CHASING A GHOST: STREET ART PORTRAITURE AND THE FUTURE OF GRAFFITI; A PROFILE OF THE ARTIST AKSE-P19

I will give you an extremely brief colloquial history of the street art world, one shrouded in mystery and yet one that bares itself to the world, tagging any available space that used to be in back alleyways, under flyovers, disused or derelict buildings, places that were away from prying eyes (or the local authorities) to assert a form of dominance over an area or district until during the late 1970s and into the 1980s in New York, to quote:

“In New York, an artistic revolution was taking place. Mysterious names like TAKI 183 and STAYHIGH 149 were being scrawled on walls all over the city. Then Phase 2, Seen and many more began to bomb the New York City subway cars. The trains were emblazoned with a new art form, spraypainted “˜window downs,’ “˜top to bottoms,’ “˜whole cars,’ and eventually “˜wildstyle.'”

Exit through the Gift Shop
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Banksy
Starring Banksy, Thierry Guetta
Ais
Release date: December 14, 2010

Don’t forget to exit through the gift shop after buying that fancy painting for some thousands of dollars at an art exhibit. Once in the gift shop you will be guaranteed to see a smaller version of the painting you just bought scaled down in size so it can be presented on keychains, postcards, and birthday cards; just a few more ways in which the artist can earn an extra buck. The artist on display will undoubtedly be wearing a smile that stretches from cheek to cheek as he is being interviewed by magazines and newspapers dying to understand his motivation and inspiration. He will present himself in an admirable light, disguising his true cut-throat mentality, so he can coax individuals he does not even know into buying his adaptation of Warhol’s Campbell Soup portrait which he turned into a large can of spray paint.

Twentieth Century Fox’s eternally popular animated series, The Simpsons, has been on the air for years and years and years now, but never has their opening sequence caused quite the stir that this past Sunday’s episode presented.

The opening, created by British graffiti artist Bansky, is traditional for the most part, side for the artist’s name tagged on a wall here and there. Traditional until the end that is; when it reaches the legendary couch gag at the end of every title sequence, things took an unexpected turn for the dark.

In fact, this little surprise was so dark, it’s set off a wave of controversy. And yes, while the gag is a bit depressing and bleak, it was only expected that certain people would scream and shout and complain, because that’s what people with clouded logic and a insatiable need for attention do. For the rest of us easy going folks, it’s easy to laugh at this knowing that it is just a cartoon, and that this quite obviously is not how things are really done on The Simpsons.

Put on your hard hat and click on over to the other side to see what has certain people in an adorable little uproar over a cartoon. And remember, unicorns don’t actually exist.