Not all Art was Created Equal: Graffiti vs Street Art

As I walked the streets of Perugia, Italy, I couldn’t help but wonder – “Why is there so much graffiti? More importantly, when it looks so beautiful, is it still considered graffiti or art?” Growing up in Oakland, California, graffiti was the only term I knew for paint illegally applied to a wall. After my experience in Perugia, I learned a new term: Street Art.
Graffiti and Street Art are similar art movements, but they differ in terms of technique, function, and intent.

Graffiti “tagging” is often destructive and helps create an environment that breeds urban decay. A scar on the urban fabric, graffiti is about the tagger and their desire to leave their name or mark. Word-based, there are several specific styles:

1. Tag: the writer’s name or mark in one color with spray paint, markers or pens.
2. Throw-Up: a more complicated tag with two to three colors.
3. Stencil: a stencil is used with spray paint to create a more intricate picture.
4. Stickers (Slaps): a quick and easy way to throw up a tag.
5. Blockbuster: used to cover a large area in a minimal amount of time.
6. Heaven: put in a high or dangerously hard-to-reach location.
7. Wildstyle: an extremely stylized and complicated form of writing that features arrows, spikes, and curves.
8. Piece: a graffiti painting that requires more time and skill to create.

Street Art, however, is constructive and adorns the urban landscape. Often commissioned or done with permission, Street Art is created by a skilled artist with an image-based design. Street Art provokes its audience through its abstract nature and use of symbolic imagery. The artist wants the general public to interact with their work and to not only see, but understand the message behind it. Once painted, Street Art will remain there indefinitely and is usually protected and maintained by the public or city.

There is a gray area where graffiti and Street Art overlap to create Graffiti Art. Where I see graffiti to be destructive and Street Art mural based, Graffiti Art with its distinctive “graffiti” styles are so beautifully done I have to consider them art.

As I walk through a city, I notice all the graffiti, Graffiti Art, and Street Art and have come to enjoy their splashes of color. I value Streets Art’s contribution to the cultural fabric of a place and how it imbues a community with a sense of identity. Blank walls are transformed from brick and mortar into a stunning image. All of a sudden, a community has been given a sense of place and can express itself in a whole new way. All of us should strive to keep our streets clean of degenerative graffiti so Graffiti Art and Street Art may thrive. If more cities and individuals allocated space to local artists, imagine how much more vibrant our cities would look.