Word: trustman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Some would argue that it's vandalism, pure and simple. In the most literal sense, graffiti is a set of markings that, if nothing else, informs the world of the writer's presence. As demonstrated by the Trustman Gallery's exhibit, today's urban (and suburban) graffiti is a mixture of tags (a writer's intricate and distinctive signature), throw-ups (a large design, usually of letters, done quickly to attract attention) and pieces (short for masterpieces, they resemble murals; an assorted collection of images and words). What these categories don't express is the potential difference between...
...Some would hesitate to even call graffiti art--the law treats anything painted on a surface without the owner's permission as vandalism. But other members of the art world see a strange beauty in walls and doors scarred by markers and spray paint. The curators of the Trustman Gallery of Simmons College, near the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, have even had the good sense to devote an exhibtion to tag art: Graffiti is running through the end of the month...
...Exhibiting graffiti is not a new idea, but the Trustman exhibit takes a fresh look at "a global art movement with origins in urban hip hop culture." The show's curators, Bob Oppenheim and Matt Clark, attempt to put Boston graffiti "in context," examining the motives of graffiti artists and writers. Inspired by a paper written by his late son, Josh, Oppenheim says the purpose of the show is not just to exhibit graffiti, but to win over the public as well...
...Oppenheim sees it, one of the best parts of the Trustman exhibit is that it raises these questions; "You're not asking, is graffiti art. You're asking, what is art?" It's true that this most unconventional (and original) of art forms forces us to reconsider what it is we value in visual art. If we need to argue over whether spray paint on a wall has the same merits as watercolor on a canvas, then we need to argue about art's very definition. And what is the definition? Is everything that is a visual form of expression...
...Trustman Gallery show, it is a show that would be very difficult to imagine at Harvard. Luckily Simmons College was willing to take a chance on art that many people consider questionable at best. An exhibition like this performs a powerful service, rivaling the influence of a whole museum full of galleries. We see that graffiti does not simply alter the commonly accepted definition of art; rather, it shows how incomplete or impossible that definition...