Graffiti has always been such an advantageous medium for artists to live and work outside the mainstream art community. Particular for those socially conscious and communally embedded artists. Censorship is like the Death Star for the majority of the world’s governments, it can silence whole groups and leave no trace of their existence. Graffiti though, can’t be contained because there is no way to regulate acouple of 120z cans of Tricolor in a back pack, slung over the shoulder of an artist with a lot on his mind. The internet was dubbed this new frontier of expression, providing a reawakening of freedom of speech. Then it discovered China is censoring its national internet and monitoring usage. Chinese citizens cannot search anything related to Arab Spring Movement of 2010 nor the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, where pro-democracy protesters were killed. Our own government stopped acces to Wikileaks back in 2008, due to the sensitive classified information they were placing on the web.
Now you have Chinese artist like ROBBBB getting up in Beijing. You don’t really see a lot of street art coming out of China especially art that posseses so much realism and brings life to the rather opaque lanscape of Beijing.
Artist, Mico, in 1973 lit up the subways of New York in response to the plight of the Latino community against Richard Nixon and the oppression of Puerto Rico.
Even Mayor Ed Koch got a taste from artist, Spin, when he launched the war on graffiti in the late 70’s.
The new “Truther” movement out of Germany focuses exclusively on ideas and political statements. Being a “Truther” commonly means that the artist believes there are hidden truths and adjendas behind key historical events, systems of government, private groups as well as environmental conditions. They have been bombing trams all over Germany and leaving messages behind you can’t ignore.
Recently in Nairobi, Kenya, world renound photojournalist Boniface Mwangi has set his scopes on the nation’s oppressive and corrupt political leaders. He and his group of graffiti artist have put up images depicting these political figures as vultures. They have also put up murals that they hope will force the Kenyan people to think about change and a better future for their country. Mwangi and his artist have been harrased by police and have even been offered payment by government officials to stop their work.
Grafitti has made an impact on the world, as way to reach the masses, beyond print media, or the internet, or even television. A six foot mural has a dramatic effect on the individual looking at it. It will stay with you, and that is what these artist around the world hope to achieve. A lasting impression, that will lead to people having internal conversations about what’s right and wrong, what’s happening in their communities and ultimately around the world.
irrationalmonster 