Lecture Notes - Street Art

• Whilst graffiti has existed for some time, it began to emerge more around the time of civil unrest in Paris in 1968. This social upheaval led to some inspiring and creative work, including graffiti that gave them hope and a sense of power, such as the piece, Nous Sommes Le Pouvoir (we are the power).
• Urban Graffiti - 1970's New York is one of the main areas where urban graffiti began to emerge from, which evolved alongside hip hop culture.

At the time in New York, the city belonged to the Affluent, and they ignorant to the troubles faced by the black and latina populations living in their city. Graffiti began to appear on train carriages, and in subways, as their form of expression, and announced their presence so that they couldn't be ignored by the city any longer.

An image taken by John Naar, a photographer, who has captured some of the best graffiti in New York since the 70's.

Jean Michel Basquait's SAMO

• Jean Michel Basquiat began his artistic career creating the graffiti character called SAMO on the streets on New York, and he then went on to develop his Neo Expressionist paintings influenced by graffiti styles. 
• Banksy is the most well known graffiti artist at this time and his work has infiltrated other forms of presentation including birthday cards, leading to graffiti becoming more mainstream. Arguably this has taken away from the idea of graffiti and street art being completely anonymous and also something underground and rebellious, as famous companies such as Coca Cola have used graffiti within their advertisements and in their product design. Before Banksy, Keith Haring was another famous street artist who went on to create a shop selling t shirts and other paraphernalia that displayed his work, going against the origins of his profession, so to speak. 
• Notable graffiti artists also include Invader, Blu and Paul Curtis, who take a more conceptual approach to Street Art. 

Paul Curtis

An example of Paul Curtis work, which is reverse graffiti, taking a more green approach to street art, as his graffiti is actually the part of the wall where the surface is cleaner, and no spray cans are used.