Is Graffiti Really Art?

The big determining question is if graffiti is art or not, who really knows? as a result, I really do ponder upon the question is graffiti art or not. In a way I could see it being art, people making massive designs and wacky lettering. But on many occasions I notice it to be presented in ways that may cause havoc. Many times I notice graffiti to be located under a bridge, or on the side of a building, and in places, you would not really expect “art”. With graffiti art surrounding a lot of people in the world, it has brought up many controversial topics that we have to face in our world today. The Graffiti artist’s excuse can be, this is just my way of creating art. But is it really?

Even though graffiti can look cool and swaggy, the way that it is presented to the public and displayed is the reason there are so many issues arising. One question in an article by Steve Dolan titled Is Graffiti Art questioned, “is removing the graffiti doing a disservice to the artist community?” I think that removing graffiti would not really take a toll on the artist community. Due to that, I think that “Maybe we need to start at a very basic level and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas, rather than walls.” In saying that this is just a stronger reason to prove that graffiti is not being presented in the way that it should be. as a result that doing graffiti on a bigger-sized canvas allows them to still create graffiti but in a more eco-friendly way.

In contrast to graffiti not being excepted as art, I could also see how people could see it as art. Art comes in all different forms, sizes, shapes, and ways, so why would graffiti not be able to be art as well? Even though it might violate any of the guidelines or even be presented in a way that might be different from others, what is holding that back from being qualified as art? In the article, Graffiti is Art “Stowers explains that graffiti cannot be disregarded because of its location and illegality.” Just like said before, this proves that the location of graffiti really has nothing to do with the fact that it can’t be art. Yes, it can cause many issues but people are not taking into consideration that this was someone’s creation and that it took time for them to work on this.

So in conclusion I could really not tell you if graffiti was considered art or not. There are so many sides to each argument that really back up the point as to if graffiti really is art or not. On the pro side, you got the point made about how it doesn’t matter about the location. What matters is the creation and time that people took to create these art pieces. On the con side, you have the point that the way graffiti art is expressed and presented is the reason why it’s holding it back. With graffiti art being very illegal, it has caused much disturbance in the community.

“Graffiti in Charleroi” by Gerard Stolk (vers l’Avent) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.