BLOOMIN' BANKSY. Greenjacker
Street art was once considered an
by fame and money. Many are
underground pastime and those
disgusted by the way their art form
who chose to express themselves
has been turned into yet another
through the medium were often
commodity to be traded by rich,
branded as little more than
unimaginative losers. BANKSY
vandals. The artists themselves do
famously got a guy to sell his
not always see this as an insult and
work on the street of New York
some even choose to call their work
last year for $60 a piece in protest
‘smart vandalism’. Things began to
against the commercial art world.
change in the 70s and 80s as gifted
Thankfully there is an ever-growing
artists slowly found prominence.
branch of street art which makes it
Sites like the Bowery and Houston
much harder for the money men to
Street in New York became known
cash in. Anyone and everyone can
as places where up-and-coming
enjoy this art and get involved in
artists could showcase their talents
making it. In fact, you don’t even
and perhaps be accepted by the
have to be human to benefit from
real art world. Artists like Keith
it. You can even take it home with
Haring found international fame
you without a mugger in a suit
and have since made many an
charging you £100,000. If your’e
art dealer very happy. Elsewhere, talents like Eric Haze crossed over into the world of graphic design, with his work gracing everything from album covers to running shoes. In the last decade Bristol boy BANKSY has taken the art world by storm. The commercial interest in his work is such that unscrupulous dealers are chiselling his stuff off walls to sell in their galleries for hundreds of
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sensible you can even eat it. thousands of pounds. Even the Bowery is now privately managed and only accepts works by commissioned or
Guerrilla Gardening (GG) was also born during the 70s - 1973 to be precise
invited artists.
- in the Bowery and Houston Street
If you get a chance to talk to the
and her group of ‘green guerrillas’
artists themselves, like the wonderful ‘Phlegm’ who features in this magazine, you will often find that the majority of them aren’t motivated
area of New York when Liz Christy transformed a derelict private lot into a lush green garden. It was the first community garden in New York. Forty years later the Liz Christy Garden is