Seville, as a street art enthusiast, is absolutely one of my favorite cities I’ve visited while studying abroad which, was a rather surprising realization. I was immediately drawn to the vibe of the city, a combination of typical Spanish features such as fabulous tapas bars, wine, and flamenco dance but also a vibrant young art scene which I initially noticed when I walked by a large wall by the Guadalquivir River filled with some of the most creative street art we’ve seen anywhere in Europe (below).
As I explored more, I found myself surrounded by street art in Seville. Particularly graffiti is all over the the place. It is on walls, buildings, blinds, even the garbage containers in the street are full of graffiti and tags. I hadn’t expected to see any street art in such a quaint-looking city so i was thrilled by this discovery. I was so hungry for information about who the artists are and curious as to where exactly the art comes from in the very apparent, vibrant street art culture in Seville.
The art pictured above in this image I was initially attracted to because it stuck out with such powerful colors against a background of buildings of all the same neutral beige. Later, I was informed by my friend studying in Seville that there are about four graffitis of this exact unicorn around the city and it represents the artist’s resentment and retaliation against the Spanish government.
The street art has a very powerful way to modernize and add a new sense of contemporary art to an otherwise richly historical city. Seville is the perfect example of that impact. If you’re want to see exactly what I’m talking about, but don’t necessarily have time to visit Seville in the near future, I recommend you watch the video below to get a real taste of the incredible culture of street art in this magnificent city.
Some of the most influential books, sayings, poems of all time were published with no name. They are out there, on people’s bookshelves, framed on walls, quoted in movies, with no one to claim them. They transcend without ownership. This concept is easily applicable in relevance to the anonymity of street art and what it means to typical art culture and viewing practices. Much different than traditional art and even early graffiti, the anonymous works that are found on construction walls, street corners, and shop grates rather than hung in museums, and pose a difficult yet exciting complex for the street art, or, art-history enthusiast that happens upon them.
Often hilarious, poignant, or simply gibberish, anonymous street art works, whether wheat-pasted, spray-painted, hand-painted or a combination of all three, project a purity of artistic expression, singularly representing art for art’s sake. On the other hand, they may lack a point whatsoever, which is an idea equally as intriguing. No matter the case, they remind society of the freedom of art, how it can mean everything or nothing at all. It is absent of profit, of fame, of definition, it exists for the sake of self expression.
Thinking about the impact of anonymous street art can warrant a tremendous amount of varied, and maybe even contradictory thoughts, which may come out as a jumbled mess with no end. Like anonymous street art itself, no conclusion can truly be made or question answered. Street art, in a way, demands to be felt. It demands to be noticed. It provokes thoughts in every person that wanders down a street and come across a beautiful piece of art near some bags of garbage.
First, what exactly is anonymous street art? It is simply impossible to determine an exact definition. If one were to Google “anonymous street art,” the first two pages are filled with various articles on Banksy. Is Banksy really anonymous? Nobody knows his (assuming it’s one person) real identity, yet, he has become enough of a celebrity that many argue that his work, which was first created illegally, should be protected or preserved. Clearly, Banksy is not anonymous in the traditional use of the word, but in the street art culture, he invented it. The style of his art revolves around his hidden identity and his signature, a route which many street artists have copied. Both Keith Haring’s subway drawings to Shepard Fairey’s OBEY were anonymous until they were discovered. Perhaps that is the idea after all, a game avoiding discovery.
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So the question remains, at what point does a street artist stop being anonymous? Is all street art anonymous until it becomes more popular? It seems impossible to truly define what is anonymous street art.
But maybe that’s not the point. Perhaps anonymity comes as a result of artists not wanting to be discovered. Perhaps living in the shadows allows an artist to release all inhibitions and truly self express without being hindered by definition.
Coming across an anonymous piece of street art provokes a certain surge of excitement, finding something new that perhaps no one else has ever seen. Without the artist’s identity, without a date, the work seems mysterious as if it just appeared there by itself. In a world where throughout art history, the work is s0 intricately connected to identity, viewing anonymous street art is an almost liberating, new experience that revolutionizes art and the culture associated. .
