Influential Artwork

Street art is more than just some spray paint on an empty wall, for many of those who do it, it is an expression of themselves or of something they believe in. When I was younger I was taught that vandalism is frowned upon and there can be consequences for the action of vandalism. Having this thought in the back of my mind every time I saw an amazing piece of artwork on a brick wall I immediately thought that it was vandalism. As I got older I started to take notice of the works, sitting on a train travelling into the city staring out the window exposes you to a lot of street work. A lot of the stuff you see on the train is just ‘tags’ or people writing their names, which can be viewed as vandalism or graffiti, it isn’t really as spectacular as some other works. I remember travelling into the city and seeing a massive image of an older mans face spray painted against a wall and every time I rode past I looked closer. It was the face of a man who had passed away and this was someone’s father, the enormous piece of artwork on this empty wall facing the train line was in remembrance of someone’s father. At this moment I realized that street art is an expression and is not just paint on an empty wall. At school we looked into works by well-known street artists such as Banksy whose work is priceless. It is an industry that has galleries dedicated to the works of those street artists. There have also been walls erected for the purpose of legal street work. People such as Banksy and the person who painted their late father’s face have made me view the sub-culture of street art differently and I now see it as an expression of ones self rather than an act of vandalism.