Street art, St Peters
Wall art is wonderful, offering large canvases. My favourite is Giotto’s revolutionary murals on the walls of The Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (1303 to 1305), that narrate the story of Christ and his parents. He was commissioned by a wealthy banker, Enrico Scrovegni. The word mural comes the Latin ‘murus’ meaning wall.
Graffiti emerged in the late 1960s in the Black and Latino neighbourhoods of New York City. It’s about self-expression, its ‘tags’ are acts of personal branding. It has spread across the world and is usually illegal.
Street art is usually legal and has become a business. You can hire street artists to paint a mural in your home or on your home. Graffiti and street artists don’t usually get on and can collide in the struggle for recognition, street cred and space on city walls.
And the art has spread across the country. ‘Australia’s silo murals make a road trip an art odyssey: Silo art has turned the Australian outback into a vast outdoor gallery. Dotted across the country, the gigantic murals give those exploring the land an insight into the people who live there’ [i]
[i] 19 July, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2021/jul/20/australias-silo-murals-make-a-road-trip-an-art-odyssey-in-pictures