For example, when art is discussed in school, students are taught to memorize the artist’s name, title of the work, and date. For art-history, the identity of the artist is integral to understanding the work and how the artist’s work progresses over their life or in relation to the different art historical movements.
One of the pivotal reasons that anonymous street art appeals to so many people is its backlash, or rebellion against the historical art-viewing process. Many indoctrinated art history students and teachers express they have a tough time processing these anonymous street works, and many of them, as a result, are leaders in efforts to discontinue street art overall. Barring the fact that street art is still widely ignored by universities, the anonymity of the artist is a concept still adamantly rejected by professionals in the art industry.
That being said, imagine if all of art history was taught without the identity of the artist. Suddenly, all of art would be open to wider interpretations without being stuck in a meaningless cycle of artistic movements and personalities. A whole new world of limitless meaning is created without the boundary of a “right” answer. Anonymous street art radically poses the question of how much an artist’s identity really matters to art-viewing.
Separate from both legal art and graffiti, anonymous street art sets up a complex relationship with the viewer who wants to both appreciate the work and find out who the artist is. But in the end, does it matter if the artist’s name is known? What does one get from a name? There are those who may obsessively try to figure out who did the work and where they come from, but for some, the art is enough and the anonymity is part of the masterpiece.
I’m lucky enough to know an anonymous street artist personally. His work can be seen in and around a multitude of cities in multiple countries to which he bears no credit, no permanent ownership, no control over his audience. To him, and others like him, his real-life Clark Kent/Superman-esque secret is far more important than any of that.
*Disclaimer: I will refer to the artist as “he” throughout this article in order to respect the artist’s wishes to remain anonymous.
This street artist thrives off random thought, impulse, and his incredibly unique pattern making talent. Ostertag is a collection of stickers, in various sizes and shapes, some typed, some individually marked splashed around cities on poles, bike stands, walls, mailboxes, nearly any blank space he can find, really.
The simplicity of his simultaneously intricate work is remarkable. His work is absolutely unmistakable and hard to miss. An original Ostertag design will either read a certain, quirky random message, or will leave viewers staring, trying to decode a hidden message/language impeded in the patterns. His work is impossible to replicate, not one design is like the next, which is what makes these designs, or any art for that matter, so impressive. Ostertag’s casual approach to displaying his designs, is emblematic of the true essence of street art. A rebellion against pretension.
It wasn’t until I met this artist when I really understood the thrill and excitement of street art. How it is a lifestyle, a passion, a whole secret world, and at the same time one can have an entirely separate identity void of art of any kind. Lawyers, doctors, janitors, just about anyone could have one occupation and life and be a world famous street artist at the same time without anyone knowing.
Leaving a piece of you somewhere is a privlage unlike anything else and that’s exactly what street art is: the ability to leave ones own, personal mark on the world. Whenever I visit this artist I take some stickers with me that, in efforts to spread his work, he lets me post them along my many travels wherever I wish.
I’ll never forget walking down the streets of Paris last month, a city I’d never visited before, and doing a double-take after seeing an Ostertag sticker on a brown pole in the middle of the street. I knew I was walking where Ostertag once walked and that, to me, was when I finally understood what street art is capable of making one feel. It makes one feel a connection, a sense of ownership of unchartered territories, a sense of belonging, a feeling of influence, an unrivaled ability to touch lives, something every human longs for.
Ostertag kindly offered to do an exclusive interview for “Streetheart” last week. Of course, the interview had to be conducted using only audio in order for Ostertag to continue his anonymous crusade around the world leaving his mark on every street corner and street sign for years to come.
One of the many beauties of street art is its ability to reach the most public audience of any other form of art in existence. That being said, because the canvas is mostly a wall and semi-permenant, only people visiting said street get the pleasure of viewing it. That is, until now…
Google recently announced it was bringing street art online through several galleries from around the world, Google revealed it is doubling the number of high-resolution images available to more than 10,000, while also making it available through Chrome, Chromecast, and Android Wear so anyone can appreciate them.
