when Neanderthal man’s sense of his environment was expressed through cave drawings.

More often than not graffiti has been characterised as vandalism due to its associations with the spray-painted drawings you often see plastered over buildings and walls in cities.

Graffiti art can be categorised in three common forms: Tags, Pieces and Labels. All of us have walked down a street and seen various walls covered with graffiti, but can we differentiate one item of graffiti from another? The most common and the easiest to recognise is a tag.

A tag is usually a simple one-coloured design (though it can be more complex). Put simply, it is a depiction of a writer or artist’s nickname or message, and its aim is to send a message to other writers.

A piece or masterpiece is a more complex form of graffiti art where a writer usually starts with some kind of pre-conceived plan or sketch. A piece tends to take graffiti art more in the direction of character art, which has a big fanbase. People will often be able to distinguish a writer’s work by their character designs alone. Artists like D*Face, Insa, Sickboy and Inkie can all be recognised by the characters or symbols in their pieces.

A label is when a writer’s tag or character design is printed on posters or stickers. Labels can be found in most cities around the world. This can be a great way for all kinds of artists to promote their art far and wide; usually tags are quite hard to see and they are only going to draw the attention of people interested in street art. You often see labels plastered on the back of street signs, lampposts, and anywhere with a smooth surface that can have something stuck to it.

Although graffiti art seems to have been part of the mainstream for ages, it was not until the 1970s that graffiti reinvented itself with a more modern term named writing, which first took root in the United States and later spread across the water to Europe.

The last decade has seen writing really take hold of the global art scene with celebrities emerging from the hub of graff artists around the world. It is only now that you hear about graffiti events like Secret Wars and people like American actress Angelina Jolie forking out £100,000 for an original piece by the notorious Bristol-born artist Banksy. Also, a new record was recently set when a piece went for a massive £280,000.

Graffiti art is the new cool, with hundreds of companies in the last few years jumping on the street art bandwagon. Graffiti is no longer just a shunned art form, yet it still manages to stay true to its origins by remaining accessible to the younger generation. Graffiti it seems is here to stay.

Graffiti sketches and free graffiti lessons are available from http://www.graffitimasterclass.com along with cool step-by-step tutorial videos and other bonuses.Check out our site for the full lowdown!

Graffiti Art at eArtfair.com/blog

Find books on Graffiti art in our art book overview.

Check out the Web Urbanist for 7 unusual graffiti art projects.

Learn Graffiti - its the new cool!

By Neil Campbell

It is only recently that graffiti and the street art scene have been viewed as something more than just an underground artistic movement. The image of the lone writer has been transformed from a deviant character to someone who should be showcased and promoted for his or her talents.

With the emergence of street art collectives such as Cable Street, Scrawl Collective and Monorex, a niche has opened in the market for popular graffiti. Almost every night in London, a gallery space or bar is exhibiting the work of an individual graffiti artist. From the world-famous to the new and upcoming, it has never been easier to promote your talents as an artist.

Take Secret Wars, for example, one of the many creations sprung from the London-based company, Monorex. It is a dedicated street art event hosted in Shoreditch, east London, and is designed to showcase the art of approximately 16 artists from around the country, through the medium of a battle. Following in the path of previous battle events such as Jump Off and Throwdown (which are solely about beat boxing, rapping and break dancing), Secret Wars has stretched the concept of street art even further by using the event to broaden interest in graffiti and character art.

Designed like an FA Cup knockout competition, every event sees two artists chucked out of the tournament. The night has had such amazing feedback that almost double the number of artists have requested to be involved in series 2 in late 2007. Even a European tour is in the pipeline. Although numerous attractive prizes are on offer, it is without a doubt the coveted title of Secret Wars champion that spurs the artists on and draws the crowds each month.

Even without events like Secret Wars to boost its popularity, graffiti is making a name for itself with popular brand companies seeking the services of art collectives like Monorex to help promote their latest products. If companies want to target a younger crowd, the successful marketing and branding of a product is key.

Graffiti and everything associated with it, from the music to the fashion, is the new cool. The once vilified vandals now have fan bases the size of a pop star’s. People in all four corners of the earth have heard of the likes of Banksy and D*face. magazines are quick to pick up on the next big thing, and often request interviews with upcoming art collectives or selected artists. Vinyl toy designers celebrate the talent of graffiti and often produce limited-edition toy designs by the next big name in graff.

With graffiti becoming ever more popular, some people believe that its eventual demise is inevitable. However, if the artists stay true to what graffiti is about then it can undoubtedly still prosper on an underground level even when the big brands move on to the next latest craze. Graffiti is really about the art and that’s how it will always be appreciated, no matter how popular it gets.

