I've recently become interested in street art. I've loved the idea of it, especially after doing a wall installation quarter at ECA, where we watched videos on Banksy and Blu to inspire us. I haven't heard of Lush until reading this article, but after looking at his work, I find him quite intriguing too. I've always been so interested in the difference between street artist and graffiti artist. I've finally come to the conclusion that the difference is that graffiti is the vandalism, the destruction of the space that it's on. Street art is the addition of beauty, or meaning to a certain site. Street art is angry, is powerful and is, to me, so beautiful. As someone who makes art (or at least attempts too) it irks me that it's illegal. But perhaps that adds to the beauty of it. It's angry, passionate. Lush takes great hits on Banksy's work because while it's cynical and points out major problems of the street, it doesn't have the anger that I think that Lush wants to see in street art; "rough painted pieces and installation sets, Lush set the stage for his world of 'real street' as opposed to 'celebrated street-ified art.' On the real street, as we know, people get harmed, anger can be in your face."
I've always liked Banksy, but I can see the point Lush is making. Those interested in street art idolize Banksy because of his profound statements on humanity, and a world full of art. However, they don't see that Banksy lacks the true spirit of street art, which Lush manages to capture.
Lush's work may be raw, and it may be obscene, but at least it's something that we can all experience and understand together, which is something rare for an artist. Some art is beautiful because it's full of mystery and secret, but some art finds it's beauty in the revealing of the very same secret the other artist tried to hide.
No comments:
Post a Comment