Ever since surrealistic painting and shocking street art of Salvador Dali and Banksy respectively, society continues to have vast interest in art that hovers around mental illusions. Surrealism and Street art: what does everyone find so attractive? This post is done to reveal the secrets behind.
Surrealism was initiated as an art and literature movement in Paris during the 1920s. Looking for the freedom of dreaming and unconscious mind, surrealist painters depicted a realistic yet absolutely fantastic image of the combination of seemingly unrelated objects. Salvador Dali was another surrealism artist whose painting of melting clocks and a desolate landscape indicated hallucination. Modern surrealist painters, such a Mark Ryden, post modern with elements of pop culture using fossils of superheroes and toys. All these artists have something in common: they want to embody the dream and mystery in their art.
Some of the street art painting spirit can still be traced back to the surrealist delight in the element of the spectacular. As its name implies, street art is a form of different art, from graffiti to a mural, which is executed legally or with permission, most often without permission. Currently being one of the most famous and internationally recognized artists of the genre, the person known under the pseudonym Banksy is worth mentioning. The politically charged stenciled designs of Banksy have equally encouraged a number of others to come out and paint the streets.
Even in style and tone street art is quite variable – from Banksy’s Flower Thrower where a protester prepares to throw a bouquet of flowers to Swoon’s intricate paper cut-outs of people and cityscapes. Some of them are sarcastic and sarcastically disparaging others depict protest, hope and imagination. The art form directly connected to activism and critically thinking about the existing reality is changing the streets and our interaction with them.
Surrealism art paintings taken from surrealist art today, contemporary artists such as Mark Ryden borrow from old masters painting but give them a spin. All the paintings of Ryden encompass the themes such as somber portrait Heads; Meat portraits; Cute Monsters.. It means that viewers will have lots of things to think through as they watch his surrealistic scenes. Other contemporary surrealist painters such as Robert Venosa on the other hand paint beautiful alien topographical planes that bear tones and densities which can be compared to fractal dimensions. These dream worlds have shown how extensive the surrealist art genre still is to this date.
The surreal landscape paintings have evolved from a subculture art movement but are now mass cultured despite it being revolutionary. From criminal vandalism in a post World War II 1980s New York by blooming artists such as Basquiat and Keith, the world of graffiti has grown into paintings, social commentary and three dimensional forms.
Surrealism and street art tell us: a work of art does not have to depict what is happening or real. It can question traditions and beliefs, lure assumptions, reveal hidden information and express powerful opinions. They are both very much interested in tearing away at the fabric of our quotidian assumptions of reality to suggest hidden truths and renewed formats for social interactions. Traditionally, surrealism and street art are associated with liberating the spirit from pretentious clichés so that a simple everyday object becomes fascinating anew. If you are looking for street artwork, consider visiting us!
