Graffiti or street art? What's the difference? My portrait of street artist DEXOS.

[Liam Crotty]

Is it graffiti or is it street art? I'm curious what your opinion is. Comments?

It's a good question and I answer it at my latest blog post featuring my portrait of talented Miami street artist DEXOS. View a slideshow of my images and learn more about him at:

Liam Crotty Photography |

[Blackford Oakes]

Grafitti for me is when a gang banger marks his territory illegally on walls on turf he is trying to claim.

Street Art is like the examples you have displayed.

Here is one of my favorite examples of this type of art ......

[GandJ]

If the person has permission, it can be art. If the person doing it doesn't have permission, and he just paints some other person's wall without permission from the owner, then it is grafitti.


Glenn

[Matt Meltzer]

I actually enjoy al of it. I know some people think it messes up the cityscape, but to me graffiti adds to a city's urban landscape. It's part of the culture. like in LA, it really lets you know where you are.

[coach]

I don't think legality has any bearing on art. I think that Graffiti, in general, is just a genre of art, not separate from it. Sure, some spraypaint on walls is just junk, just like some oil on canvas is junk, but that is not relevant to the actual genre of art.

[Blackford Oakes]

I don't think legality has any bearing on art. I think that Graffiti, in general, is just a genre of art, not separate from it. Sure, some spraypaint on walls is just junk, just like some oil on canvas is junk, but that is not relevant to the actual genre of art.

I'm sure a Zoot Suit or two back in the day took pride in his caligraphy but I'm sure many many gang bang taggers didn't have art in mind when marking their terriroty.

It might be possible that a graffitti counter measure spawned what might now be considered a genre. Many business owners hired artist to paint images of the Virgin of Guadalupe on their store fronts. It was successful enough to ward off taggers that it branched the art to other subject matters. That is just my opinion from personal observation and time in the barrio.

[GandJ]

Whether or not it is art is in the eye of the beholder (or is it beer holder?! ). Who decides if it is art? The legality issue is black and white, and not fuzzy. Some tagger who spray paints your property without your permission might think it is "art". You might think it is junk. Who decides? The only thing clear and unambiguous is that it was illegal, unless they had permission.

Glenn

[Blackford Oakes]

To add a twist to the issue: If I was a curator about to acquire a piece of the Berlin Wall, I'd prefer the historic relic to be adorned with graffiti. The more colors the better but I'd take the prize if the wall writing read: Ulbricht is a faggot..

[Carlos Miller]

I think the real question is whether it is art or vandalism.

It is graffiti. And it is art.

Now whether it is vandalism depends on who owns the wall and whether or not they are happy with the graffiti.

[GandJ]

Good point, Carlos.


Glenn

[coach]

I think the real question is whether it is art or vandalism.

It is graffiti. And it is art.

Now whether it is vandalism depends on who owns the wall and whether or not they are happy with the graffiti.

This is still confusing the issue of artistic intent and legality. Certain art can be illegal. For much of human history, much art was. Many things that we now consider great art were once illegal. So, whether or not it was produced legally is irrelevant to whether or not it is art. I would say that being produced outside of the societal norms imparts more artistic merit, not less, if anything.

One of the main questions about art is intent. Was the creator just tagging for the sake of marking territory? Or, was their intent to create something powerful and meaningful? Or, were they trying to express some inner truth about themselves? Or, were they trying to create something beautiful?

And, as was pointed out, some of it is in the eye of the beholder. A lot of the graffiti has real skill, real talent in the making. Does that make it meaningful or powerful to the person looking at it? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on what the observer brings to the viewing.

Some people consider The Who one of the greatest bands ever. Some people consider them drugged-out noisemakers. Who is right? Is there a right or wrong?

Do you appreciate Picasso? Or do you consider him someone who can't actually draw worth a damn? How about Jackson Pollack? (That's a generic "you".)

[FredTheCatTravels]

My personal opinion is the same as Carlos. I think it is graffiti and I think it is art.

Whether or not it is legal has no bearing on my opinion and I don't think it has to be great to be art.

[Carlos Miller]

Here is a well-written article by the Miami New Times that shows a lot of insight into the local graffiti culture.

RIP, Ynot: MSG Cartel mourns the loss of a graffiti star - Page 1 - News - Miami - Miami New Times

[Miami Photojournalist]

Is it graffiti or is it street art? I'm curious what your opinion is. Comments?

It's a good question and I answer it at my latest blog post featuring my portrait of talented Miami street artist DEXOS. View a slideshow of my images and learn more about him at:

Liam Crotty Photography |

It's art if you paint on your own property.

It's vandalism - a crime - if you tag or paint on private or public property. This kind of crap costs goverments $15 billion plus a year to clean up. I wish the media would stop making these scumbags out to be some kind of folk heroes.

[GandJ]

<<...."One of the main questions about art is intent. Was the creator just tagging for the sake of marking territory? Or, was their intent to create something powerful and meaningful?".....>>


A tagger marking territory might very well have a powerful and meaningful intent. The intent is to warn rival gangs off his "turf", and that message can be very powerful to rival gangs who know that treading on rival turf can result in death.

Glenn

[sungal]

I think graffitti artists become known by their art on buildings and then take to canvas so they can sell their stuff.

[Liam Crotty]

The cover story of the Miami New Times addresses some of these issues this week:
RIP, Ynot: MSG Cartel mourns the loss of a graffiti star - Page 1 - News - Miami - Miami New Times

[Mario]

I think it's art. Still, nothing justifies painting on private walls. Even if you painted the Mona Lisa on a private wall, it can still be vandalism. With that sad, most building owner in Wynwood are ok with graffiti, since it gives the area plenty of character.


@ Miami Photojournalist, $15 billion a year ??? Wow, I'm gonna put up a wall painting business and make a contract with the City and the County government. I'll give kickbacks to the graffiti artists to keep tagging, in order to keep me in business.

[Miami Photojournalist]

I think it's art. Still, nothing justifies painting on private walls. Even if you painted the Mona Lisa on a private wall, it can still be vandalism. With that sad, most building owner in Wynwood are ok with graffiti, since it gives the area plenty of character.

@ Miami Photojournalist, $15 billion a year ??? Wow, I'm gonna put up a wall painting business and make a contract with the City and the County government. I'll give kickbacks to the graffiti artists to keep tagging, in order to keep me in business.

You are absolutely right. If a building owner gives permission to paint his wall, that's fine with me.

The $15 billion figure is the cost annually nationwide.

I've also addressed the Miami New Times article on my blog.

Random Pixels and Loose Talk: Glorifying criminal activity

The writer of the article left a comment saying that graffiti artists destroy property because it's their way of dealing with drug adiction and other problems! So that makes it OK!

[Maria de los Angeles]

Here is a video Brad and I made for one of our Ford Fiesta projects. We spent a day with graffiti writer Atomik who gave us the low-down on the local scene. I'm all for it, as long as it's done with permission. But even with permission, some neighborhoods have regulations. This kind of thing would never fly in Coral Gables, for example.

As for the Wynwood stuff, it does give it character. That area is so run-down anyway and there's that "legal" wall off I-95 where Primary Flight started, as Liam pointed out: Primary Flight :: Wynwood Arts District, Miami » About Primary Flight

I think however there is a distinctive style difference between street art and graffiti though the line may be blurred with some artists. Most of them are very talented so it's a shame they can't find a legal outlet for their work.