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Arts & Entertainment

Underground Art in a Suburban Setting

Graffiti art shows up in Kirkland -- should we call the cops or the collectors?

Congratulations to quiet, sleepy, suburban Kirkland! You have just been upgraded to an interesting urban city complete with graffiti art popping up in unexpected places. No mere tags indicating nothing more than a person’s “I was here” moniker, the graffiti images referred to in this article are thoughtfully planned and moderately well executed graphics on either side of the train overpass on Kirkland Avenue.

Of course, many residents and city officials take the road of outrage at the blatant vandalism of private property. This is to be expected since graffiti art is still generally associated with illegal gang activity by the white middle class. However, this is not statistically true. While territorial tags do exist, particularly in the 1980s era of inner city crack cocaine and gang warfare, graffiti artists range through all economic classes, racial identities and both genders.

Increasingly, graffiti artists have been recognized by the art world as legitimate contributors to the artistic cannon. It may be unsolicited art, which is why it is often labeled as vandalism, but an image doesn’t need to be legally located to merit artistic appreciation.

In his paper arguing for graffiti’s inclusion as an artform, George C. Stowers says, “We are not used to art approaching us outside of conventional settings such as a museum. Instead of the audience going to view the art form, spraycan art reaches out to the viewer; sometimes in a startling manner” (http://www.graffiti.org/faq/stowers.html).

Even in museums and galleries, there exists some good art and some bad art. Graffiti art can be anywhere in that spectrum, as well. Some would argue that good art can be many things--beautiful, thought-provoking, a clear expression of an artist’s idea, a conveyance of feelings or even public rebellion against oppression. Successful artists using the graffiti style encompass one or more of those ideals, though to be considered art it must contain an aesthetically pleasing element.

There’s no question that removal of unwanted graffiti costs money, and people may potentially balk at having images forced on them.

To this, Stowers says, “Graffitists counter with the argument that buildings, billboards, campaign ads, and flyers are also forced on the public in a similar manner.”

In 2010, a film chronicling street artists called “Exit Through The Gift Shop” was produced by legendary man of mystery, the U.K. artist known as Banksy. While the film goes through several surprising twists, it also raises many questions about the legitimacy of street art if it is moved into an acceptable gallery setting.

Does the setting negate the art form? Does graffiti art need to be done incognito on the streets in order to be legit? Does it matter if the graffitist is an established artist or just some “troubled” youth with a skateboard?

These are heady questions worth discussing. But, perhaps a better use of this article space is to ask: Did you see it? The nature of graffiti art makes it here today and gone tomorrow.

And beyond outrage at the public disfigurement of such a beloved (actually, abandoned) train overpass on an obscure Kirkland side street ruining no one’s place of residence or business, how will you respond?

Note: At the time of this article, the graffiti art from the photos has already been painted over.

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