Graffiti Art Magazine #54 | February – March 2021
Street Art, above all
EDITORIAL #54 | February – March 2021
The next world is long overdue… If the Street Art scene is active here and there, it is struggling to wake up for good under the threat of the cursed virus. We bet that our collective and individual desires will allow us to see the months to come with joy, serenity and predictability. May festivals, murals, art fairs and vernissages be on the agenda in 2021!
Looking forward to better days for all, let's go back to the roots of graffiti and Street Art in the New York subway of the 1970s alongside Keith Haring, Dondi, Futura 2000, Phase 2 and others. If the seventies looks have disappeared, the creative abundance persists in all its forms: concept, figuration, activism, territorial appropriation...
After New York and its metro, let's find Marseille and its Street Art with multi-faceted influences and its neighborhoods synonymous with ever-renewed creativity. Let's explore le Panier, la Friche and so many other places with Mediterranean accents and flavors.
Because Street Art is alive, Madrid will adorn itself with new frescoes for the 2021 edition of Urvanity Art. The Musée en Herbe fights to continue to offer us beautiful exhibitions for young and old. But this vivacity also has its shortcomings. At the time of #Mariannepleure, the motivation for the recovery of the emblematic work of Shepard Fairey questions: artistic diversion, political claim or simple promotional operation. The truth is certainly plural…
To complete our journey, let's meet the narrative creations of Ella & Pitr and their giants often cramped on our walls, the colorful universe of Martin Whatson where stencils and graffiti respond to each other and that of Fefe Talavera who preaches for universal benevolence and draws his inspiration from the Mayan culture. For his part, Kouka wields his Bantu Warriors to promote the universality of the human condition. While Matthias Mross questions our modern societies through his daily experiences and his travels. Finally, let's follow the happy comic book characters of our childhood and reconsider our relationship with drugs through the quirky and daring works of Ben Frost.
Street Art, such a good remedy!
Street Art will never die
EDITORIAL #54 | February – March 2021
Here we are, still waiting for the world after… The Street Art scene does not totally sit still, but it has not fully woken up either, constantly threatened as it is by COVID-19. We can only hope that our collective and individual desires will fill the upcoming months with joy, serenity, and predictability. May 2021 be a succession of festivals, murals, art fairs, and openings!
While we wait for better days, it is time to go back to the roots of Street Art and graffiti in the New York subway of the 1970s, with Keith Haring, Dondi, Futura 2000, Phase 2, and co. The fashion of the 1970s is gone but the creativity it spurted very much endures in all its forms: concept, figuration, activism, territorial appropriation, etc.
After New York and its subway, we will take you through the many districts of Marseille as well as its culturally diverse Street Art scene where creativity never sleeps. You will get to discover the Panier district, the Friche and so many other spots that taste of the Mediterranean Sea.
Street Art has not had its last word! Madrid will be wearing new murals for the 2021 edition of Urvanity Art. The Musée en Herbe is fighting to maintain its beautiful programming of exhibitions to an audience of young and old. A tenaciousness that has its downside, too. Faced with #Mariannepleure (#Marianneweeps), many of us wonder why someone covered Shepard Fairey's emblematic piece: artistic detournement, political statement or mother self-promotion? The truth probably lies somewhere in between.
Our journey will finally take us to the narrative artwork of Ella & Pitr, where giants often feel cramped on our walls, to the colorful world of Martin Whatson who mixes stencils and graffiti, and to the universe of Fefe Talavera, an advocate of universal compassion who draws her inspiration from Mayan culture. As for Kouka's Bantu warriors, they stand for the universality of the human condition, while Matthias Mross questions our modern societies through his daily experiences and travels. To conclude, Ben Frost's odd and daring work will reunite us with the joyful characters that populated our childhood comic books and make us reconsider our relationship with pills.
What if Street Art was the cure?