art

Street Art: a trend in full bloom

Friday 11 July 2008

Graffiti or stenciled work, city-dwellers have gotten into the habit of seeing their streets and metros invaded by tags and frescos of all kinds. But what about the suspicion that this art form is finding itself a real part of the market?

 It was with Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) that street art began to take flight. This African-American artist made a name for himself with his graffiti, both humorous and enigmatic, on the walls of Soho where he tagged under the pseudonym SAMO (as in, ‘same old shit’). He painted the history of African-Americans, jazz, urban realities rocketed with dazzling speed into the international art market.

Quite quickly Basquiat was showing his works next to the greatest artists of the era, like Keith Haring and Barbara Kruger. In the 1980s, he and his art exploded. He worked with Andy Warhol, dated Madonna and made the front page of the New York Times magazine in 1985 for an article entitled, “New Art, New Money: The Marketing of an American Artist.”  Considered a gifted graffiti artist, he joined the pantheon of famous painters and his works have a ranking on the comp temporary art market. The value of his works can go from $30,000 to $600,000 for the best canvases.

This artist from Bristol combines the techniques of graffiti and stenciling to transmit messages mixing irony, irreverence and political activism. He began to tag in unexpected places around London, monkeys with weapons of mass destruction, rats armed with drills or even little girls embracing a missile. One of his most well-known works is without a doubt the one that uses the iconic image of the Vietnamese girl burned by napalm, now holding hands with Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald.

He made himself known to the entire world in 2005 by painting, on the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank, windows opening into scenes of idyllic countryside. He then entered rather quickly the most prestigious museums and galleries—the MOMA, the Tate Gallery and his art takes on significant value. Last year, the owners of a house sold one of their walls in an auction. The final sale was almost $390,000.

This high sum is hardly compatible with the anti-consumer values the artist believes in, and it’s a big discrepancy that Banksy himself acknowledged to a journalist from the New Yorker.“The price that my works reach lately embarrasses me a little, but it’s a problem to solve—instead of complaining, you make a charitable donation. I don’t think that it’s possible to make art inspired by poverty in the world, and then pocket the bonanza. It would be too ironic, even for me.”

Invader invades the planet

Space Invader is the project of a anonymous contemporary artist that is invading cities around the world with mosaics representing the small characters in effigy of this hero of the 1970s video games. These colorful monsters of various sizes are cemented onto walls. The invasion began in Paris in 2000 and spread quickly to London, Berlin, New York, New Delhi and more recently in Burma; the artist showing his social activism.

More than a wild artist, the one who calls himself Invader has become a reference in Street Art. In parallel to his street invasion, the artist has exhibits in galleries the profits from which allow him to continue to pursue his invasion. He explained himself to FRANCE 24: “exhibits or gallery shows are for me a logical development in my work. What is seen on the streets is just one part of my production.”

Today, Invader is an artist known as much by his outside spectators as by the art market. The street art value is in constant rise sine Basquiat and takes a large place in the contemporary art market. Olivier Nouvellet, gallery owner and Street Art specialist in Paris explains the phenomenon:  “In the beginning, these artists who expressed themselves on walls and trains had no business sense, but were quickly scooped up by the system. Street art is listed and its artists are, to some extent, framed by the market. They are aware of this and they work with it. "

The artist Invader also exploits his listing since he has a range of products related to his invasion. Sneaker shoes, mapbooks, t-shirts and even stickers are for sale online, allowing the artist to continue buying the tiles and continue his invasion. 

For some gallery owners, these artists who create the urban landscape do not represent a trend and are merely an inspiration; for others, on the other hand, these anonymous artists, sometimes at the edge of vandalism, have a rising financial value and impose themselves on the contemporary art market. For example, Miss Tic - French street artist - has seen some of her works at values starting at $36 000. This is sometimes double the value for many contemporary artists.