Different Forms of Art

I believe that graffiti is a form of art. We all have different opinions on what art really is, but I believe art is a form of expression of one’s self. “Although tagging is the most common type of graffiti, there are bigger, more accomplished examples that appear on larger spaces, such as walls”(Dolan), Dolan shows us that there are even different types of graffiti and some are seen differently, some graffiti is seen as just a symbol someone was there with a name or a sign, but some are used as a form to express themselves in a non-vandalizing way. “graffiti has been gaining recognition from the art world more and more as a legitimate form of art.” (Source 3), as years go on and graffiti becomes more normalized artist are becoming more welcoming of this form of art. There is even an artist that has his art in museums now, “One of the most famous graffiti artists, Banksy, has had his work shown in galleries such as Sotheby’s in London.” ( Source 3), this is proof that even museums are becoming fawn of graffiti and allowing it in their buildings. When I think of art, I think of museum buildings and people expressing themselves through drawings or colors; this is precisely what people do with graffiti. In the past, it has been looked down upon because people associate graffiti with crime or dirty parts of cities but in reality, the more you look at it the more you see the art inside of it.

In recent years graffiti has become more and more normalized and allowed, people are trying to convince artists to put their work on canvases or different places so that not so many people see it as vandalism and get angry by it. “Like all other art forms, graffiti has experienced movements or changes in style.” (Source 3) these changes have made it so graffiti isn’t so much looked at as vandalism but more as art. As styles change we can see that these artists are actually expressing themselves but in a different way than people are used to, especially with art. Usually, artists will use a small canvas to paint what they are feeling but graffiti is different, these artists use a bigger space. They want people to see what they have to say instead of drawing on a smaller canvas for a few people to see. I do believe that graffiti is a form of art, it’s just different than what people think of when we use the word art or artist.

Featured Image: “Google Street View – Sao Paulo graffiti” by kevin dooley is licensed under CC BY 2.0.