I recentIy had an animated discussion with a friend about Banksy. It was the thorny old question about whether he's a talented artist or simply a vastly overpaid vandal. We talked about art in public spaces and the issues of permission, protest and skill. It was a timely exchange as it seems that graffiti is the 'look du jour'. Everyone's doing it. Liberty of London has erected a graffiti wall in its cosmetics department encouraging shoppers to scrawl their thoughts down for public perusal.
And Somerset House has just finished an exhibition entitled 'Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street' featuring the genre's emerging names.
I couldn't help but wonder how the curators at Somerset House would have felt if the artists concerned had decided to scrawl on the building's walls rather than in the permissible spaces they were given for the show.
I rather liked the post-it-note 'graffiti wall' which featured in the concurrent exhibition about graphic art....a playful take on what some regard as the threatening cityscapes that graffiti can create.
The thing was, that after all this exposure to graffiti, I kept seeing it everywhere! A stroll along Brick Lane was like a trip to an unofficial gallery....
I rather liked this quiet piece of removable art.....
Not sure what my conclusion is...but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
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