This year a documentary about street art was nominated for an Academy Award and so I think it's fair to say that the practice has shed the "pesky graffiti" brush off and now receives a level of institutional respect and critical consideration on par with more established expressions of creativity. To this point, the following variations on a theme:
* The Pasadena Museum of California Art commissioned 26 California graphic designers and artists to interpret a single letter of the alphabet while considering "how typography, language and communication continue to affect and be infected by graffiti and street art." Seen above is Volume Inc.'s riff on the letter "V" which is made of layered blind contour drawings of "v"s set in different typefaces. The show runs from May 15 through September 4. The museum is selling a limited number of screen prints of each letters, which you can browse here.
* Last year the French "semi-anonymous" street artist JR won the $100,000 TED Prize, which is awarded annually to an "exceptional individual" who is meant to use the money to pursue his/her one wish to change the world. This month at TED2011, JR announced his wish: To use art to turn the world inside out via a global art project which he has (logically) dubbed Inside Out. (Watch this video of JR's TED talk, in which he walks through his artistic evolution and describes his intent for the price.)
JR is known for taking photos of locals in a variety of countries and then pasting large scale graphic prints of the portraits back into the subjects' environment. Somewhat akin to Banksy in regard to his medium, preference for anonymity, and desire to provoke through art, JR's work, however, is more hopeful than cynical. JR sees his portraits as a way to "capture the spirits of individuals who normally go unseen" such as the women depicted in his "Women Are Heros" project (images above).
Inside Out makes JR's established method and style available to anyone by allowing participants to contribute photos, paste prints or offer wall space via the project website. It will be interesting to watch how this evolves and look out for images in our respective communities, including my own.
* Here in LA, the Museum of Contemporary Art's show "Art in the Streets" opens next month and will include the work of street artists from around the world (JR included). Jeffery Deitch, the semi-new MOCA director, declared that the show will be "the first exhibition to position the work of the most influential artists to emerge from street culture in the context of contemporary art history."
And with all grandiose aims come some bumps: As part of the build up to the show, Deitch commissioned a work on one of MOCA's downtown satellite buildings by the street artist Blu, only to then paint it over after deeming it "insensitive to the neighborhood." (The work featured coffins draped in dollar bills and a VA hospital and a war memorial are located nearby.) Supposedly the museum hadn't seen Blu's design ahead of time because of scheduling conflicts, however even the idea of exercising editorial control in advance—nevermind literally whitewashing a piece—seems a little problematic to me when you're working with a genre known for being provocative.
Deitch wants to make a case for the artistic and cultural relevance of street art on an institutional level and with that comes the challenge of curating and controlling something which has gained its power exactly because it is not curated or controlled. The excitement and meaning of street art—down to its name—comes from its interaction with an environment, for better or worse. Not surprisingly to some Deitch has gone from champion to target; the following uncredited poster of him as an ayatollah appeared in downtown LA shortly after the mural incident.
JR photos credit of JR/Agence VU via the New York Times