Art from the Streets

From its beginnings in prehistoric cave painting and inscriptions on the walls of Pompeii, to Chinese dazibao and beyond, graffiti – from the Italian verb ‘to scratch’ – has appeared and reappeared throughout history and across civilisations. A new era of graffiti emerged in the second half of the 20th century and took hold at the end of the 1970s spreading rapidly across the globe. Nurtured by the urban rhythms of cities as varied as New York, Paris, Rio and Sydney, the movement’s protagonists developed a dynamic visual culture that has been adapted and reinvented many times since.

Street Art, as it is known today, was born out of an ‘ultimate city’ moment – a point in recent history where artists felt the need to make works that were intended to be seen, or experienced in raw, gritty, urban environments. In doing so these artists developed their own techniques and effects to deliver high-impact messages that ranged from simple signatures to political statements.

Sometimes known as ‘Spray Art’, ‘Graffiti’ or ‘Stencil Art’, art born of the street is almost impossible to fix and categorise as it continues to grow and evolve.  Even the term ‘Street Art’ is problematic, as many works today are no longer created in, or for the streets.

Yesterday’s pioneers have become the accomplished artists of today and inspire new generations that in turn go on to push the limits of the movement even further, inventing and renewing again and again.  From its urban beginnings Street Art has become a globally recognised medium of artistic expression and is deeply rooted in today’s visual culture. It relates to our contemporary society, making it one of the most valuable artistic movements to emerge in the 20th century.

Curated for ArtScience Museum by Street Art expert and writer Magda Danysz, Art from the Streets explores the movement’s countercultural beginnings and its extraordinary evolution as a contemporary artform.  Spanning more than 40 years this exhibition brings together large-scale mural paintings, installations, videos, sketches and archival material from some of the most iconic names in the Street Art movement. To illustrate the vitality and diversity of the movement as it is now, new works by some of the leading names in contemporary Street Art have been commissioned. Created especially for the exhibition and painted directly onto the museum walls, these commissions profile the work of Spanish Street Art sensation Felipe Pantone amongst others and shines a spotlight on urban art in Southeast Asia with the work of Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho and Singaporean artists Speak Cryptic and Yok & Sheryo.

Artists who created new site-specific artworks:

Eko Nugroho, Felipe Pantone, Ludo, M-City, Remi Rough, Speak Cryptic, Tarek Benaoum, Yok & Sheryo, YZ, Zevs

Full list of artists featured:

Banksy, Tarek Benaoum, Stéphane Bisseuil, Blade, Crash, Speak Cryptic, D*face, Fab 5 Freddy, FAILE, Shepard Fairey (aka Obey), Futura, Invader, JR, L'Atlas, Ludo, M-City, Nasty, Eko Nugroho, Nunca, Felipe Pantone, Quik, Lee Quinones, Blek le Rat, Rero, Remi Rough, André Saraiva, Seen, Seth, Sten Lex, Tanc, Hua Tunan, Yok & Sheryo, YZ, Zevs and many more.

Advisory (Some Mature Content)