As someone who follows both street art and graffiti with equal interest, I often find myself simultaneously amused yet frustrated by the narrow definitions members of each group employ to label and judge one another's work. I realize people will have their hardened opinions about what is and isn't graffiti -- I'll save the tired "art vs. vandalism" discussion for another post -- but I personally don't see things in such black and white terms. Regardless of what medium is used, I am interested in aesthetics: I appreciate the beauty of a skillfully crafted handstyle as much as a masterfully cut stencil.
That having been said, I increasingly find myself most excited by artists who function on the cusp of both the graffiti and street art worlds, artists who are equally accomplished and respected in both worlds and defy conventional classification. I'm sure I will be posting plenty of other examples in the coming months, but one such artist is Canadian artist
Other, who recently came through New York.
Like his contemporary
Labrona, Other is known for painting freight trains. From a
2008 interview: "
Really the best part of my work is coming home with paint all over my clothes and a giant rip in my pants ... a good cop chase and a good painting up somewhere on a train or a building ... graffiti is the pinnacle ... it is the freight hopping of art."
From a stopover in Brooklyn last winter:
While it's quite likely he graced some NYC freight cars with his black and white figures, he also put up some colorful, painted works on paper:
For more insight into the work of Other, read
his answers to Posterchild's questions from earlier this year.
Labels: graffiti, other, street art, wheatpaste
