Street Arts is a cultural artistic movement in the streets , the streets and the Arts, creating a fusion between arts , social lives and urban landscapes . Its expression is based on artistic freedom as it does not need time, space, recognition or vernissages to happen. The surfaces or supports of the works can be walls, viaducts, buildings, hydrants, dumps or ruins.
Unlike the art seen in museums and galleries, street arts still faces barriers to earning respects in the society. It is a form of protest born in the peripheries, the result of underground and youth culture, which arises from the need to give voices to the repressed and less favored part of the city through a poetic, ephemeral, subversive and democratic language.
It is , currently, part of contemporary art and its objective of enriching spaces has reached levels little imagined 50 years ago. Street arts involves significant Illustrations on the walls, buildings , facades, tunnels, viaducts or streets. Artists represents the voices of the society on the walls through designs and expressive tongues of the society
It involves the use of paints, rollers, stencils and brushes. For a few years now, the creation of 3D works has been growing around the world, considered an innovation within designs.
The practice is ancient, it involves stencils , observed since the cave paintings. As a technique, stenciling began in the 2nd century in China, and in the 7th century ,it began to be used in textile production. It is a paper, plastic or metal mask with designs cut in negative matrix and can be reused several times. Music, theater, dance, circus, living statues and poetry are also manifestations of Street Arts
Street Arts actually emerged
in the early 70s , in the United States, when the first walls and train cars were graffitied in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.
In Brazil, graffiti arrived with the student movement at the end of the 70s, used as a form of protest against the Military Regime. This characteristic is replicated in other Latin American countries that also adopted graffiti to protest during dictatorial periods.
The capitals São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte were the first urban centers where art gained space, but, without a doubt, São Paulo stood out and today attracts visitors from all over the world to see how art has given new meaning to a city previously called “Gray”.
Sãopaulo , a world reference in street arts. It is possible to contemplate immense, colorful and impressive works while traveling on foot, by bike, motorcycle, car or bus. Today, thousands of artists and producers are committed to maintaining the city of São Paulo as the most graffitied city in the world, as well as the world capital of Urban Art. The task is not easy, as the movement still bears the prejudices of those who consider it illegal, vandal or marginal. The city hall of São Paulo itself has already invested a lot of public money in gray paint to erase the arts.
Now conquering the Art Market, the Street Arts has reached museums, galleries and auctions. The most emblematic artist of this saga, without a doubt, is Banksy. Even without revealing his identity, he gained prominence in contemporary world art with stencils loaded with activism and sarcasm that began to be seen in Bristol, England and spread around the world. The genius of his works is such that the painting “Girl With Balloon” was auctioned in London and sold for £1 million in 2018. At the end of the bid, the work self-destructed in front of the public and three years later, it was auctioned again and sold for 18.6 million.
In Brazil, OsGemeos held numerous individual and group shows in museums and galleries without losing their characteristics born in the graffiti on the streets. They have gained international recognition and have already taken their unmistakable designs to countries such as Cuba, Chile, the United States, Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Lithuania and Japan.
“Lyrical” exhibition by OsGemeos artists at the Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum in the United States. Photo: osgemeos.com.br; Street art
“Lyrical” exhibition by OsGemeos artists at the Mattress Factory, a contemporary art museum in the United States. Photo: osgemeos.com.br
Eduardo Kobra is another artist who has brought his language to new spheres, starting with the Mural “Etnias”, held at Rio 2016, which entered the book of records as the largest mural in the world. In addition, Kobra was awarded at the Sarasota Chalk Festival, the world’s largest 3D art event and has works in exhibitions and museums in several countries.
In 2021, the exhibition “Esperança” took place at the Museum of Sacred Art, a group show curated by Simon Watson, composed of works by several contemporary artists, including street artist Mag Magrela. With illustrations focused on the female universe, Magrela brought into the museum a portion of her work as a muralist and also of her studio. For this, he made an unfinished painting on a large scale, composed with other works applied with masking tape to the wall.
The conquest of public space, the courage to protest, poetry in the midst of chaos, the democratization of art. All these characteristics give Urban Art the potential to transform society, as they are necessary expressions for the construction of a happier population. , conscious and reflective.
