Graffiti art/Guerilla art..Cancer of the arts?? WAH???

GRAFFITI ART

GUERILLA ART

Graffiti is metastasizing our cities?!!! ahh naranjas en la cabeza!! wait dnt take out ur dictionary metastasizing, is like a cancer or malignant tumor hitting a new site..gracias webster! So this art form fits into the whole "what is art" subject matter..hm?. I wont go there tho,this debate has been goin on since the 70's i believe..geesh I wasnt even born then..anyways I wont try to answer this conundrum, but I will comment!! Graffiti is vandalism!! period point blank! make a copy, highlight it,fax it or email to ur friend- i dnt care!!just engrave it in ur heads graffiti = Vandalism!! and i think vandalsim is illegal?..i think :)

This doesnt exactly mean im against it or for it, here is what im against in graffiti art. It has a negative stigma associated with it!! Where I grew up, and in other urban areas young wanna be artist begin "taggin" the neighboorhoods, Now im all for unconventional methods of art ( or anything in life for that matter) But taggers come on?! all you wana do is immortalize ur name and be seen as "cool" give it a rest!! learn to be an artist first then make a statement!! and thats the problem with most graffiti artist too!! yeah ok, your a bad ass spray can user..yay! who cares?!! i sure as hell dont!! So you can draw a fancy painting on someone elses property/business? come on be more respectful!! You already broke the law the least u can do is hand out a positive image to the viewr or make a socio-political comment? there are kids right now in Mexico getting recruited to be narcs and all you wana do is draw ur name on a wall?..shit man! think about enlightning the viewr, otherwise ur just wasting ink, time, and invading my sight!!

Also imagine ur a parent and ur driving thru a new neighborhood, and BANG u get a flat! its in the evening and its getting dark, u get out the car to change the tire, analyze the situation and behold!! u see a wall all "tagged up" and pretty picture of a ganster looking wall painting! will u feel safe? I sure as hell would make sure thats the fastes tire ive changed in my life! (ok i lie id take a pic and prob throw a bucket of white paint over it)..but u get my point..negative stigma attached to it..is it judgemental yes!! but u cant avoid it, all humans judge!! u wana change the image of graffiti? please do so, but that has to start from the beginning..and its a whole other issue i rather not get into now..

ontop of just what we feel wen we see graffiti on an urban wall, also think how are we gona revitalize our neighborhoods?..whos gona wana invest in a business in an area that is tagged up?..This issue happens all the time! In New Yorks lower east side this issue occurred..graffiti and taggins scared away developers and investors and the area became a breeding ground for squatters and drug dealers..a job well done huh? Look I can go on and on with articles ive read that support graffit art movement and others that are against it! The fact of the matter is i wish some graffit artist would be more concious of their actions. You can do this by bringing ur talents into a graffiti theme in a gallery..which is happeneing more and more, but beginning graffiti artist dont do this enough..they feel they need to get sum street cred..wat can we do??? wat a conundrum!!

Guerilla art!! now this is sum genius work here!! blek le rat, banksey, invader wk interact, list goes on! I love the work they do! or did !! yeah some of these guys are old skool, and did their work many years ago. blek le rat, is the founder of stencil technique that became so popular and widespread! I believe the biggest difference between a graffiti artist and a guerilla artist is that a guerilla artist makes for better art..It has more qualities, they use the surrounding environment to add to their artwork. Blek le rat communicates political messages to the public in a subtle way, thru monochrome images that speak out about important issues, and at the same time they dont scare the viewr, nothing really negative is attached to this style! Is it vandalism YES!! this is also vandalism, but again at least as a viewr i feel blessed seeing art that inspires me or makes a stand about current issues, opens eyes to the public about issues that need to be in the spotlight, like the war, or other issues that are not tiger woods related!!!

I am being biased and who cares, its how I feel! I admire the time and energy and talent that goes into both graffiti art and guerilla art, but guerilla art is by far my favorite! Because in my mind it has a purpose! like any great art work it gives me something to think about, it enlightens me. maybe its the fact that most of the work deals with anit-capitalis messages. Or the idea that its simply clever art! I wish I had some of the genius ideas these guys have! All in all guerilla art is clever, speaks out to the people, attacks the monster called capitalism, fun, and relatively new!

SOOOOO in my eyes if there is such a thing as an art civil war..Then Im ready to go into battle for the guerilla side!! bring it sistah, I rather die on my feet thatn live in a graffiti environment! Hasta la victoria!!!

***My review on the positive image*** contemporary photography.....Lets talk photo's!!

Congratulations to all the winners!!!!! For more detailed information about them please visit http://www.unionstreetgallery.org/. Now lets talk ART!! Photography!! First of all I wana mention how lately i've been noticing this form of artwork increasing in acceptance in galleries all over the map!! from the MCA in chicago to USG in chicago heights, photography is poppin up more an more often. A chewy chip ahoy will be given to whoever comments on why this is so..haha jk i dnt like to share my cookies!!

