What Is Urban Art?
This angel is a beautiful and inspiring example of street art in suburban Melbourne.
Do you remember when street art was considered ugly, vandalism and a blight unfairly inflicted upon business and residential premises by unseemly elements existing on the fringe of our society?
Well, The Times They Are a-Changin’ and I think that’s great.
A luminous piece of street art at Hosier Lane, Melbourne made with the Sony a7r II camera at ISO 800 1/250 second @ f/4.
Is Street Art Beautiful?
Art is beautiful, for mind and for the soul.
One great move that local councils have taken is to set aside certain public spaces as open air canvases for graffiti artists.
The work is contained within these areas and folks visit, very much like they would an open air art gallery, to appreciate the work.
What’s more these places are organic and ever changing. As work fades it’s painted over with new pieces continually refreshing the laneways and walls.
This notion of renewal is a key concept associated with contemporary street art.
The beauty of well made street art tagged in Hosier Lane, Melbourne. The notions of beauty and vandalism are fluid and ever changing.
Street Art and the Changing Nature of Beauty
This colorful photo of the swirling lines and shapes was made in Hosier Lane, one of the most famous sites in the City Of Melbourne for street art.
I was fortunate to photograph this beautiful piece not long after it was created. That fact goes a long way to explaining the vibrant colors present in my photo.
After all, street art fades with time.
I was running a small photography class in the city and decided to take the group on a photo walk that included Hosier Lane.
About To Travel?
Tagging Is For Twits
It’s great that talented artists have appropriate spaces in which to work and display their art. And it’s also great that this work is easily accessible to the general public.
I love to see residential houses with gates and fences that feature quality, well designed contemporary street art produced through agreement with the owners of the property.
However, it really bothers me when I see street art that’s been tagged, particularly when it appears on private property.
I consider tagging to be an act of vandalism that’s disrespectful to the creator of the work, the audience and the site in question.
Needless to say tagging is totally at odds with my own, reverential approach to photographing this kind of beautiful public art.
Frankly I feel that the tagging of beautiful street art is a most unholy act.
Make Art In the Spirit of Collaboration and Renewal
Congratulations to local councils who have worked proactively to diminish the scourge of tagging on private property.
These policies have helped to protect residential and business properties alike; and provided freedom of expression, albeit within contained spaces, to contemporary street artists.
I fully support the encouragement of contemporary street artists to be able to produce and display their art in safe and appropriate spaces.
As many of us have benefitted, both visually and spiritually, from such policies councils and street artists alike need to be recognized and thanked for contributing to a more vital, energized and visually rich city.
