Claire(Huixin) Pang
Heather Dunn
DNY 1000C
10/25/2017
Research of Blek
Blek le Rat, a French graffiti artist who has a well-known name as the “Father of stencil graffiti”. Blek expresses his artwork by using stencils instead of stylized lettering for graffiti. Hundreds of artists all over the world was inspired by his artworks with his stenciled style. The British artist Banksy even said, "every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek has done it as well, only twenty years earlier."
As one of the earliest graffiti artists in Paris, he was originally known for stenciling the giant rat image all over Paris. For him, the rat images symbolize freedom and the distribution of art around the city just like if
…show more content…
His pseudonym, Blek le Rat, originates from a childhood cartoon “Blek le Roc”, using “rat” as an anagram for “art” because, the rats symbolized both freedom and the spread of art throughout the city as an invasion for him. In the early 80s, American artist Richard Hambleton brought his artwork to Paris over from the US. During that period, Blek was already started making rats, but when he saw Hambleton’s large shadow human figures, he got the idea of making bigger pieces, so he soon began doing larger works, as well as self-portraits. Today, Blek is credited as the first to transform stencil from basic lettering into imagery, and the one to invent the life-sized stencils. He creates most of his stencils by hand, crafting each to perfection to allow for the best detail possible upon application, and works mainly in black and white.Ten years after he made his first piece, Blek was eventually discovered and caught by the French authorities. He was charged and fined for stenciling his own version of Caravaggio’s Madonna and Child onto a wall in Paris. This image is Blek’s oldest remaining …show more content…
Many of his pieces are pictorials of solitary individuals in opposition to larger, oppressive groups. In 2006, he began his series of images representing the homeless, which depict them standing, sitting, or lying on sidewalks, in attempts to bring attention to what he views as a global
... previous jobs to convey a welcoming and educational message in his work. He makes his art clear, educational, and unconventional to express his individuality and help children in their development. Had it not been for his first couple of jobs, the teacher that showed him the banned painting, and his love for children he probably would not be the memorable artist that he is today.
The identity of a graffiti artist is hardly ever known unless they want to tag their art with their name or a nickname. Graffiti writers as a subculture are trying to express their political views through civil disobedience by painting pictures that speak out against the government. This subculture developed because they were tired of being oppressed by the government. Graffiti is one of the most enduring acts of protest. It is an important tool for the resistance movement as a way to publicize their protest. It is a visible and powerful form of protest that is going to promote change in the social justice by allowing oppressed groups of people express their viewpoints without being penalized by the
Street art is more than just painting something beautiful or cool on a public wall. It’s about the people who decide what should be shown in public space, the messages that are advertised, and how the messages affect us all. (Croteau, David. Ch.4Pg113). Banksy has made himself known for doing politically inspired pieces of artwork for example, by critiquing entities like capitalism, war, and hypocrisy. Political satire is often used to analyze one’s society and policies. It “interrupts the process of normalization”( Hebdige, Dick. Pg 18) . It is simultaneously humorous and smart while exposing something which the satirist perceives as wrong or ridiculous. Banksy’s is known for using satire in his work. “Exit Through the Giftshop is, in itself, satirical commentary on various aspects of the art world, from the commercialization of contemporary art to the endless subjective debate on what constitutes an
Theirry Guetta was a beautiful example of how seeing a simple piece of graffiti can influence a person and how they live their lives. While his life was building up to the moment he became rich off of his creativity, it helped him become the man who he is today. No matter how unique his life has been, one thing has been a constant in his life, along with many others; He was influence by the color and personality shown through a piece of art, which was the intent in the first place.
When his crew ran from the scene, Banksy was caught hiding underneath a garbage truck. While hiding, Banksy saw stencil letters on the truck. Struggling to find a quicker way to paint (also trying to avoid getting caught), Banksy had made the decision right then and there to make stenciling his new way of graffiti. Banksy's art is mostly striking images combined with slogans. His art is mostly surrounding political themes and current events, sardonically critiques war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed. His art visualized known subjects which include rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and children. Along with his two-dimensional work, Banksy is worldly known for his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated of these pieces, which featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian wallpaper pattern, sparked controversy among animal rights
To make sense of graffiti’s place in the modern world, one must understand the aesthetic relationship that is held between artists and their work. Creating graffiti or as defined by Webster dictionary as: “pictures or paintings drawn on a wall or building etc…” is subjective (“Graffiti”). This definition implies the inexplicit nature to what graffiti really is. In that respect the chalk teachers use on blackboards or the markers that are used to etch formulas on whiteboards are nothing less than graffiti in as well. In terms of those who take the concept of it as a serious craft it is something heavily revered and as such is expressed by the outward action of displaying it to the world. In Ben Belitt’s poetic musing entitled Graff...
