Is graffiti a valid art form - Essay Example

Is Graffiti a Valid Art Form? Art is considered as the expression of an individual’s creativity from the imaginative point of view to visual form, achieved through production of sculptures and paintings. It is from the above understanding that the term graffiti has to be considered as an art because for the act to be perfected; an artist has to apply his or her creative skills to bring out the visual content (Chalfant and Prigoff 25). Graffiti began in 1960s, but it has never been taken seriously as other art works which have been exhibited in a museum or gallery.

A number of people have criticized graffiti because of the places they are put and their unconventional mode of presented. Scholars in this field argue that graffiti could be accepted as an art if it is put in the following forms. These forms include subway art, spray-can art and graffiti art. The aspect of unconventional presentation contributes to the idea of graffiti being recognised as an art because the above forms constitute properties that bring out the visual content of the imagination.

For an individual to prove this, he or she has to consider a historical graffiti material to illustrate to his or her audience that graffiti is truly an art.As an art, graffiti as seen from the ancient were uncovered monuments from Egypt. In addition, it is an italic word that means drawing, scribbling and markings, thus an indication that it existed in the ancient times where people practiced wall writing. The ancient graffiti was transferred to the current graffiti making it to be referred to as “New York Style” due to its invention in New York (Chalfant and Prigoff 38).

There are a number of reasons why graffiti’s art value is different from oil on canvas painting. The first reason is the fame that a graffitist gets from his or her artistic talent. It is easy for a graffitist to get be recognized because of his or her artistic talent more than an artist who considers oil on canvas painting (Spitz 27). Secondly, graffiti provides room for a person to express him or herself to the world more than the oil on canvas painting. Writing as an art enables a graffitist to communicate his or her identity and ideas to the general public.

It is, therefore, important for graffitist to note that judgments for their imagination can only be made by the public basing on their artistic skills which must be translated creatively. Lastly, graffiti allows artists to work together unlike the oil on canvas painting that requires one artist to complete the assigned task. Team building for graffitist helps them in accomplishing a common interest.To sum up, graffiti is an art that need to be embraced maximally by individuals from all walks of life.

Graffitist use spray-can which come with different colours and have elements that make it possible to communicate the visual aspect of an idea. The majority of those individuals who practise graffiti consider it as a rewarding exercise which is full of fun and does not discriminate on a person who should do it basing on class or race.Works citedChalfant, H. and Prigoff, J. Spraycan Art. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987. Print Spitz, E. Image and Insight. New York: Columbia University Press, 1991. Print