The Street Art Awards are tonight at Rough Trade East, and today they’ve been featured in The Independent. Below is an except, but check the full article, along with profiles of Guy Denning, Case, Matt Small, SPQR and others, here.
Street artists paint on the street, graffiti writers tag on walls and urban artists paint on canvass – right? Think again. The boundaries between these genres are blurring to create a new movement that echoes the punk ethos of anything goes. Artists grouped together under this “street” umbrella are not just spraying Bansky style stencils on walls. Some, like German duo Herakut, are highly skilled painters who create “photorealistic” graffiti with spray paint, others, like Tel Aviv artist Know Hope, are more craft-based.
It seems fitting then that street art, in all its guises, is to be recognised at the first ever Street Art Awards ceremony. The public have been encouraged to vote for their favourite piece of street art from 2008 both online and at the awards night which takes place at Rough Trade East record store, London, tonight. The evening promises top-name DJs including Andrew Weatherall, magicians, live painting and a charity raffle.
“Street art has always been a democratic art form,” says Mark Bracegirdle who runs urban art business Auction Saboteur and founded the awards out of a desire to let ordinary people decide what constitutes good art. “We wanted to take that idea further and encourage everybody to become an art critic rather than just the elitist few.”
In addition, over 50 international artists have each donated a work on vinyl to be raffled at the event and in month-long eBay auctions – a pick of the best on offer can be found on these pages. Raffle tickets will be £10 each on the night – a bargain if you walk away with an original by Matt Small or Guy Denning that would usually sell for thousands of pounds. All monies raised will go to the charity Single Homeless Project.
The manager of Rough Trade East and keen art collector, Spencer Hickman, said: “Music and art go hand in hand so it seemed fitting to get the artists to produce work on a record. Every medium including stencils, cut and paste and fine art is on offer and people will be amazed at the range of work. The artists have really made these second-hand objects beautiful again, just like painting on a dirty wall outside.” Who said vinyl was dead?
For tickets to the awards and to cast your vote, go to www.streetartawards.com.