I heard a comment by a lady in the art show, that is worth discussin.." I can take pictures of this- whats so special"-lady at art show.. OK, so this lady brings up a great point..in this day of age its prob safe to say that almost everyone i know takes pictures!! So then are we all artist and we should all have shows?? this question also ties in with the ever so popular first day of art class question.." what is art?"..ok ok ok So I can talk about this for days, but once im done..you'll say mr. ispeakart guy..ur full of bull mierda.. So to cover my butt everything I talk about can be also read about in an article titled "Art and significant Form" by Clive bell ( i reccomend getting a dictionary if u choose to read this article). This is a great article to read about art and what makes some artform better than others.

Heres my opinion..First there is such a thing as bad art..there is even a name for it KITSCH.. I feel much better now that i got that outta my chest..Kitsch kitsch..ok, All art is subjective to the viewer. I understand but there are principles that an artist may tell you about his/her art that makes u "feel" the artwork. Even so, the artist tells you this thru their art. Composition, balance, subject matter, colors, values, size, etc, etc, etc.. The artist needs to provoke your emotions, he needs to make u feel the art. Ask yourselves questions like..how does this art make me feel?..why do i feel this way? am i wasting my time? Do i understand this?.. Did i learn from this?..do i even need to care?..etc.. Break the art piece limb from limb and understand it, then make a judgement of quality.

So to answer the question are people that take pictures artist?..maybe, to a certain degree yes, but there is defenitely a difference between the quality of the artist and the art. Yours pic may be kitsch and ur next door neighbors are not :) hope i didnt bust ur bubble..

At the USG show there was in my opinion a good level of quality art. Every art piece goes thru a screening before allowed to be displayed at the show.. I saw pieces of subject matters that i didnt care for, I saw art work that made me think and feel, some art was nice some werent so nice but its def worth checking out! The show is still up so go and see and experience the art and let it provoke emotions onto you. And let yourself be the judge! Show ends feb 26, so u have time!! no excuses.

The Positive Image (regional contemporary photography)

Openning reception for this show is tomorrow evening (jan 15) from 6-9 pm..@ Union Street Art gallery in Chicago Heights..yes you read correctly! Ill retype it to assure you its not a typo C.h.i.c.a.g.o H.e.i.g.h.t.s!! I was just as shocked as you prob are- an art gallery in chicago heights????? INSANE!!! en el membrane!!, well now that you heard about it go support and show your community some much needed luvin! Spread the word around too!! I had the pleasure of helping USG hang up the art work, and i'll tell you what..expect a pretty good show! Might sound biased on my part since i am a guild artist at this gallery, but I'll be honest...Friday evening 6-9 pm free art, free cheese and even better free wine?..yes FREE, so I bet you 10 bucks you will not find a classier pre-drinking party in the heights, and to top all this off nice and friendly artist and guest will be inside the gallery..shocker for the hts huh?..ok ill stop doggin my home town,..But this place is def a diamond in the rough..Come check it out, and although everything is free, dnt be too much of a free loader, bring sum extra cash to donate and keep this place going!!! Expect some post event reviews from yours truly.. See you guys there!!! Union Street Gallery (http://www.unionstreetgallery.org/) 1527 Otto blvd chicago hts illinois 60411..( a half a block north of the old post offce)..and if you do go, feel free to say hi to me, Ill be the guy thats starring at the art from an 1" away :)

painting by Javier Chavira

Mr. Chavira's painting is very well balanced and it attracts the viewers through its dynamic colors and textures...ok ok ennough of the art class critic style..lets keep this real! In a nutshell Mr. Chavira falls in the category i just invented- labeled "bad ass"!! The guy has skills, why?..look at the image! When I walked into the art gallery in park forest (tall grass) I was mesmerized..seriously, now I've seen alot of art lately and senor Chavira's work most defenitely is on the top of my list..

Realism usually doesnt attract me much..been there, seen it all over.. want something real lets take a pic and move on right?..wrong, in this case! I was literally staring at the portrait for about 25 secs about 1" away from it.. its so soft and meticulous (did i spell that right?) and def worth staring at! AND the best of all is after the your done admiring the realism, you begin to see everything else that this painting has to offer..hm?..maybe its not a painting maybe its a collage, a 3-d collage. Actually I thought this realistic image was so good, I thought the artist maybe printed it outta his pc and used some form of fancy computer gimick to trick the viewer?.. Anyways back to the piece..You also have to admire the planning that evidently went into Mr. Chaviras work. All in all Mr. Chaviras's work is defenitely something I reccomend you go and check out! support the community and support our local artist!! You can find more info on Javier Chavira at his website (google his name) and /or at tallgrassarts.org. His work is being displayed at the Tall grass arts gallery 367 artist walk, park forest illinois 60466! Go check it out and show him sum love by signing the guest book (i'd go asap since his show should prob only be up until late jan)!