Street Art, People’s Art

Urban art or street art refers to all artistic expression found in the streets. It tends to be independent and rebellious, in order to convey thoughts and ideas different from capitalism. This works as a form of protest or to expose perceptions opposed to commercial art. Urban art is manifested by different variables. Of course, the most outstanding one is graffiti. However, we can also we can include murals, posters, street theater, street music, and street dancing.

Urban art is looking for the viewer to feel the message embodied in each work.  Artists are repeatedly critical of endless issues that most people would consider taboo. Call it society, government, politics, religion, education, or corporations. This type of art invites us to reflect on the situations that we live on a daily basis. It asks us to be uncontent, to raise our voices and take action.

You may also like: Letras en la Mar is back in town

There is no exact date when this new art starts. Making drawings on the walls does not come from modern civilization, but from our ancestors. You know, the ones who drew on the walls or on the roofs of the caves. Their subjects were the animals they went hunting or scenes of the rituals they had. With the passage of time, it is developed by the decade of the 1960 in France and the United States. Years later, in the 1990s, street art becomes more important, and it spread in big cities such as New York, Paris, London, Berlin, Mexico City, etc.

Formerly, this practice used to be illegal. Young people came to public spaces and left their art without having permission. Currently, the private sector seeks to offer public spaces so that young artists can exhibit their art. They intend to share it with locals and visitors. Also, to change the gray facades of the buildings and turn them into incredible murals. Sometimes, their location at strategic spots turns them into iconic spaces within the city.