This initiative is titled “The Google Art Project” and is part of the overall Google Cultural Institute. The Google Cultural Institute is the subsection of Google that has been working with art and cultural institutions to digitize offline exhibits. For street art specifically, Google has been working with 86 art organizations from 34 countries to help preserve some of the cool urban creations on walls and buildings around the world.
For this venture, Google partnered with many organizations such as The Mural Arts Program with the hope of preserving street art long after the paint has faded from the walls. The Mural Arts Program is one of the organizations, aforementioned, participating around the world in the preservation of street art through digital means.
The digital collection contains more than 10,000 images, 160 new exhibits and animated “GIF-iti” art from around the world, bringing street art, of all kinds, off the walls to computers and mobile phones a with just a simple Internet connection.
This new Google initiative to savor the creations of street artists for an even more public audience, utilizes technology and its ability to provide a way to preserve these artworks and make them available anywhere and anytime.
For the Mural Arts Program, partnering with Google was an opportunity to reach an audience beyond a certain state or neighborhood that may not have been able to see its work otherwise.
“Google reported it’s latest venture stating, “last June, we added street art from all over the globe—including 5Pointz—to the Google Art Project. Today, we’re doubling the number of public artworks to more than 10,000 high-resolution images. Eighty-five art organizations from 34 countries are sharing pieces, ranging from Sweden’s most famous street festival, to water tanks wrapped with art among New York city’s rooftops, to the abandoned walls of Buenos Aires that are a source of inspiration for street artists from all over the world.”
Amit Sood, director of the Google Cultural Institute and head of the new art project, went on to note,
“You don’t need to be tied to your desktop to enjoy these fantastic collections. All these images are now available on a device near you with Chrome, Chromecast, Android Wear and your mobile devices. Turn your TV screen into a vibrant backdrop and add some color to your smartwatch with our new Street Art Watch Faces.”
This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting Amsterdam. I found this beautiful city to be so unique and for a such a small city, it felt as if every inch was packed with different things to look at. Street art, I found, was not the most prevalent of things I saw. With such a crowded city, buildings, shops, houses, canals, bridges, took up most of the space with few blank spaces from street artists aside from sporadic graffiti tags and a few stickers. But, luckily I’d done my research before visiting this wonderful place and was proved wrong in my assumed absence of street art. In fact, there is an entire museum devoted to it.
Street Art Museum Amsterdam was founded by Anna Stolyarova, originally from Ukraine and now lives in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The museum that spans a couple miles, holds more than thirty murals for visitors to see. The murals are dispersed and hidden within the walls of Geuzenveld-Slotermeer, and were specifically commissioned for the area to “enhance the bond between the residents, art in public space and the neighborhood”, according to Stolyarova.
The museum focuses on the connection between the new production techniques of the contemporary art movement of graffiti/street-art to its more historic origins. Moreover, through the true stories of these murals, visitors get a picture of the local residents of Amsterdam as well as the history of the district, its ups and downs, and special characteristics.
One can visit all of the pieces within three hours for a very low price. The museum’s curators carefully select the artists and give them full freedom of artistic expression. The museum provides the artists with the residence opportunity in what is known as Nieuw-West. Today, Street Art Museum Amsterdam is a project run by the non-profit foundation Glamorous Outcasts and is one of the newer, most successful museums in all of Amsterdam.
The beauty of street art, or urban art, is that it has an insurmountable amount of definitions. There are millions of “street artists” that themselves don’t identify as artists per say. Traditionally speaking, street art is any art developed in public spaces. That can mean anything from graffiti art work, to “tagging”, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting, street poster art, video projection, art intervention, guerrilla art, flash mobbing and street installations.
Now, street art is going mainstream. Auctioneers, collectors, and museum directors are scrabbling to learn urban art vocabulary and develop positions on the big street art issue. Meanwhile, many people don’t recognize this artwork like art and sometimes people relate this art with vandalism.
