And The Debate Rages On: Fine Art And Graffiti….

By: Joan Butterfield

www.richartistpoorartist.com

The concept of fine art is and will no doubt always be a very traditional way of
thinking. There are definite elements of art that art included, such as painting and
sculpting, but then there are now elements in the modern world that there is much
debate over. In fact, the debate over one particular modern art form has raged for
several years now and still shows no signs of abating. Does graffiti constitute fine art
or not? Traditionalists argue strongly that it is not, whereas the more modern minded
that appreciate art for what it is argue that it is fine art because of the tradition behind
it, and the fact that it is technically painting for those that are feeling especially
pedantic!

In fact, graffiti goes back thousands of years. It can be found in Ancient Greece and
Rome and thus has a great tradition, according to those artists that do indulge in a
little graffiti from time to time. However, it has had a more sinister meaning in society
for some years now and this is most likely the reason why traditionalists do not want
to acknowledge it as fine art. Letters, names and images are commonly sprayed or
scratched onto walls to represent certain private messages that are left for other
individuals, to denote territorial boundaries, or indeed to decorate the area! However,
because this usually occurs on property that does not belong to the person that sprayed
the message onto the wall, it is considered illegal vandalism. The damage that it does
is often extremely ugly and thus is by no means considered an art by the individuals
that are affected by it. However, modern artists do not break the law and as such argue
that this view of graffiti does not apply to them.

Philadelphia, New York and Chicago are the areas of the United States that have been
the most receptive to graffiti as art. In fact, there is now an exhibition of graffiti in the
Brooklyn Museum. It is labelled there as contemporary art and the description also
notes that it was made famous in the 1980s by artists such as Jean Michel Basquiat
and Keith Haring. These two individuals are highly respected that consider such art
fine art, and with good reason. They took it away from the notion of it being
vandalism in New York and brought it into the art world once and for all. Some of
their work is truly amazing.
The exhibition itself actually has over twenty works of art by those native to New
York and has been vastly covered in the press and worldwide art magazines as a
result. There are a number of publications that covered it and the curator, Charlotta
Kotik, received much of the attention. She pointed out that most individuals actually
think of graffiti in the wrong way these days and she decided to highlight just how
modern and inspiring it could be as a result of that. Kotik has made individuals
rethink their assumptions because some individuals have accepted it as fine art,
whereas others firmly stand their ground and will not be budged!

The exhibition inspired other countries to rethink their position on graffiti and it has
actually been featured in a major book in Australia as a result. It has been integral to
the make up of Australian urban culture as well as American urban culture and thus
deserves the coverage that it gets. There are more countries that review their position
on graffiti every day, as long as it does not fall within the realm of vandalism. As a
result, the majority of individuals may yet accept it into fine art. However, that day
may be quite a while off yet, at least until the older and more traditional art critics and
experts are no longer in the art world!