Andy Warhol was an artist, filmmaker, photographer, author, editor, and cultural icon. He was a passionate collector his entire life, viewing beauty and art in everyday objects such as cookie jars, toys, jewelry, watches, and antiques. In the years since his untimely death, his importance grew to enormous proportions. He is now viewed as one of the most major artists of the Twentieth Century. The unique sense of style in his pieces influenced more future artists than he ever would have imagined.
"Banksy Paradox: 7 Sides of the Most Infamous Street Artist | Urbanist." WebUrbanist RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2014.
Anything from a police man leaning on a wall that gets lost in the crowd on busy days to a cleaning lady next to a garbage can. Duane creates life like art pieces that you can lose the fact that they are fake. The amount of detail along with the expressions on the figures’ faces tells the tale. The spectator creates a relationship to the piece because its the familiar look or feeling they receive from the experience. Duane uses the figures’ as they are portrayed to accomplish an everyday ordinary person moreover with that technique displays the ability to relate the viewers to the art
In the article “Revolution in a Can” by Blake Gopnik, he states, “The most elaborate images from Egypt, Libya, and Haiti today look very much like the 1980s paint jobs on New York subway cars and warehouse facades, and yet their point is not to function as art but to work as carriers of content and opinion” (114). In other words, graffiti is used to show how people truly feel inside. This is important because in addition to being considered art, it also serves the function of expressing oneself if that freedom does not exist. As a matter of fact pieces like this can be found all over the world. They are located on the Palestinian West Bank, on a wall on Benghazi in Libya, and in Tahrir Square in Egypt. A piece of graffiti art that epitomizes this is Begging for Change by graffiti artist Meek. The work engaged the public since it was done right near a train station. It features a homeless man holding a sign that reads, “Keep your coins, I want change”. The piece radiates a very powerful message stating how money can’t solve
In the ancient ages, people lived in caves and made some drawings on the walls of the caves. They used everything which would help them to drawing such as mud, tree shells and blood of people. In that sense, the root of graffiti was based on the ancient ages. However, modern graffiti is more different. After the 1960s, with the global rebellion of people, especially consisted of young people, graffiti gained a great importance. In the 21.St century, graffiti has affected young people’s daily life in two ways regarding its bringing different approach to art as ideologically and socially as well as its being practical and creative.
Street art is understood to be a subculture of graffiti, but cannot be simply defined as one form (Hughs). “Street art, originally coined by Allan Schwartzman in 1985 (Lewisohn, 2008),
Although other artists know who he is, Banksy doesn’t have a public face that he shows at galleries and in his documentaries. In Will Ellsworth-Jones article “The Story Behind Banksy: on his way to becoming an international icon, the subversive and secretive street artist turned the art world upside-down” he talks about one of Banksy’s earlier galleries. Ellsworth-Jones says “The show was a high-profile demonstration of the phenomenon that has come to be known as the ‘Banksy effect’—the artist’s astounding success in bringing urban, outsider art into the cultural, and increasingly profitable, mainstream” (2). Banksy’s “effect” is altering urban culture and bringing it to art galleries to be displayed and sold. In the grand scheme of things, he is commodifying graffiti and urban culture, making it more consumable and then proceeding selling and profit off of it. In A&E’s biography page for Banksy they state that Banksy’s work is unique due to the fact that it “often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed.” The uniqueness of his work is a common reason different news outlets give for Banksy’s success. Contrary to popular belief, Banksy’s content isn’t groundbreaking. Artists of all mediums, including graffiti, before and during his time have touched upon all of the same themes as
In the 1960s displaying war was common for artists. Many artists during this time were against the Vietnam war and displayed that in their artwork. Artists such as Ronald Haeberle, Peter Saul, and Carl Andre raised awareness against the war through their art and in doing so produced a call to action. Art became a way to speak out against oppression and inequalities regarding gender, race or class. Judy Chicago showed the women’s role in culture at the time through her art. She was part of the feminist movement at the time and art was an outlet for her to be able to get people to see through her eyes. Banksy a British street artist focuses on politics and issues that affect people around the world. Most of his works are satirical and filled with irony.For example, he created a series of murals concerning the refugee crisis in Syria and how the refugees were being treated. One of the murals shows a middle-aged man with a knapsack on his shoulder and what appears to be an old computer in his left hand, he is also wearing glasses, a black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans and loafers. His face has a considerable amount of stubble and his eyes are staring out at the viewer. The man is none other than Apple 's founder Steve Jobs. The work was titled “ The son of a migrant from Syria.” On the wall around Jobs are words that say: “Free Syria.” This proves that through graffiti
Over the past few years the street artist known as Bansky has made a reputation of political activism, by using his unique form of graffiti to not only convey the serious issues of our time, but also as ones of the future. All of his works display clever use of colors and stencils to showcase a form of dark humor that not only makes his works that more memorable, but meaningful as well. One of his most famous works Crayola Shooter displays a skillful use of color, perspective, and detail to express his message of how we can fight the limits set by society with our own creativity.