In an interview with the Queens Tribune, New York City’s Queens Museum of Art Executive Director Tom Finkelpearl said public art “is the best way for people to express themselves in this city.” Finkelpearl, who helps organize socially conscious art exhibitions, added, “Art gets dialogue going. That’s very good.” However, he doesn’t find graffiti to be art, and says, “I can’t condone vandalism… It’s really upsetting to me that people would need to write their name over and over again in public space. It’s this culture of fame. I really think it’s regrettable that they think that’s the only way to become famous.”
It is definitely the most controversial form of art in nature aside from its tendency to provoke and translate various social controversies. The artist usually tries to leave some kind of message like political issues, feelings, their personal emotions. And these expressions are exposed in the street where the public can enjoy and valuate them. However, it still stands that most street art is unsanctioned, and many artists who have painted without permission, (Banksy, Shepard Fairey) have been glorified as legitimate and socially conscious artists.
Initially born in France and a later resident in Los Angeles, the artist Thierry Guetta (Paris, 1966), who would later be more commonly known as Mr. Brainwash, is today a worldwide icon in urban art. From his initial creations in Los Angeles in 2006 until today, Mr. Brainwash has exhibited in cities such as New York, Miami, Toronto, Los Angeles, London or Cape Town, has worked for Madonna and Michael Jackson, to name a few, and starred in a documentary directed by another famous icon of urban art, Banksy titled “Exit Through the Gift Shop”.
Mr. Brainwash is arguably the most notable street artist of our time. It is fundamental to be familiar with his work if one has any interest in street or urban art whatsoever. His work, no matter the size is equally transcendent and influencial with hidden meaning and messages behind each. His response to interview conducted by PAPERMAG as to why he is called “Mr. Brainwash” just about says it all.
“Mr. Brainwash was invented around the early ’90s. When you watch TV, when you buy clothes, when you come to a bar or a club, when you do anything, how do you get there? Everything’s brainwashing, and I used to take any kind of brand and twist it. I would take Nike, and I’d make the logo exactly the same, but with an arrow, and I’d write under it, “Just did it.” Instead of Kids ‘R’ Us, I’d put Boys Are Nuts. I couldn’t use my name when I started doing street art, so I remembered Mr. Brainwash and decided to use it. At first, I didn’t sign anything, but little by little I started signing MBW.”
On November 14th 2014, through January 17 2015, his most representative works will be exhibited for the first time in Spain, at 3 Punts Galeria in Barcelona. Among which, are featured unique pieces on canvas, card and paper in various formats, and made especially for this show. A series of unique works embodying some of the most loved and missed symbols of the city such as “Copito de Nieve” a statue resembling Barcelona Zoo’s albino gorilla, “Snowflake” who died in 2003, and a silk screen print that represents FC Barcelona’s best players from the past till present day. It’s rare that a street artist’s works are compiled for an exhibit. Usually, they’re left as they are, on walls sporadically placed throughout different cities. Also, it’s rare for a street artist’s identity alone to be exposed in such a high profile or obvious way. Needless to say this opportunity was iconic for Barcelona and for Europe as a whole where street art is so prevalent yet street artists remain, for the most part, anonymous.
Seville, as a street art enthusiast, is absolutely one of my favorite cities I’ve visited while studying abroad which, was a rather surprising realization. I was immediately drawn to the vibe of the city, a combination of typical Spanish features such as fabulous tapas bars, wine, and flamenco dance but also a vibrant young art scene which I initially noticed when I walked by a large wall by the Guadalquivir River filled with some of the most creative street art we’ve seen anywhere in Europe (below).
The art on this wall (above) has a little bit a Sevillian history in it. In the middle of each of the lamps is a famous building in Seville. From left to right: La Giralda, Torre del Oro, and Las Setas. The lamps signify the ones usually present during the Feria – a popular fiesta in Seville.
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