Analysis: The Bushwick Collection

The Bushwick Collection is a small block located in Brooklyn, NY where street artists have permission to freely paint and showcase their artwork. This strip of concrete has become a huge tourist attraction, and artists travel all over the world for a chance to make their mark. However, while admiring the various murals, one can observe something out of place- amongst the intricate designs are brightly colored neon smiley faces. To some people, these smiley faces may seem like part of the original artist 's design, but they are in fact just a cover up, or an "artistic Band-Aid". What these Band-Aids are hiding are strategically placed tags, placed there by graffiti artists in an all-out defense against street artists. Unbeknownst to the general …show more content…
Due to the fact that most street artists come from an upper/middle-class background, are White, and have received formal art education, many people are more willing to accept street art in their communities. Multiple street artists who come to areas of economic depletion receive heavy praise for their work and even are able to capitalize on this practice. White street artists tend to be seen as hip, trendy and creative, while minority graffiti writers are seen as thugs, delinquents, and criminals. The social constructs we have today of white privilege, perpetuated by the media and political propaganda, seemingly praises white people for the same work that criminalizes minorities. This distinction between the way graffiti and street art is perceived by the public is emphasized even more with the recent waves of gentrification happening all across American …show more content…
Part of the cultural divide comes from the rejection of graffiti as "real art", and the idea that because it often comes from poor, inner city youth with no formal art training it is to not be considered an actual form of art. Street art, however, "quickly rose up from the streets into the galleries, where it has become the hot, new genre eagerly bought up by younger collectors."(Duggan). Street artists often times try to reject and differentiate themselves from graffiti writers, even though it is graffiti that paved the way for street art to be possible. The continuous exploitation of graffiti culture and the "sell out" nature of street artists have pitted the two against each other. The resentment between these two groups is perfectly showcased in the rivalry between King Robbo and Banksy. King Robbo is a long established graffiti artist and Banksy is a critically acclaimed street artist. The rivalry stems from Banksy taking aspects of graffiti turning the once anti-establishment art form into something seemingly mainstream, and traditionalists like Robbo not liking that idea. Some examples of the mainstream appropriation of graffiti are the use of graffiti writing and tags by popular designer brands such as Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Dooney & Bourke and Betsey Johnson (Weisberg). Public displays of the twos distaste for each other have been observed by their