Street art vs gallery art!
The culture and community that surrounds both street art and gallery art can have many differences and similarities — but when it comes to facing the two styles against each other, the debate can be a little bit more intriguing. As we all know, art is a medium that cannot be compared against each other, and that each form of expression has qualities that both make it unique and also relatable to other art styles.
The same logic can be applied between street art and also gallery art. However, to provide a little bit of context, street art is defined as the expression and creation of artworks and designs in public areas or the “streets” as the term of the technique already implies.
The goal of street art is to defy what is “normal” not only in the world of art, but of the rules and principles of society itself. By displaying exhibitions in public areas — sometimes even treading lightly across the line of what is illegal and what is not, street art is a daring show of one’s creativity which has spread across many forms of popular culture to this day.
From the emergence of street artists such as Banksy who has elevated the value of street art up to the modern date, there continues to be a debate within the art community as to whether street art can be accepted into the so-called “formal” circles of art such as the one that gallery art belongs to.
Much like any other human practice, the art community also consists of many intricacies and details that make defining both street art and gallery art not so clear cut. Within the art community, there is no clear black and white when it comes to labelling art styles and who can appreciate a specific technique more.
However, the habit of making art “sophisticated” and “exclusive” continues to be practiced up to today. And that is where art aficionados begin their debate when it comes to street art and how it compares to gallery art.
Frankly, street art and gallery art have their basic differences when it comes to delivery. First of all, as explained earlier, street art thrives in public appreciation and being presented in displays that are exposed to everyone. On the other hand, gallery art has a more solemn aura surrounding it.
Not everyone has general access to appreciating gallery art and there are more “rules” to look out for when it comes to not only viewing gallery art, but also creating artworks that are gallery-worthy.
While this is the case, street art and gallery art also have many similar traits. Artists from both sides let out their naked passions without reservation either in the urban jungle or in the secluded confines of galleries. Despite their physical differences, the two techniques can be appreciated and expressed freely by people from all walks of life.
And there lies the beauty not only between street and gallery art, but the expression of human creativity itself. As the imaginary debate between the two continues to fade as art becomes more commonplace, it is not long before comparisons between the two styles will eventually disappear as well.
Check out my latest street art paintings.