THIS IS A LONG ONE PEOPLE! I apologize in advance! Street art fans... Can someone please explain to me why some street artists are getting passes by creating beautiful work, but are completely clueless at to why they are doing it and Who the art is for? Im tired of seeing art that is passed as being culturally conscious in neighborhoods that are being gentrified and people are being displaced. Using the faces of black and brown people in your art to get some sort of credibility in neighborhoods with every passing day is becoming more difficult for parents to keep a roof over their childrens heads. REAL people of color are being replaced with wheat pasted images that appropriate our struggle. The use of our faces, our faith, our fabric by non-people of color in areas where they are being pushed out of, is insensitive and offensive. The artists dont even take time to understand the area they are putting their art. Instead it has become a popularity contest of who has a wall in Bushwick, or who has a wall Williamsburg. There are artists out there that have amazing skill and beautiful renderings of portraits, but dont know how to express their message. I have to go back to this piece because I felt like it was not thought through ... The little smiling white boy image with his hands up and a sign around his neck that says Dont Shoot. Im sure it was done with good intentions but the message that came through was all wrong. In the height of the Mike Brown shooting, this image displayed demographics that have not experienced the amount of unjust/unwarranted killings by the police in recent years (if any at all). Its just an example of how this kind of work is not socially nor culturally relevant/valid. Or the artist that stencils Gentrification is the new Colonialism in Bushwick. This has to come from someone who has no idea what it is to be colonized! There is NO comparison between gentrification and colonialism. Just be aware of the art that pops up in your neighborhood, on your walls, that should be accepted by the people living in that neighborhood or to at least reflect who they are. If these are they types of artists and art that is being put up in these neighborhoods... Then maybe it is reflecting who the new people are. Just my opinion ... Whether you agree or disagree is your opinion.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 23:13:45 +0000
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