Graffiti and Street Art

"The city's the best gallery I could imagine." — JR

JR, Banksy, Shepard Fairey—some of today's best-known artists made their reputations on the street. Street art finds its origins in the graffiti artists (and artists heavily inspired by graffiti) who started showing in galleries and art institutions during the 1970s and '80s, like Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. That their works existed both on city walls and in galleries and museums would significantly influence subsequent generations, specifically artists like Banksy and Fairey. Given its origins in illegal activity and characteristic interest in subversion and political and social action, street art has always had a fraught relationship with the art world in general.