The 6 types of urban art and their characteristics

The street art that fills cities with life and personality changes depending on the artist’s taste and social conditions. Now, do you know what these artists are looking for when they get down to work?

The avant-garde was the movement of the 20th century that opened the door to an enormous variety of artistic expressions that, today, continue to be booming. If you want to know the types of urban art that exist and their characteristics, we invite you to read the following article.

Like any type of movement, Urban art admires everyday life, bets on the street and free expression. Therefore, it has the support of a large part of the public, but also the disapproval of others.

In any case, to establish your own opinion whether you like something more or less, you have to be aware of it and later, you will be able to argue why you think it is better or worse.

Urban or street art

The term “urban art” or “street art” appears to refer to all street art. These types of expressions are made with a clear intention, as supported by the following study published in 2018 by the Complutense University of Madrid: to open a means of communication with pedestrians in the cities to send a message that breaks with what is “politically correct.” ”.

In this way, it could be said that Urban art (since postmodernism) fulfilled the purpose of the avant-garde: to achieve art made by and for the people, to send a free, ephemeral message that focused on everyday life.

Is urban art the same as graffiti?

It should be noted that Graffiti is not the same as urban art. In fact, the first is classified within the movementbut both have some differences:

Graffiti does not necessarily include a protest message, but can have a purely artistic objective. It is also from the 90s when graffiti begins to develop. street artand graffiti continues to evolve along its lines since the 70s.

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Thus, urban art receives different influences: graffiti through its means of expression (the street), avant-garde movements, postmodernism, illustration or graphic design.

The types of urban art and their characteristics

Let’s see below what the different types of urban art are.

1. Traditional

Its name is due to the fact that These were the first techniques used by the pioneers of urban art. Among them, the following stand out:

Graffiti: the drawing or “traditional graffiti”, without the need for protest.Stencil: This method is especially relevant in Paris, which consists of applying a stencil with a drawing to paint on top so that the silhouette remains on the surface.sticker art: became popular thanks to bands skate and punk rock from the 80s. It offers the possibility of sending a message economically and in a short period of time.Paste posters: This special glue should be handled with gloves and protection to stretch large posters on walls.

2. Abstract

These techniques now move away from traditional graffiti and are headed by muralism. According to an article published by the Arts Magazinethis artistic movement was started in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century by a group of intellectual painters after the Mexican Revolution, the Great Depression and the First World War.

The artistic representation consists of intermingling a series of shapes to represent a creation that has an effect on the viewer (usually an optical illusion). Furthermore, the materials used are very diverse: oil, acrylic, tempera, etc.

3. Photographic

Images are vital for a message to stick. In this sense, through sight information is transmitted to the brain that remains, above all, for those who have a good visual or photographic memory.

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Among the techniques used in this class are:

Gigantrographs: prints on collage a photo that covers the entire street. It can be done in inkjet printing, laser or chemical development.Photographic miniatures: unlike the previous technique, these are smaller and serve to create mini-worlds in all their splendor. Using a camera, an animation is created.

4. Morphing

This technique expresses the desire to transform the urban elements of the street into other things. In this sense, transformation and giving life to inert things predominates. For example, a garage door would be used to create a mouth, or a irrigation faucet would be used to create the body of a child.

This category can also include interventions that are made based on wall damage or stains, which look like or are reminiscent of some object.

5. Facilities

The union of existing elements with new ones is used so that together they take on a new meaning.

An example of this is the case of Raúl Zurita in “The Sea of Sorrow,” when he flooded a ship with water and painted the walls with his verses so that people would walk around barefoot while they read them; so that the empathetic journey of putting oneself in the shoes of the refugees who had lost their lives at sea was easier.

It was his way of denouncing what happened, of trying to awaken our sensitivity, sometimes so anesthetized by the everyday and obsolete of today:

“The Sea of Pain by the Chilean poet Raúl Zurita argues against the treatment given to migrants in the media, particularly discussing the photograph of the dead Syrian child on the beach, an image taken by the Turkish reporter Nilüfer Demir last year. 2015. Zurita responds to that photograph by creating a “plot of humanity.”

-Magda Sepúlveda Eriz (2020)-

6. Exclusives

Lastly, this It would be the catch-all where other artistic expressions that, to this day, still do not have a specific cataloging would be included.. In any case, it should be said that this art is also about that: not being classified because it is free in itself.

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Here are the techniques used with different materials and which are usually different from each other: from paper filmsculptures, waste or garbage.

The types of urban art go beyond painting and paper

We hope that the 6 types of urban art and their characteristics have offered you a different perspective to leave prejudices behind. However, It is normal that you like it more or less because, simply, it is another different form of expression.

Today, it is gaining strength with more and more new materials, elements and designs. Thus creating a proposal that goes beyond the paper or the painting, to establish a complaint and defend one’s own thoughts.