The Art in Graffiti

Graffiti is art. Some people may disagree, but this is my opinion, and I have several reasons that support my belief. Some of these reasons are that it requires a lot of creativity, is used to express emotions, and requires incredible skill to create, just like any other style of art. Additionally, graffiti is a unique style of art in its own right that often adds life to otherwise lifeless buildings.

There is an incredible amount of depth and creativity within every piece of graffiti. This is evident by the various ways graffiti artists create their works, like how some make big colorful words, and some make more intricate images of objects or people. However, the issue lies with the people who see these works. In article 3, the idea that many believe that graffiti is just a “colorful, provocative, illegal ‘eyesore’…” (paragraph 1, “Graffiti as Art”), is brought to light. While this may be understandable to believe, I feel that people should try to look for the creativity and life it gives to its surroundings.

This creativity that is displayed helps shape the emotions felt by everyone, further proving my ideology that graffiti is, in fact, art. Emotions are a key element in the desire to create art. Often, graffiti does this through its locations. For instance, when I see someone’s tag that they sprayed on the side of a water tower, the first thing I think is “how did that person manage to get up there and paint that?” and I know many others feel the same way. Additionally, they often have meaning to the artist with common themes such as politics. Article 3 states that, “Graffiti has always been somewhat political, but it has come a long way from simply tagging one’s name to parodying world leaders to make a statement.” (paragraph 10, “Graffiti as Art”). In short, graffiti isn’t just meaningless colors, words, and shapes; rather, it promotes emotions and has actual significance.

Showing this much meaning isn’t easy, though; it takes immense skills within each piece they create. In article 1, it is explained that, “These are often multicolored and complex in design, and so start to push the boundary of whether they should really be defined as graffiti art.” (Paragraph 3, Dolan). In Steve Dolan’s article titled “Is Graffiti Art?”, he puts into perspective his view of how much skill goes into each piece of graffiti and how we should all question how we see graffiti. 

In conclusion, graffiti is its own very unique style of art. Finally, in article 3, it says, “Like all other artistic forms, graffiti has experienced movements or changes in style. From the first tag scribbled on a subway train to the large, complex mural on a billboard, the movement has experienced change.”(paragraph 9, “Graffiti as Art”). So I believe that we should all do the same and try to change the way we see graffiti. We should all look at it for the creativity, emotions, and skills every piece of graffiti art holds.

“Grafitti Art” by wwilliamm is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.