Basharat Bashir

Street Art

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

Street art has achieved new heights with many young artists preferring street art over other forms of art. The key factor that makes street art more prominent art form is its direct exchange with public. Street art like other forms of art developed through time and what we see now around the streets has only been possible with gradual acceptance and continuous effort by artists trying to make art exclusively for public and in most of the cases discarding galleries. Street is more direct art form that makes it easy for audience to develop a relationship with it. Although graffiti/Street art has been around from centuries, but it is only in our times that graffiti artists are being celebrated and appreciated for their work. Many graffiti artists have now achieved such a fame that prints of their work sell for millions. Graffiti, murals, and street art represent a common form of art and the difference that separated them has now disappeared.

There have been many art events in the past that lead the street art where we see it now. The frescos of cathedrals from renaissance which although served a complete religious cause are some fine examples of murals in its early stage. in 20th century the Mexican Muralism an art project funded by Mexican government played a huge role in shaping street art movements. The project was intended to represent socio political messages under government supervision in post-Mexican Revolution. Gradually artists instead of propagating government perception went on to give the movement their own perspective. This drift from supervised themes to more personal ones that were not much pleasing to the government  created a rift between artists and authorities. This movement can be said to have encouraged artists around the globe to be more proactive and helped artists to look for more possibilities and perspectives that may or may not fulfil the authoritarian purpose.

Steet art is now recognized as a parallel art world that is gaining reputation along its journey. There are many young artists around the world who have made an unprecedented impact through their remarkable use of public space in relation to their work. Apart from Banksy who has been regarded as a pioneer of Graffiti and street art and whose unpretentious depiction of major events around the globe are unparalleled, there are other names who with their unique style are attracting global recognition.

DALeast, a prolific, multi-faceted artist is known for his unusual paintings of animals. He officially began doing art on public space in 2004 under the pseudonym DAL. Born in Wuhan China DALeast’s art focuses on simple subjects created in intricate details. He is well versed in other forms of art including sculpture, installations, synchronizing performance, as well as digital art. But,street art has been the form of art that defines him.

DALeast uses mostly animal forms as his subjects and his unique technique allows him to capture every aspect of his subject. His style uses paint to look like thousands of metal shards coming together to create mesmerizing forms. In his work he utilizes a dark base while simultaneously highlighting in fragmented, brighter lines is to make the images appear to leap off the wall, and his images can be interpreted in different ways.He skilfully manipulates his splintered lines to capture the movement, form, stillness or feeling of the respective subject. DALeast’s art is meant to capture its audience’s emotion in every way possible.

Street art demands timing and precision you do not have much time to complete your piece and there is always a threat of interruption. DALeast has been very successful and it’s amazing how he has been able to createsuch intrinsic works with all the odds faced by the street artists.

According to streetartbio.comDALeast is self-described as “currently a human being.” He has worked on a vast number of projects, starting in 2005, throughout Beijing, China, as well as South Africa, Germany, Italy, Australia, Namibia, the United States, and more recently in France with two different projects in 2019: Public Mural Project in Saint-Nazaire and BoulevardParis13 Mural project in Paris. DALeast has also participated in many group art exhibitions over the years in these countries, with the most recent being in Munich, Germany in 2018 and in New York, USA in 2016.

A1one is yet another prolific street artistfrom Tehran Iran who influenced many artists to take up street art in Iran. He is probably the first to start painting on the city walls and he is a pioneer of the urban art scene in the middle east.

A1one the pseudonym of Karan Reshad, grew up in Iran during a period of war and the Khatami reform era (1997–2005). He studied for 5 years at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in one of the Universities in Tehran. While still a student, he began painting graffiti on the walls of his campus, as a protest students’ conditions. He was eventually expelled by the University’s principal following a disagreement over religious restrictions. His expulsion from university only gave him more time to focus on his graffiti that would play played ansignificant role in the rise of street art in Iran.

in 2005 A1one met the rapper, Nima, , who helped him to further develop in the graffiti culture, and after that he continued his journey more passionately.He started his street art project in 2003 and inspired his close friends at that time to also begin painting on the streets. Artists such as Elle, isba, K.T., and Magoi were the first people to join him in Tehran. His art pieces are his views that challenge many elements of Iranian society and to challenge the authority can invite unprecedented danger.  A1one is well aware of all the hurdles he has to face for being a provocative street artist and he is well up for it.His first significant work was a painting under the Tehran-Karaj expressway called Searching for Friends.

In an interview he was quoted as saying ,”When I decided to do my painting on walls I bought some spray cans – at that time we had just some very low-quality colors in Iran. My first work was a very simple work titled “searching for friends” painted on a wall right next to the Tehran-Karaj expressway late at night. It was a frightening night for me… The next morning, I got three calls from friends who recognized my style of painting. They were shocked to see my work on a public wall. My first stencil was a Munch’s Scream Print on Art University walls and after that, experimented with many techniques and methods, but I continue with stencils, graffiti, and sticker art.”

A1one’s art world is dynamic and made of many different styles, from portraits to calligraphy and funky characters which he mostly uses for his stickers. A1one’s art combines Persian calligraphy and Western graffiti. By 2010, A1One was an established name within Tehran’s youth culture and a key figure in the emergence of Iranian street art.His art has been documented by many photographers and featured in Art Asia Pacific Magazine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *