Street Art is visual art produced in public spaces for viewing by the general public and is intended to spread a social and political statement. It has been referred to as "guerrilla art," "post-graffiti," "neo-graffiti," and "independent art." Street art is seen as the zenith of democratic art because it can be viewed by anybody and is not owned. Artists have introduced this unusual and democratic work into institutions and galleries throughout the past few decades, garnering recognition on a global scale and popularity in the "traditional" art world. The city and its residents have an impact on street artists' environment and sources of inspiration. Their main themes frequently examine ideas of popular culture, ads, cartoons, and urban settings. Street art is full of inventiveness and constantly looking for new techniques, supports, and materials, from the abstract to the figurative.
The fundamental idea behind street art is that everyone should have the opportunity to create art and have it seen by others, regardless of their race, age, gender, economic status, or other characteristics. It also believes that art should be accessible rather than hidden away inside galleries, museums, and private collections. Even though some street artists may make sculptures or installations, they are more well recognized for using uncommon art materials like wheat paste, spray paint, stencils, and stickers.
The most well-known artists of today developed their reputations on the streets. Graffiti artists like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose works were found on public walls as well as in galleries and museums, had a big impact on later generations of artists, particularly Banksy and Fairey. Street art has historically had a tense relationship with the art world as a whole due to its roots in illegal activity and distinctive interest in subversion, political, and social action.
Street Art sculpture
In sculpture, Street Art is a movement and a form of artistic expression characteristic of the late twentieth century, early twenty-first. Many sculptors have marked the history of this movement through his handling of volumes: this is particularly the case of Mark Jenkins and his hooded figures, but also of Isaac Cordal and his miniatures characters very critical of our social development, or the Gregos parisian with his persons making faces. Around the world, Street art sculpture continues to be a popular category of art and many of its creators have achieved renown and mainstream success.
Street Art Sculptors
Mark Jenkins (born 1970)
American artist Mark Jenkins creates sculptural street installations. Jenkins uses the "street as a theater" in his street art, allowing his sculptures to interact with the environment. With his hyperrealistic sculptures that he places in the streets across Europe and the United States, Mark Jenkins explores how people see the world. The staging is often uncomfortable and the faces of the people are frequently obscured. Since he wraps live figures in plastic films and tape, his technique is likewise hidden. The "cast" is then cut out, put back together without the figure, dressed, and given realistic features like hands and hair.
Gregos (born 1972)
French street artist Gregos began displaying his face on the buildings in Paris. He creates a reproduction of his face with his tongue out or smiling that he paints and adheres to the walls of Paris using his own 3D concept, which he designed utilizing all the techniques he had learned and refined over the years. Each face serves as a kind of self-portrait for the day, expressing the humor of the wearer and his past, present, and future.
The street art concept by Gregos is effective at encouraging conversation between the faces and among spectators. More than 500 faces have been installed so far, largely in Paris but also in other French cities and cities across the globe, including Europe, the United States, Japan, and South America.
Isaac Cordal (born 1974)
Isaac Cordal is a Spanish Galician artist who specializes in miniature art. His creations feature miniature animals built of cement, which is often thought of as the mark of civilization, and are positioned in unexpected places like gutters and puddles. Due to its small size (about 15 cm), finding them requires careful attention. They are frequently depicted in ordinary activities, and the setting choice can introduce new dimensions to the action. They typically highlight how ludicrous our current world is. The artist uses the sculptures as a metaphor to analyze politics, bureaucracy, and power.
Christiaan Nagel (born 1982)
Christiaan Nagel is a British street artist known for his oversized mushroom sculptures made from polyurethane which he places high up on buildings. They reach as far as Los Angeles, Cape Town, Berlin, Barcelona, London, New York, and Cape Town. These polyurethane mushrooms come in various sizes and individual samples or flocks. The artist claims that although mushrooms naturally develop, they require ideal weather and environmental circumstances, such as original artistic and scientific concepts.
