Kehinde Wiley combines modern and traditional forms of painting in his art. He paints sometimes from photos of people he met on the street, and places them in places of power in his art. His art offers a unique window into our society. He creates a view of a person that most people would not otherwise see. His art also turns the tables by taking art styles normally used to paint white European elite, and  paints mostly young, black subjects. By doing this, he challenges modern and past racism in portraits, and society.

Is graffiti art? Driving (or biking) through Minneapolis, when I see graffiti, much of it is simply vandalism. “Tags” sprayed on signs, or buildings, show ignorance for property or work of others. Such graffiti, which only detracts from work, or “claims” work without any contribution – I see as vandalism.

Graffiti is defined as “unauthorized writing or drawing on a public surface” by Merriam-Webster. With this definition, I don’t see all graffiti as vandalism.

For example, Banksy, a semi anonymous British street artist, uses graffiti as a means of protest and expression. The purpose of his work is not simply to plaster walls with his name, but to create art. Much of Banksy’s graffiti raises questions about society, government or stereotypes. When used for such purposes, graffiti becomes more than vandalism (though it could still be defined as such), and becomes a means for expression – a way to achieve free speech for those that communicate with art. I don’t think that such an arguement would hold up in law, mostly because your rights end when you start infringing on others rights, but I believe that it is an accurate statement.

It’s relatively easy to gain large audiences with speech, and writing, but there aren’t many venues to “protest” with art. Obviously, if a piece is displayed in a gallery, people see it, but that’s not really “free” speech. Some graffiti, with gang, violent or personal goals is not an example of free-speech graffiti. Even “free” speech has limits – you can’t stand in the middle of the road, screaming obscenities. When you do that, you infringe on others rights to feel safe, be free from obscenities, etc.

To an extent, graffiti is necessary for some to express themselves.

art by banksy

edit: picture link and subtitle died, picture is from sleddingrox at flickr

This is a photo of the ore dock at Ashland, WI. It’s an excellent photo, but I was more interested with the dock. I visited Ashland a few weeks ago, and saw the dock myself. It’s no longer in use, and a previously 1000-foot wooden truss that connected it to the rail line abruptly is broken off before it crosses a highway.

This dock is a remnant from another era. It’s likely that the dock was an anchor and source of jobs for the small town when it first began. It’s hard to imagine the ships that once must have docked here, when the largest ship in the area today was only 3 columns long. The dock is easily the largest structure in town.

Unfortunately, the Canadian-Pacific railway, which owns the dock, has decided to destroy it after discovering the extent of its deterioration. The destruction of the dock is also a loss of history, but only so much can be done with the resources of a small town.

More on the dock