Graffiti.

 

Graffiti in Bethlehem

The Bruges Street Art Festival was apparently launched in August but such is my unconscious power of resistance to publicity that I have only now discovered this city-wide exhibition of works of art sprayed chiefly on large gable ends, accomplished only by spray can and marker pen. I have now visited some of the various sites with friends to guide, and can see that these paintings come under the umbrella heading of Graffiti.

So I have delved into graffiti and found it unexpectedly interesting!

Graffiti in Melbourne.

Wikipedia defines graffiti [= Scratch. Singular: graffito, rarely used] as writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission, and within public view. It has, in fact, existed since ancient times in Greece, Egypt and the Roman Empire and is now treasured as both art form and information channel which has conveyed small details of then current lives, to posterity. Au contraire, modern graffiti is usually considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism. It became a growing urban problem for New York City subway, on cars and walls, where it started in the ‘70s before spreading to other parts of the U.S. and eventually to Europe and beyond. It was closely associated with gangs who used graffiti for a variety of purposes: for identifying or claiming territory; as informal obituaries to dead gang members; to challenge rival gangs and to chronicle various ‘achievements’.

Crusader graffiti in Church of the Holy
Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

I have noticed in Britain, that it often appears adjacent to railway tracks approaching cities [relatively easy access for the young and agile] and in run-down urban areas. When I worked in secondary education, it was a golden rule when some graffiti appeared on the outside of school buildings to have it removed as soon as possible. We never wasted time on trying to find the culprit who might, and might not, have been a pupil. Quick removal meant less chance of additional artistic efforts alongside the original; a plethora of wall-sprayed signs would somehow suggest a place with a lack of order and community, an absence of caring and a want of intellectual activity!

In spite of this, [or perhaps, because of this] it is now a rapidly-growing art form which inspires both

Subway car, New York City.

fervent admirers and detractors world-wide. To some, it is an authentic form of public art, continuing in the U.S. the tradition of the Government-commissioned murals done during the Great Depression. And also in the Diego Rivera mode; this famous Mexican artist returned to live in Mexico in 1921 and became involved in the government-sponsored Mexican Mural Programme which effectively launched his career [when he was already a famous artist] as a muralist. Of course, the amateur graffiti artists of today are not always so talented though they are profuse. But one does notice, particularly with historic examples, that graffiti is often political and sends a message more pithy than words.

And I haven't even mentioned Banksy in Britain, an anonymous street artist and political agitator whose satirical street art and subversive epigrams have inspired millions of admirers and whose work fetches huge sums of money.

Girl with Red Balloon
Probably a universal favourite by Banksy.

Tel Aviv, Israel.

Budapest.

Inside the ruins of the German
Reichstag Building.

One World.
Modern example.

And now for a Post Script added after

first publication!

Werregarenstraat, Ghent.
Graffiti Street.

A friend rang me as I was writing the above and then sent me several links about graffiti in Portugal and in Ghent. I was amazed at the Ghent Graffiti Situation. In the Mail Online of June 26th 2018 there is a major article entitled The World is Your Mural. It gives pictures and information on the zones in Ghent, founded in 650 A,D, where graffiti is legal and any artist with a spray paint can, may venture. The centre for graffiti in Ghent is Werregarenstraat, a tiny, curving street now nicknamed Graffiti Street and an established graffiti centre for more than twenty years. There are maps freely available, to help visitors find works of art on the sides of buildings in the four zones in the city where graffiti is legal.

New Vhils mural in Berlin.

Perhaps the most famous Portuguese graffiti artist is Alexandre Farto known as Vhils. He has developed his own unique visual language based on the removal of the surface of the building he is working on, using power and manual tools. His introduction to graffiti was in the early 2000s since when his extraordinary works have appeared in Paris, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Cape Verde, Cincinatti and no doubt many more cities. His portraits on walls are astonishing.

 

Vhils in action.

L'Amerique Fracturee

 

The above title was on the cover of Paris Match on November 7^th. I had been thinking of entitling this blog, Disharmony, which beautifully describes the state of America at the moment. That is until I spotted the cover of Paris Match this morning and thought, YES!! Only now do I see, "Quatre Ans De Folie a La Maison Blanche." Another Yes!

Rudy Giuliani whom I used to admire, hugely.
A long time ago.

Like millions of other Europeans, I have become obsessed with the American election and currently, with the incredibly drawn out Counting of the Votes. As one might expect, Trump is behaving badly; refusing to accept the increasing Biden leap ahead as the count continues. He wants to stop the counting where the ongoing figures favour Biden but continue the count where he is in the lead. He is crying Foul though the seemingly endless tally of postal votes currently being enacted mirrors exactly what he brought about. Strong advice to Republicans to vote in person on the day because postal votes were suspect, brought about early, commanding leads for Trump because millions of Democrats chose the postal vote route. As these are laboriously counted, so the tally for the Democrats mounts and the Trump leads leaks away inexorably. Trump and his family continue to inhabit an alternate universe shared still by some Republicans, though fewer and fewer. Only a desperate man could send in Giuliani as front man for defence while the older Trump sons seem frankly unhinged. The thought of the White House cash cow being removed is clearly threatening to family sanity.

Joe Biden, now President-Elect.

It looks increasingly like a Biden win but sadly, the expected moral revulsion of millions at Trump’s behaviour, has not translated into the Blue surge expected. So the Democrats need to do some soul-searching. The Senate looks likely to remain in Republican hands though not decided until January, which will make Biden’s presidency difficult because Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham will focus on destructive reaction to any Biden initiative particularly over tax reform. The one outstanding feature of the Trump campaign and current entr’acte period of waiting, is the stunning fact that despite all the ghastliness of the Trump presidency, in spite of the almost surreal depths of his ignorance and vindictive incompetence, he polled five million more votes this time than in 2016! And his followers seem genuinely besotted. There appear to be distinct but sometimes overlapping groups of devotees: less-educated whites particularly men; nationalists, fascist and far right Republicans; inhabitants of the so-called ‘fly-over states’ with small rural communities, conservative, separate, and people in the Southern states plus evangelicals who thread through all these various categories. All respond to the dog-whistle racism in particular and appear to look back longingly to Earlier Times; Trump’s thinly-veiled Make America White Again points to a nostalgia for the golden past when the blacks knew their place and Life was predictable. And many of these people are Standing By for when Biden is finally acknowledged as President-Elect and a proportion of them, at least, will be out on the streets, guns and fists at the ready, awaiting the Chief’s disgruntled fact-free grouses and Proud Boy complaints.

Trump people on one side; Biden supporters, opposite.
Austin, Texas, after announcement of Biden's win.

WHAT a happy day on November 8^th. Biden and Harris now President and Vice-President Elect. No counter-offensive as dreaded, just millions of people across the U.S.in the streets celebrating. And here, I have received so many messages of joy and relief often accompanied with celebratory videos. In the meantime, Trump continues to throw his toys out of the pram while his lawyers insist it is not yet decided who will be President. It has been an amazing few days and we hold our breath while awaiting Biden taking the oath in January. It seems odd, not to say unwise, that the departing President has around two months before he actually goes, in which he can legislate. I guess we can only predict fireworks!

Trump venting on T.V. after announcement of Biden win.

Police in Austin, Texas, keeping watch over 
competing protests after Biden win.

Here's our man again, displaying sensible behaviour.