This morning I had a chance to browse the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper online, and came across an item headlined “Word on the street” in the Money section.
I love street art. It’s one of the attractions of my Sydney city fringe neighbourhood. I love it when it goes up, and hate it when some good citizen paints over it or cleans it off. You may call me a fickle woman but dammit I don’t want it if it’s been commoditised or hung in a gallery, that’s art [ok, I’ll concede, by a street artist], which I like also but it’s NOT street art.
The article is worth a read if you have time. If not, a few excerpts…
”In my opinion, art by street artists is the next big art movement, no doubt about it,” …
…”One of Lawsons’ best results was $4000 for a work by the Die Laughing Collective. Another, which is called Murdochracy, sold for $3200. It was one of the few works to have a provenance. Done on nine panels, it was first exhibited at the Melbourne Stencil Festival in 2005 and again in Sydney in 2006, where it was displayed in front of Newscorp’s headquarters.”…
…”Finding out what work has investment potential is pretty much a mystery, particularly as most artists prefer to work under code names such as Ghostpatrol and Ha-Ha.”
…”Ha-Ha, aka Regan Tamanui, was certainly hot back in May. One of his Ned Kelly 2003 prints sold for a $1100 hammer price at Leonard Joel, way above estimates of $250 to $350. Many street artists who decorate walls and railway carriages are disdainful of those who exhibit commercially. Others, such as British artist Banksy, have successfully made the transition.”…
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Street art strikes me as being similar to self-publishing books for nothing or minimal price, or people who post/give away poetry. Saw some – street art – the other day here, but no camera, trying to remember where it was! Shouldn’t be too difficult to find in a small place.
for ages we had a lovely buddha but with a boy’s face painted on a short tunnel, but it was painted out 😦
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I’d love to see Gib street art. I found a great piece of street art on a walk a while ago but my phone battery was flat. When I went back the building had been demolished… Street art as you say is similar to self-publishling, etc and. As such is free of obligations. I’m happy for the artists success if recognition/fame & fortune is their goal, but a little diappointed that a spontaneous and originally peripheral art form has now been tainted by money, and being used for the purposes of interior decoration. I guess it’s like blogging, I do it for nothing but if a dream opportunity came along where I’d get paid, it would be great but it also wouldn’t be the same. Money changes everything.
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