A 180º Look at Nine Types of Street Art

Last week on Twitter @RoarLoudTravel invited me to join @StreetArtChat, and that set my mind in motion. I’ve always enjoyed chatting with him on the ever fun @FoodTravelChat and admired the way he curates his tweetline, so I didn’t want to disappoint him. At first, I was thinking, “Doesn’t sound like something my fisheye lens would be good at capturing.” Worse yet, I thought I didn’t have any photos, and I’d have to shoot some new ones. As I scanned through my massive image catalogs I saw I was wrong on both counts: I have tons of street art images that I’ve never shared, and the fisheye lens redefines and adds a new dimension to the artist’s work. I was reminded that the reason I use an 8mm lens in the first place is because it does such a spectacular job of showing subject matter in a new way within the context of its surroundings, in a field of view that the eye could never see. (End of commercial ~on with the blog)

I wonder what our Paleolithic friends that invented street art some 40,000 years ago would think of the work that adorns our streets these days? The media of today’s art is so varied including spray paint graffiti, stencil graffiti, wheatpasted poster art, sticker art, street installations, and sculpture, as well as video projection, and yarn bombing to name a few. I’ve broken down the genres of street art as I see them and I’ll share more images of each of these in blogs to come.

Sacred Street Art

Ganesha Mural, Varanasi, India

The Holy city of Varanasi, India has some of the most beautiful examples of Sacred Street Art I’ve captured to date. Here, the artwork blends in with the environment so well that it’s almost easy to miss some of them. As street art has become more popular, a new generation of artists has created modern interpretations of Hindu Gods and Goddesses to this area. Judging from the web, I need to return and see more.

Educational Street Art

Wrought iron art about Jimmy Choo

In 2012 Penang’s municipal council hired London-trained Lithuanian artist, Ernest Zacharevic to work on a massive project of street art. Much of the wrought iron installations from this project serve to edutain (Oh, that word!) tourists and give historical information. Did you know that the famous Jimmy Choo began his career in Penang, Malaysia?

Professional Quality Street Art

Another Zacharevic masterpiece

Above is another example of Mr. Zacharevic’s artwork. This to me is the real deal and entices me to tour a whole city to see more of an artist’s work. Sadly, many of these talented artists never make the big time like Banksy or Harding. Eventually, the ravages of time ruin their masterpieces, and they are gone forever. On the plus side is that this adds to the immediacy of this medium and leaves the viewer with the feeling that they were lucky to have been in the place and time when the work existed.

Decorative Street Art

Meanwhile, down a lane in Mumbai

Often when I see a piece of street art the critic in me wonders if the wall wouldn’t be better off blank. In the case above, I think that the flower painting adds to the walk down the lane with a nice burst of color. I recall asking a group of young Thai ESL learners if they objected to the monitors playing loud advertisements in tight public areas and on public transportation in Bangkok. “Well, it’s better than nothing!” responded my star student. Well, there’s that too…

Folk Street Art

I kept seeing a figure hanging from a rope at construction sites as I traveled through India and finally had to ask our tour guide its meaning. According to the guide, bad luck is hung in effigy to ward off the possibility of a real accident. I love the way the man in the photo above has his eyes cast downward as if recalling an “incident” in the past. It seems that most festivals have street art all their own and often they remain in place long after the festival has passed. I’ll add this to the category of Folk Street Art as well.

Found Street Art

I Am Mighty and Will Extinguish Any Blaze in an Instant! (Away Ye Damn Dog!)

Sometimes, while changes are coming to a location, art happens for a brief time then disappears! You know when it happens because it hits you with its flamboyant color, odd design, or unintended juxtaposition, and you can’t walk away without capturing it. Also among this genre of street art are weathered walls that have become Jackson Pollock-like, and water stains representing the Shroud of Turin come to mind. It’s during these moments of discovery that I feel the energy of Aaron Siskind and Minor White fill me.

Latent Street Art

View through a temple window becomes a mandala

Latent Street Art is a bit more subtle, and like the proverbial tree falling in the woods, it needs a witness to be appreciated fully. These works of art are just waiting for a viewer who is wandering about the streets to find. Are you like me and spend some restless days hunting these down?

Commercial Street Art

Weathered ad on wall

I HATE ads so much that I almost didn’t include this category. I remember a student from Switzerland at our photography school that characterized the billboards in California as vulgar and aggressive. Secretly, I would love to take him to Chaing Mai, just to wind him up. Still, every once in a while I can’t help but point my camera and fire off a shot. Maybe it’s just that being new to a culture or a language makes me more forgiving.

Tourism Street Art

Not my image, but on point

Last, and indeed the least is what I call Tourism Street Art. This includes that gawd awful crap on the walls that some aesthetic deadbeat commissioned solely because they heard that street art was popular. I’m afraid that we’ll see more of this in the future and I won’t take the time to litter the web with an image –I’ll leave that up to the peace-sign-posing, selfy stick waving crowd.

If you can think of any type of street art that I’ve left out let me know. Looking forward to chatting with you tomorrow on Twitter and sharing more images of street art with you in the future.

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Blog : Thai by Apisatha Hussadee Giunca
Blog : English by George Edward Giunca

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