The Rise of Urban Art :From Streets to galleries

Caroline
31 mars 2018
3 min de lecture

On April 4th the great sale Artcurial Urban Art will be back in Paris.

I have visited in preview for you the exhibition preceding the annual Urban Art Artcurial auction. Fabulous !

(Jef Aérosol - Twiggy 2012)

Beginning to be recognised during the 1970s, street art as a creative practice stemmed from a prevalent graffiti community which began adorning streets around the globe, often without permission, in forms of wheat-paste posters, stencil art and text-based social commentary.

(Hush - Ben Frost - Eddie Martinez - Fabien Verschaere)

This form of expression is not dissimilar to a tradition dating back to the early 16th century when anonymous satirical poems were attached to the base of the talking statues of Rome as an outlet for unwarranted social and political opinions.

These statues were located in the most populated and frequented piazzas and streets across the city where citizens congregated and dispersed, and along with them the latest gossips.

(Giz - Most talked about 2017)

Street Art has become an accepted artistic genre and is increasingly embraced by the general public as well as institutions.

Some of the great names in contemporary art, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring trace their career roots back to their creative output on the streets. Not only are their works included in major museum collections around the globe, they are also much sought after by seasoned and new collectors alike.

(Blek le rat - Dran)

One of the most significant effects brought about by the rise of Street Art is the redefining of the public’s perception of what is art. By taking art to the streets, artists have liberated art from the confinement of gallery walls and subsequently transformed the public’s understanding of where and how to view art.

(Blek le rat - Hush - Vhils)

Not only has street art been integrated spatially into people’s everyday lives, they also manifest in forms that are closely related to our daily tactile experiences with objects. Using materials collected from the streets, things such as scraps of cardboard, posters, spray cans, plaster fragments and broken glass, to name but a few, artists have renewed the viewing public’s attention to things that are easily disregarded in the midst of the urban hustle and bustle. The resulting artworks are hard to categorise.

(Ludo- Seth - Eric Lacan)

At the heart of contemporary creation, Urban Art has, over the past few years, revealed itself to be one of the most exciting emerging sectors on the art market.

(Pantonio - David De La Mano -Sobekcis - Jaw - Martin Whatson )

Artcurial has become one of the pioneers of this speciality, launching its first and highly successful sale as early as 2006.

(Pantonio - David De La Mano - Jaw - Martin Whatson )

More than 180 lots are to be sold including works by JonOne, Pantonio, Cope2, Ben Frost or Toxic. French street artists such as Blek Le Rat , Seth, Jef Aerosol, Miss Tic, or Jérôme Mesnager will be represented too.

(Shepard Fairey known as Obey Giant)

The auctions are open to the public and take place at the gorgeous Hotel Marcel Dassault, a 2 000-square-meter space dedicated to Artcurial’s exhibitions at the roundabout of the Champs Elysées.

(Xare - JonOne - Mist - Zenoy - Sonic)

Catalogues put in place by Artcurial specialists are made available four weeks before an auction takes place. House specialists welcome sellers by appointment prior to the auction or during “expertise days.”