The 6 types of urban art (and their characteristics)

A summary of the main types of urban art, with their most characteristic aspects and examples.

Art has had different definitions, styles and representations throughout history. One of the most democratic forms in which the world of art is manifested is urban art, that is, that which is not represented in galleries, museums or specific places of the art world, but in the city itself, in the street.

From stencil art, through graffiti to muralism, there are several artistic expressions that we can identify while walking through our town and, regardless of their legality or not, these works give personality to the streets, breaking with the urban monotony. Let's discover what are the main types of urban art.

The most important types of urban art (explained)

Urban art can be understood in many ways, but one of its most widespread definitions is the one that covers all artistic expression made in the street that has to do, in one way or another, with the world of crafts such as painting and sculpture.

Thus, graffiti on the walls of the subway, stickers on a traffic sign with a certain pattern, a mural painted on the wall of a community of neighbors with their consent and feminist posters pasted on the headquarters of a party not related to the movement are all examples of urban art.

On many occasions urban art is made with an objective, with a political ideal behind it. This is implicit in the artist's own activity since many of the forms in which urban art is expressed, especially graffiti, are illegal if done on a wall on private property or if the municipality has expressly forbidden to put anything there. An artist who risks a fine does not do so because he wants to vandalize the city, but because he wants his message to be conveyed, and is willing to risk the legal consequences for it.

Urban art takes place anywhere in the city.. It is carried out on the streets, on public roads, on billboards, on abandoned vehicles, floors and, of course, on walls, whether in residential buildings, abandoned houses or blocks of apartments to be built. This art requires a lot of space to work, a concrete canvas of metric proportions and where many people pass in front of it, thus assuring the artist that his work will not go unnoticed.

1. Muralism

Muralism, in its most basic sense, can be understood as any pictorial expression done on a wall. Murals are one of the oldest means of artistic expression, carried out in prehistoric times by our ancestors on the walls of caves, as we see in cave paintings. as we see in cave paintings such as the one in Lascaux, France or Altamira, Spain.

As the centuries have passed, those who have been able to afford to hire renowned artists have turned to painters to turn the walls of their luxurious mansions into murals with all kinds of representations. This practice was especially common during the Renaissance, being carried out by both nobles and clergy and proof of this can be seen in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, a beautiful example of interior murals (frescoes) by the great artist Michelangelo.

But the modern idea of the mural as urban art is quite recent and comes from Mexico.. The definition of the mural as we know it is influenced by the Mexican Diego Rivera who managed to create a school among his contemporaries in the 1920s, facilitated by the Mexican Secretary of Public Education Jose Vasconcelos as part of the modernization of the State of Mexico after the 1910 revolution.

Originally, Mexican murals were intended to reinforce Mexican identity and collective memory, to create a strong sense of nationhood and, therefore, had a strong nationalist and political objective. As time went by, this type of art became universal, giving rise to new muralist currents, each one with political or apolitical ideals that were far from the original objective of the 1920s.

Some consider murals to be a type of graffiti, although this does not always have to be the case.. They differ from graffiti expressions in the fact that murals involve a very well worked design that is intended to convey a message. They also tend to be more legal, sometimes even paid for by the government administration itself by hiring professional artists and displaying their works in highly visible places in the city, from a white wall of a neighboring building to the walls of the city hall itself.

Muralists are creators of paintings, only of colossal sizes, and it is usually the case that this type of work is highly respected by the world, even by those who do not consider themselves supporters of urban art who do not see them under the stigma that any drawing done on a wall is vandalism. There is no major European or American city that does not have more than one mural on its streets.

2. Graffiti

Graffiti is probably the most recognized type of urban art in the entire world because it is the one that has been practiced the longest and one of the most chosen by urban artists when it comes to expose their feelings and artistic style on public roads. The graffiti that we know today emerged in the 60's, had its growth in the 70's and its final development in the 80's and 90's, being loved and hated equally.

But this style of urban expression is not really as new as it might seem. It was already practiced in Ancient Rome and, although it was not done with sprays or aerosols, it essentially served the same purpose: to make a message known and show that the artist was there. In fact, its name comes from the Latin verb "grabare", derived in turn from the Greek "grapho", understood as writing.

