Street Art vs. Graffiti

By Jaxson

Main Difference

The main difference between Street Art and Graffiti is that the Street Art is a art that is public and temporary in public spaces and Graffiti is a writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place

  • Street Art

    Street art is unofficial and independent visual art created in public locations for public visibility. Street art is associated with the terms “independent art”, “post-graffiti”, “neo-graffiti”, and guerrilla art, but is not public art. Common forms and media for street art include spray paint graffiti, stencil graffiti, wheatpasted poster art, sticker art, street installations, and sculpture. Video projection and yarn bombing have also gained some popularity near the turn of the 21st century. When street art is applied to walls or barriers, it can generally also be called a ‘mural’.

  • Graffiti

    Graffiti (both singular and plural; the singular graffito is very rare in English except in archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually as a form of artistic expression, without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire. In modern times, spray paint and marker pens have become commonly used graffiti materials, and there are many different types and styles of graffiti, it is a rapidly developing art form.

    Graffiti is a controversial subject. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. On the other hand, graffiti artists, particularly marginalized artists with no access to mainstream media, resist this viewpoint to display their art or political views in public locations.

    The life of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat illustrates the subjective nature of the public response to graffiti. He started out as a street graffiti artist chased by authorities, and later one of his paintings sold for over $100,000,000.

Wikipedia
  • Graffiti (noun)

    Drawings or words drawn on a surface in a public place, usually made without authorization.

  • Graffiti (noun)

    Informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions.

  • Graffiti (verb)

    To mark a surface with such images.

Wiktionary
  • Graffiti (noun)

    writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place

    “the station was covered in graffiti”

  • Graffiti (verb)

    write or draw graffiti on (something)

    “the graffitied walls”

  • Graffiti (verb)

    write (words or drawings) as graffiti

    “graffitied names sprayed on bus shelters”

Oxford Dictionary

Leave a Comment