Street Art Evolution: The History That Led Street Art to Where it is Today

The cave paintings from the pre-historic period have adorned Lascaux Caves' walls in France, and the carving created by the Semitic soldiers on the Egypt cliffs, which date back to the 19th century BC, all serve as ideal examples of public artworks since ancient times.

We are now living in a day and age where the street art movement is thriving and blazing the flames of controversies within communities worldwide.

What is Street Art?

Also called Urban Art, street artworks are independent and unofficial visual art pieces that are created in public locations such as underpasses, benches, alleyways, and many more. It involves using different practices- a few examples can be spray painting on canvas, public murals, and even consumer goods that have been manufactured based on this art style.

Moving past the confines of the law, street art has come a long way in being one of the most successful and most popular art movements from a postmodern background.

Origin of Street Art

Street art starting emerging during the early 1970s in most large cities like New York. It initially started out as acts of humble vandalism. But it was eventually transitioned into a unique art style that allowed the underrepresented population, especially the younger people, who would use this practice to make their voices be heard in the form of grit, spray paint, and an idea that boosted the urban art movement to a whole new level.

Before graffiti art took place, graffiti words were most commonly used amongst artists. The more they were sought out by officials, the more they retaliated and met the challenge by exchanging their signatures and simple tags to allow more complicated and maestro letters to be designed in bold styles and colors.

These intricate letter designs were considered 'Wildstyle' and were highly impressive, leaving a massive impression by artists who were engaging in risky practices of vandalizing the public spaces. Eventually, it transitioned towards graffiti art, and many urban artists around the world became more involved in this form of art.

Impacting Lives through Street Art

Street art initially started out as a way suppressed minorities could express themselves in different kinds of ways. But there were more rewards reaped than just simply receiving recognition for their talents.

Let's talk about Tysen Knight- an American African pop urban artist who used street art as the driving force behind a prosperous and stable future.

After he was finished with high school, he got his barbers license and lived most of his time in New Jersey, homeless and working from paycheck to paycheck. At one point, Tysen decided that he needed to bring a change in his life- so on his day off from work, he would film his documentary, 'The Art of Hustle: Homeless Street Artist". In his documentary, he portrayed his inspirational story about all of his endeavors and the dedication that was required to achieve his goals while emphasizing the importance of street art and graffiti.

Once this documentary was released, it became extremely popular and won the award for 'Best Director Short Documentary' at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival in 2019.

This eventually led him to become a regular gallery contributor and was even starred in several entertainment projects like movies, podcasts, interviews, etc. Moreover, he is also actively involved in many street art movement programs that help to continue placing his efforts in advocating the appeal of street art.

There are still many controversies that hinder the appreciation of street art culture- but many urban artists such as Tysen are determined to see through their efforts and bring the world to a point where street art is socially accepted worldwide.