Graffiti Street Art Is Not Vandalism

When I, and other people see street art it influences us to do our best and makes our creative minds explode with passion. Some graffiti street artists risk their lives to get the message out to the public, but in the end it’s completely worth it because we end up noticing it. We see a lot of graffiti in cities like Los Angeles and New York and when I see street art, I see no form of bad messages behind them however some people do. Graffiti street art is a form of art that makes a big impact on the world and should be allowed into society and not to be considered a crime.

Graffiti artists show creativity to the young mind in their work, describing themselves as street artists as they like to show passion to everyone that notices their art. Aerosol Carioca, a writer from the New York Times, suggests that “vandalism is an expression to him and other people indicating that’s what makes it art,” when Carioca mentions that quote it tells us that all types of graffiti isn’t all that horrific, it shows us that the artist has a very creative mind and wants to express himself as he doodles on a canvas and shows his artistic skills to the world. Carioca also reveals that “Graffiti, a vandalism sub-genre, is differentiated by its esthetics or its message,” indicating that, when people notice graffiti street art on the sides of the streets, they think of it as vandalism as it portrays crime and destruction. Street artists don’t mean to make their art vandalism they just want to show the world their artistic skills. Usually when street artists make influential art, they always show a deep message behind their work.

Furthermore, when street artists notice that their work is removed, it emotionally damages their self being, which indicates to Carioca that “social-political oligarchy rejects the artists, and the conditions that create art”. This illustrates that the socially-political individuals remove street art as they dislike it. As they remove street art off the streets it rejects the artist as a sign of denial and ruins their self being. Carioca also reveals that “street art get’s taken down a lot in New York, which shows the artist’s disappointment”. This suggests that Street artists notice that their work get’s taken down a lot and they decide to create more art for the city to see. Street artists do indeed feel denied, but don’t take it personally as they move on and create more beautiful, creative art for the whole city to see.

Additionally, some people see graffiti as a crime because a lot of graffiti artist’s create art on sides of buildings, rail-road tracks, abandoned houses, and street signs. Carioca reveals that “The government has been vigilant in removing street art as it’s a form of vandalism,” however I believe that the government should not take down street art because it’s unfair to the artist and that street artists spend a lot of money on paint and supplies and take their own time and patience on their hard work for everyone in the city to see their beautiful work. Nick Turner, a writer from The Guardian, suggests that “Some people may not like the messages behind street art or how it is manifested, but that doesn’t always mean the message behind art”. I believe that statement is completely true however, most art in popular cities like Los Angeles or New York mostly have very influential art do to how many nice people live there. Some messages behind art contain very bad slurs, gangs, tags, and racial messages that indicate to the young mind that graffiti is a crime. Turner also suggests that “The truth is that despite the acceptance of graffiti it needs the law so that it can function outside of it”. This indicates that the city needs the law to get rid of the slurs, gangs, tags, and racial messages unless if it has been done tastefully. I believe that street art is indeed a form of art, however there are the unacceptable street art where they make non-influential art-like tags, racist messages, or gangs. However, I still believe that all type of street art is a beautiful way of expressing your feelings in a form of art, when the right message is being portrayed.