serendipity

On perhaps, one of the most serendipitous weekends of my life, a dear friend and I encountered this monumental mural wheatpasted by one of the most important political artists of our time. Shepard Fairey. As it turns out, May Day was commissioned by Dietch Projects (a prominent New York gallery that represents some of the most influential contemporary artists in the world, like Kehinde Wiley).

Below is an excerpt from the press release:

Shepard Fairey’s mural addresses contemporary political themes, but also pays tribute to some of the Pop artists who have influenced him. The American flag and the target reference the iconic paintings of Jasper Johns who is also the subject of a portrait in the May Day exhibition. The newspaper and the May Day megaphone advertisement pay tribute to Warhol's early painted renditions of common subject matter. The mural also weaves in many smaller images and decorative patterns which supplement the aesthetic and themes of the larger images.

compare/contrast

In this rendition of rapper Ludacris' album cover for "Theatre of the Mind," graphic designer Joe Buck is taking cues from OSPAAAL, the Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. OSPAAAL has been active since the 1960s, housing one of the most sophisticated workshops for poster production in the world. Artist and late Black Panther Party Minister of Culture Emory Douglass once collaborated with OSPAAAL in efforts to speak out against the subjugation of people of color all over the world. Contemporary artists like Shepard Fairey and Joe Buck are drawing upon a legacy of image production that even today still resonates with society.

Left: Revised album cover, Ludacris, Theatre of the Mind.
Right: Cuban Film Week Poster, 1969.

"street" chic

In the January 24th edition of the New York Times, critic Randy Kennedy profiles artist Shepard Fairey and the National Portrait Gallery's acquisition of his iconographic portrait of President Barack Obama. Kennedy dares to suggest that this move symbolizes the blurring of the lines between fine art and what he labels "street art":

So it has been hailed by street-art fans as a significant moment, the fine-art world beginning to find a way to recognize a movement that has been growing apace for more than a decade, propelled by a generation of artists who grew up with graffiti and now make work on the streets with materials as varied (and sometimes as ephemeral) as paper, plastic, tape, snow, rubber bands and knitted wool.

Since when did the tradition of screen print posters become canonized into the ambiguous category of "street art"? Should artists like Shinique Smith and Jean-Michel Basquiat, who were heavily influenced by the tradition of graffiti, but whose works are most often exhibited inside gallery spaces and museums, be considered "street" artists as well? How about artists like David Hammons and William Pope L., who often utilize "found" public materials within their installations...are they "street" artists as well?

In short, site-specificity, or the spaces in which art is presented and displayed, public or private, plays a large role into how society consumes it. Distinctions like "fine/high" and "low/street" art are constantly being contested in artistic practices today with a merging of formal and technical artistic traditions within particular expressions that extend from specific subcultures and anti-establishment practices. Perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the roles that museum institutions play in presenting so-called "street" art and facilitate public interpretations of the work itself.

Top: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1984, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 86 x 68 in. (218.4 x 172.7 cm)
Bottom: Shinique Smith, Voodoo Children, 2005. Fabric, clothing, accessories and ink. Dimensions variable

hope

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day! Inauguration is literally hours away...take a moment to observe the monumentality of this historic occasion. Just BE.


Image: Shepard Fairey, Hope, screenprint