Thursday, April 16, 2009

Provocative Street Art

I was never a huge follower of graffiti, until I came across some street art that made me stop in my tracks. One of these artists, goes by the name "Miss-tic"; the topic of my first post.

To be honest, my adversity towards the art form is not for the artwork itself, but rather the choice of canvas. I have a profound appreciation for beautiful historical buildings, so to me, illegally imposing a "tag" on one of them is comparable to defecating on the front steps of the Louvre.





Miss-tic has quite a repertoire of work that can be seen around the streets of Paris. The artwork above was photographed in the 13th Arrondissement, but I have also seen Miss-tic's work on the streets of the Latin Quarter, and Montmartre.

I admire her cheeky/provocative texts that usually accompany her stencil art, like the one above that reads, "J'aime les hommes avec étonnement" (I like men with astonishment) with a Marilyn Monroe-esque pose, or the one under it that reads,"Les actes gratuits ont-ils un prix"(free acts have a price) with a woman's behind exposed.

So have I changed my opinion on graffiti?

Not completely. I still think buildings with historical significance should be left untouched by street art, but as much as I admire tradition, there is still the naughty illegal element that makes it such an alluring practice.

True, most of the graffiti on landmark buildings is eventually removed - so I suppose it could be considered a type of temporary street exhibit. I will however, suggest that graffiti artists use a pepsi ad as a canvas instead?