Graffiti Masterclass is a new site dedicated to teaching and promoting the art of graffiti. If you wish to learn graffiti with the professionals you can sign up for our free graffiti lessons or subscribe to watch our online videos. Just visit http://www.graffitimasterclass.com for more details.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neil_Campbell

***
Find books on Graffiti art in our art book overview.

Banksy: Graffiti Vandal or Artist

“Banksy’ is a Bristol born graffiti artist who became famous (some would say “infamous’) for his satirical stencilling in the early nineties.

Although he has become one of the most eminent and collectable artists working today, he remains all but anonymous; almost no details about his life, including his name, are publically known.

In recent years the self-described “art-terrorist’ has used his art for overtly political purposes; in 2005 he painted nine images on the Israeli West Bank wall including a child digging a hole through the structure, in 2001 he travelled to Mexico to paint murals for the Zapatista Army of National Liberation and, in Bristol Zoo, he once painted the words ‘I want out. This place is too cold. Keeper smells. Boring, boring, boring’ in the elephant enclosure.

He remains best known in the UK for his stencil-graffiti and for creating “subverted’ paintings; adaptations of famous masterpieces that are either redrawn or added to with satirical slogans.

The question has often been posed; is Banksy, whose stencil of a green Mona Lisa with paint dripping from her eyes sold for £57,600 at a Sotheby’s auction, an overpaid prankster or one of the world’s finest living artists?

Some say he is the most exciting artist to come out of the UK for many years, others say he is simply a vandal. Whatever your opinion there is no escaping the enticing contradictions inherent in the life and work of the man they call “Banksy’: he is fervently” anti-establishment’ and yet he, and his work which regularly fetches tens of thousands of pounds at auction, are constantly in the public-eye. He is even reported to have signed a sponsorship deal with Puma. In 2006, his first U.S. exhibition was an awfully glamorous affair which sought great publicity, operated valet parking and was attended by numerous Hollywood megastars including Jude Law. Numbered prints were on sale for $500 at the exhibition which seemingly flew in the face of all that Banksy stands for. “Yes, there probably is some contradiction,” Banksy’s spokesman Simon Munnery said, “It depends on what he does with the money, right? Maybe he makes more art. Maybe he’s getting more ambitious.”

Regardless of the media hype surrounding Banksy and the fact that his supporters say he never asked for such attention “” his “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit’ painting sold for £3,000 on eBay his work raises important questions about the true nature of art. Most critics agree that art is not simply about communication per se but about substance; about that which is being communicated and how universally it is understood. Since the rise of postmodernism this ideal has been propagated in as many stimulating ways as it has dull ones but Banksy himself can never be accused of making art for art’s sake. He speaks to the public in its own voice and, whatever your opinion about the depth and grandeur of his work (or lack thereof) there’s no denying that his message resonates with the general public and in so doing, places Banksy at the helm of modern art. For many, Banksy carries a torch passed from Warhol to Pollock and, in the words of Dubuffet, creates something which is so painfully lacking in today’s world: “raw art.’

The images have to be appreciated as they are intended; on the street, otherwise a hugely important aspect of the work, namely, the context, gets overlooked. However, although public and strikingly original, there are many who say that Banksy merely creates “background’ art and therefore never elevates his work beyond that of a “prankster with a spray can’. Compare his work, for example, with the much more arresting recent Soho street-exhibition or the work of Damien Hurst. Perhaps if Banksy focused on producing some well thought out canvases, his creations could be as impressive and timeless as those of his predecessors. It is unlikely however, that we will ever discover whether Banksy won’t, or simply can’t, take such a step.

The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones: “Essentially, he is someone talking any rubbish that comes into his head, for the sake of it. And what comes into his head is a stew of received ideas - nothing really likely to challenge anyone. The easy humour that makes his work superficially likable removes from it any hope of being mad or poetic.”

He is essentially a comic artist, the humour of his designs outweighs their political vigour. But, regardless of what you think about the depth and validity of his messages, there is no denying that he is quite simply a talented painter and stenciler and most would add also a very humorous and capable spokesman for modern society.

He has also written a book, Wall and Pieces, which has been hailed as being “perfectly calculated to divert the leftist on the loo ” self-proclaimed enemies of the state, fermenting in their own self-righteousness.”

But perhaps the time for such debates as this one has past and that one of the very things that Banksy’s work shows us is that to get too serious and too stuffy about Art is to miss the point and to miss great opportunities. So rather than trying to fit Banksy into a genre or push him onto a pedestal we should be pushing the boundaries of our appreciation for “art’ and questioning our habitual need for categorization.

About the Author

Article by; Michael Molyneux who is an article writer for Art4aid the e-zine and arts resource http://www.art4aid.org.uk edited by Mark Brassington.

http://www.gofour.co.uk

***
Find books on Graffiti art in our art book overview.

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