Graffiti was once the preserve of teenage gangs tagging railway bridges and tube trains with versions of ‘I woz ere’ and dubious artistic merit. But with Banksy’s trademark stencil creations fetching five figure sums and his ‘Space Girl & Bird’ a staggering £288,000 at auction, it’s now become a recognised art form in its own right. Banksy’s work has even been ‘vandalised’ itself, with one piece attracting its own graffiti in Australia. The artist, whose identity still remains a quasi-secret (theories are endless) exhibited in Bristol Museum over the summer – he started out there with Bristol’s DryBreadZ Crew becoming part of the city’s underground scene - and this month sees an exclusive private exhibition and sale at swanky new members’ venue, 8 Club, Moorgate.
New pretender to the tagging throne is London born and bred artist, Cartrain who has been making his mark on the Shoredtich streets for the last three years and was once complimented by artistic duo Gilbert and George when they spotted him stencilling Mickey Mouse holding a bomb onto a Brick Lane Wall. He’s also taken the art to a different level leaving graffiti-esque installations from cardboard boxes to his trademark collages in the Tate Modern and National Portrait Gallery. They lasted six or seven hours before museum staff noticed but when he super-glued a plate to the wall in the British Museum it lasted three days until curators managed to prise it off. No stranger to controversy, he’s currently embroiled in a legal battle with Damien Hirst over his inclusion of an image of the artist’s £50 million pound skull in one of his own pieces.
And in the Shoreditch heartlands too, the achingly fashionable Hoxton Pony is partnering up with creative design agency, Monorex to host a special Secret Wars All Star Battle live graffiti art event at the beginning of November. Secret Wars has evolved from a testing ground for artists into a serious international competition that regularly attracts people in their droves from across the world. The ‘wars’ involve two to four artists who compete, either in teams or working alone, creating impromptu designs on a range of surfaces from walls to windows. The winner is decided using a three point scoring system involving two guest judges and an egalitarian crowd vote.
Monorex is committed to discovering innovative and exciting new talent and has worked with brands from Reebok and Redbull to Google and Xbox so you may well find the winner’s art featured in an advertising campaign in the not too distant future. Expect a suitably urban sound track from Reeps1, the UK’s number one beatbox champion.
But law abiding sorts who fancy their spray can skills will be pleased to know there’s a legal outlet for them to pick up the tricks of the trade. Street artist Andy Seize has set up shop in a Hackney car park, running hour long group classes where you’ll learn the basics of line drawing, shading and spraying or there are more hard -core three hour sessions for advanced aerosol control using different nozzles to perfect your technique. Go on tag your way to the top.
www.banksy.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/cartraingraffiti
http://www.eightclub.co.uk
http://www.thehoxtonpony.com
http://www.graffitilessons.co.uk
Back
Tag Team