Graffiti is an inscription or drawing that is made in a public place and that, in general, is usually done without authorization.. We can see graffiti on walls, sculptures, statues, vehicles and garbage containers and, generally, they have a critical or satirical intention, although it is also done to indicate that the person who made the inscription was there, either with his initials or with a pseudonym.

While there are many graffiti done illegally, painted on private properties, churches and government buildings, in other cases, the graffiti is also done to indicate that the person who made the inscription was there, either with his acronym or a pseudonym. there are individuals and public bodies that give walls to artists so that they can create these urban works on them.. Despite the fact that many graffiti artists do it with all the necessary permits and without spoiling the city, the fact that most graffiti is done illegally has made this type of urban art stigmatized and considered pure vandalism.

3. Stencil art

Stencil art, also known as stenciling, is a technique that involves a technique that involves reproducing designs by passing ink or paint over holes cut into a sheet of cardboard or metal.. The origin of this practice is uncertain and it is known to have been carried out in a multitude of places simultaneously.

Rome, China, Japan, the Inuit of Baffin Island... all of them have used this technique since time immemorial, but the oldest evidence of stencilling is found in Spain, where a 66,000 year old panel of hands has been found.

But in spite of its great antiquity, this technique became very popular in the United States during the 1960s.. It was in that decade when many artists used pure colors and silhouettes of marked contours as a means of expression, something that has become a symbol both in universal pop culture and as a prototypical representation of urban art beyond graffiti. One of the best known artists in this technique is Banksy, along with Blek le Rat and Shephard Fairey.

4. Sticker art

Sticker art started to become popular in the 1980s thanks to skateboard companies and punk rock bands.. It consists of sticking stickers on any urban surface, allowing the person who sticks them on to make his or her name and work known in a simple and quick way.

Since it is not a very complex type of urban art, sticker art has always had a low profile among street artists, although sticker culture is quite widespread around the world and has references such as Shepard Fairey, Marc Ecko, 14 Bolt and CJ Ramone.

What comes with the sticker may be an image or a phrase, which is pasted anywhere in the city and, if mass-produced, allows it to reach many corners of the city.The sticker can be applied anywhere in the city and, if mass-produced, can reach many places, although many of these stickers are prepared at home. There are several reasons why it has gained fame:

• They offer the possibility of applying a graphic design on any wall.

• It takes only a few seconds to paste them, so you don't have to keep an eye out for the police.

• You can express messages, images or advertise anything.

• They can be printed en masse and pasted all over the city.

• They last for a long time.

• They are a way to reproduce ideas economically.

• 5. Sculptures

  Sculptures are also urban art. Here we are not only referring to the marble or concrete figures that decorate squares and streets, but also to sculptural performances, temporary or permanent, that invade public streets using all kinds of material, shape, color and ruggedness.that invade the public thoroughfare using all kinds of material, shape, color and roughness. Many of them are governed by the theory of intervention in urban spaces, with the intention of attracting the attention of passers-by but without hindering their path by becoming an obstacle.

  Some call this type of sculptures "structures" because, in reality, they are intended to create art that plays with the city, with its imperfections and forms. It may consist of giving a humorous touch to a fire hydrant, a bent railing, a fallen pivot or broken fences, turning a bland and merely functional urban element into a piece of modern art.

  • You might be interested in: "The 15 barriers to creativity, explained".

  6. Street signage

  Street postering is also considered a type of urban art. It does not only consist of placing pieces of paper on walls, but to do it in a way that does not go unnoticed, both for the design that is on the wall and for the design that is on it.It is said that this peculiar type of street art is not only about placing pieces of paper on walls, but also about doing it in a way that does not go unnoticed.

  It is said that this peculiar kind of art is a polyphonic and complex phenomenon, in which overlapping issues such as the use of public space, freedom of expression and the essence of art..

  They usually bring with them political messages, being frequent feminist, anticlerical, communist, anticapitalist, animalist and philosophical, although it is not a method exclusively of leftist and progressive movements.

  Whatever the message behind it, the idea is that a picture is worth a thousand words and expressing it in the form of a poster is sometimes more effective than a political meeting.