Street Art

A comprehensive history and interpretation of the Street Art movement, featuring all the key practitioners from Banksy to Swoon.

Street Art is a phenomenon and subcultural movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Simon Armstrong examines how it evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti scene to embrace many new materials, styles and techniques along the way, tracing how this marginal art form graduated into art galleries and the art market, while also heavily influencing design, fashion, advertising and visual culture.

Despite having earned a place in the canon of 20th-century art history, Street Art’s qualifications are often disputed both by the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. Examining Street Art’s controversial history in detail, this book provides a full-colour worldwide journey, taking in all of the movement’s significant artists and artworks, styles, materials and methods, and showcasing the works that have come to define it more than any other. It also examines its close relationship to Pop Art and Digital Art, and explores possible futures for Street Art.

About the Author

Simon Armstrong is an author, artist, agent, editor and book-buyer for Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Tate Liverpool. He has worked as a DJ, club promoter, Head of Retail at London's Design Museum. He is the author of Cool Art and Cool Architecture.