FROM STYLE WRITING TO ART

On the occasion of the publication of the book, From style writing to graffiti, a street art anthology, the gallery organizes a Graffiti and Street art exhibition which get together the masters of the 70s as well as their most important successors and the renovators of street art. An event which is in line with the commitment taken by Magda Danysz, for already more than 10 years in support of Graffiti and Street Art.

Proud to fight for the recognition of Graffiti and Street Art as a major artistic movement, Magda Danysz publishes this fall an anthology about the History of this key artistic movement.

The works of Seen, Crash, Quik show the historic sources of the street art. From the 70s they sprayed their names on the subways or walls of New York. Today, they are considered as the pioneers of this movement, the “Kings” as they were named back then. The 80s and 90s generation, embodied by Jonone, West, Miss Van, Space Invader shows diversity in street art. These different ways of expression are the testimony of a real transition from the Style Writing to an artistic manifestation. Among them, Jonone was one of the first ones to choose to express himself on canvas from 1991. Concerning Space Invader, he distances himself with use of the mosaic for instance.

As this exhibition is an illustration to the anthology of graffiti and street art written by Magda Danysz, the gallery features a special room with wall painting done by the artists on the occasion.

A very special project to celebrate a very special art movement : Publication of the first critical book about Street Art. About 400 pages explain and go into details the artistic aspect of this movement. "In the beginning, there was a the tag and the inscriptions on walls. It gave birth to the wild writing and to the graffiti. What was transformed into what we know now under the name of Urban Art or Street Art. A complex and interesting movement which deserves much more than of simple shortcuts.

From Style Writing to Art, a Street Art anthology, aims at explaining how Street Art became an major artistic movement at the turn of the 21th century. This book is interested in the pioneers of the graffiti who became famous from the 60s, the it explores the success of the artists of the 80s, and finally it looks into the new questions and practices of the 90s.

Extract: "It’s time to stand for a truth, or maybe it’s just time for me to speak up for truth. A truth that struck me so hard, and so young, my whole life has been all about that truth, ever since my teenage years. This is about how I consider and feel so absolutely that Street Art is the most interesting artistic movement at the turn of the century. Let me repeat myself on this, if only for the skeptic eye, for the blind and lost, or for the latecomers who just missed the boat: urban art is the most important artistic movement in the turn of our century. Talents are born in the history of graffiti, itself born in the recent history of urban art. This finally allows us not to answer the famous “But… is it really art?” question. Out of this both compact and diffuse form of expression, real art practices have emerged, absolutely unquestionable in terms of quality and longevity. "

Coauthor Mary Noelle Dana, 400 pages, 200 illustrations, published by Drago

Available at dragolab.com