Multimedia Report

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.

The name is Ostertag.

*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.

Los Angeles

This week I returned back to the US for my cousins wedding in my hometown, Los Angeles. Despite the many hours of traveling, I was pleasantly reminded where my intrigue and fascination of street art really originated. Aside from being the birthplace of several pioneer street artists, Los Angeles is home to some of the most important displays of street art in the world. Los Angeles is known as being a creative mecca in many senses; It’s known for its tremendous amounts of creatives along with the inherent importance to which self expression is held in its culture. L.A is covered in thousands of murals of street art representational of all forms, some dating as far back to the 1960’s. From Retna, to Banksy, to the thousands of anonymous displays sprinkled throughout.

Although present in nearly every area of Los Angeles, few areas of L.A. provide a more condensed collection of the best in local street art than the Arts District, located on the eastern edge of Downtown. I decided, with my newfound purpose to report my experiences with street art, to take the famous Downtown LA Art Walk. This free of charge art walk brings together art-lovers from all around the Los Angeles Area and out of state to witness the ever-evolving streets of Downtown LA every month on the 2nd Thursday of each month from 6pm-10pm. Many of the Downtown Art Walk activities take place in and around the galleries predominantly on Spring and Main street, between 2nd and 9th street. Honestly, if you drive to Downtown LA, you can’t miss it. As I walked and talked to more and more people I grew to understand the palpable culture within this monthly celebration. One man informed me that for the true, art buyers and fans, he suggests arriving early to experience a more relaxing stroll through the different galleries and art exhibits. When I initially arrived, I was daunted and semi-overwhelmed by the amount of people that crowded the streets. Everyone was meeting up with friends, indulging in the local experience, dining on the many food trucks, and watching the various street performances. There was a very astounding sense of community, albeit very welcoming, everyone was greeting each other as if they were old friends. Later, I learned the majority of people there are monthly visitors so there is a very strong sense of vibrant community. There are many, many  different galleries and all completely different from one another. I saw then why people continuously come back because there’s no way to see them all in one trip! I left after two hours of walking and once I’d reached the end of one gallery, I thought I’d completed the tour to its entirety. Clearly I was incredibly wrong, but it definitely left me itching to go back and determined to experience every single thing this tour has to offer. Click here for directions.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

It’d be impossible, or mindless to have a blog or even interest about Street Art and not know about “Exit Through the Gift Shop”.  “Exit Through the Gift Shop” was released in January 2010 and is an excellent documentary shadowing famous street artist “Banksy” and his many works. It is described as “modern art and celebrity put under the microscope.” A fundamental concept in beginning to understand street art and its culture.

“Exit Through the Gift Shop” offers an interesting perspective on the popularity of street art while examining the public’s interpretations of what modern art exactly is. The film follows the life of Thierry Guetta, an eccentric immigrant who develops a love for filming street artists. At the beginning of the film, Thierry is represented as sort of an odd, yet legitimate and successful business man. This original perception comes increasingly under question from the audience as they witness Thierry’s peculiar actions in what appears to be good-natured, kind of, incompetence.

 

The first half of the documentary is largely based around the underground culture of street artists, and the meaning and passion behind their work. It repeatedly mentions that it “needs to be captured” as it is commonly removed; an act displayed several times throughout the film. The film does a good job at examining the motivations behind street art in order to tear down the perception that it is largely just vandalism. Shots of events from Thierry’s life develop an emotional connection between him the viewer, which helps to legitimize what are essentially thought of as crimes.

The second half of the movie revolves around Thierry’s final spiral into an “artist” himself. Many characters begin dropping the subtlety act about Thierry’s odd persona, going as far as directly calling him incompetent, crazy, etc. It’s in stark contrast to the beginning of the film, and underscores what I believe is a completely different message entirely. What is art, and who defines what good art is? The contrast between Thierry’s humorously awkward splattering of paint and Banksy’s politically-charged works is apparent.

As the end nears, it really seems that the documentary is challenging public perceptions of art and the “art scene.” Thierry makes millions of dollars (entirely from the works of others and in spite of himself) simply by offering eccentric commentary on “his” creations to pretentious onlookers. Even Thierry’s adopted name, “Mr. Brainwash,” seems like a subtle remark on the events. The real artists featured earlier in the movie openly question the “idiots” who bought into the whole ordeal. It seemed as if everything up to that point had been a satirical commentary on the state of modern, publicly acceptable “art” in contrast to “real” art on the streets. It’s subtle and is never explicitly stated, but that’s also what makes it effective.

What is Street Art?

Street Art:

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.

Mr. Brainwash Exhibit: Tres Punts Galeria

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.