Essays on Graffiti

The focus of this dissertation is to explore graffiti and street art and explain why this art form deserves to be respected. I will be challenging the negative connotations of street art and graffiti by looking at how graffiti has been used as a means...

“Art inspires, produces an unwillingness to settle for what we have and a desire for something better” – Russell L. Ackoff. This quote serves as the best way of defining what art should achieve to be considered an art. Graffiti, as defined by the Cambridge...

Nowadays, many major cities around the world begin to change their attitude with street graffiti artists and set aside some public space for their freedom of creation. Thus, many high-value creative graffiti artworks have been created, attracting local people and tourists, and becoming a collectible...

The way graffiti has been examined over the years varies from its political role to its cultural significance and aesthetic value in the urban environment. As seen above, graffiti has an ever present role in society as the tool to examine the past through the...

Graffiti is an illicit activity that entails painting, or spray painting a message or picture onto a wall of a public building. It costs businesses 1.5 billion dollars in damages and repairs each year. Some people consider graffiti to be art, but in reality it’s...

“Art inspires, produces an unwillingness to settle for what we have and a desire for something better” – Russell L. Ackoff. This quote serves as the best way of defining what art should achieve to be considered an art. Graffiti, as defined by the Cambridge...

It is difficult to apply a single definition to what is considered Art. Whether it can or should be defined has been constantly debated. “The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined has also been a matter of controversy....

Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the 21st century. It differs from the modern art, which is art of a style marked by a significant departure from traditional styles and values. Contemporary came after the modern art. Contemporary artists work in a globally...

Graffiti artwork has always been something people disregard. People pass it by on the walls of alleyways, on bridges, on train cars, and never pay much attention. The world looks at graffiti as something rebellious teens do to get an adrenaline rush, or break the...

Graffiti is defined as writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface on a public place. Its dictionary definition uses the word illicit which means that it is not permitted or is unlawful. This singular word conditions the general...

When you think of graffiti what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Vandalism or street art? Most would say vandalism, but what makes the distinction between the two? The intention of the piece. There’s a difference between defiling the back of a building and...

Community centers with positive activities can keep teenagers from becoming graffitists. There is a teen center called Non-Toxic Teen Center Located in Chicago. Its purpose is to give teenagers a safe and positive place to hang out so they have something do other than getting...

In 2012 (The act of killing) a very controversial documentary was released to the public. The movie was about the Indonesian mass killing of the communists in (1965-1966). Before, the genocide was ignored by Indonesia and the world, not only this but celebrated locally! Although...

Intro Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring both used distinctive language and techniques for visual effect to communicate ideas while developing connections between art and society in their practices, as they create and show how society is through their many different artworks. Haring and Basquiat would...

Jean-Michel Basquiat worked in New York and was one of the prominent painters of the 1980s. Basquiat responded to the culture of his time using image and text in his work. During the 1980’s, the new American popular culture art movement of graffiti began. Graffiti...

“Trumpet” by Jean Michel Basquiat is an artwork that shows raw graphic fusions of text, scribbles and cultural expressions. The work shows an alien type creature playing a trumpet with Basquiat signature crown on top of the creature’s head. “Trumpet” was painted on canvas using...

A Synthesis About Graffiti and Street Art Aren’t graffiti, street art, and vandalism the same thing? The articles “Art Attack” and “Urban Warriors” beg to differ. Written about street artists, and street art itself these articles both suggest that graffiti and street art aren’t the...