Crossing the line

About

Where does street art now belong: in the back alleys of our urban centres or on the white walls of the gallery? Can it belong in both? What happens when the urban calligraphy of tags and stencils is subsumed by the auction house, and why do we feel a sense of loss when the raw energy of street art, of urban writing, is absorbed by the mainstream media, and effectively tamed. Why is it that some of our best illicit art is promptly ripped off the wall, taken out of its context and seized into private hands?

One of our best public artists argues that to remove a piece of authentic street art from its location is like domesticating a wild animal, neutering its intensity and robbing it of the potential to challenge the status quo.

And we have more questions: how do you actually monetise public art? Why is some street art regarded as illegal and some revered as a national icon? How can any urban artist retain their street cred as well as maintain their credit in the bank? What are to make of the ephemera and the accessories – the T-shirts, the caps, balloons, badges and stickers – that now convey so much of the compelling graphic design that was once only on the street?

With panache and provocation, this exhibition brings the street indoors and addresses these questions, and maybe more.

Drawing on extensive private collections, street photography, and the imagery of brandalism and subvertising, the exhibition will offer some provocations for debate and deliberation; there will be artwork, originals, fakes and counterfeits. There will be spray and stencil, tag and typeface. short films and long texts, posters, prints and propaganda.

And above all, we'll create a discourse that focuses on legality, lawfulness, and laughter, because above all much of the art in this show effuses wit, wackiness and wisdom, in unusually unequal measure.