Street art took off in the eighties as part of the hip-hop scene, where people would make elaborate symbols from their tag, or nom de plume. More recently it has become more of an art form in itself, often using stencils or stickers to provide comment or political statements in the urban environment.

The cutting edge of this underground movement was on display in Stick Me Hard, a fascinating exhibition of street art, with pieces from over ninety worldwide artists and hosted by Musma, an online gallery for contemporary art. I asked organiser Batiste, what was important about street art..

“I grew up in Brussels, near the Gare du Nord where I saw a lot of graffiti and I tried it myself and got to meet a lot of artists and found it was an art form that spoke deeply to me. Fifteen years ago I thought that graffiti art was the art of the future and an expression of where society is. We're in a society where technical ability is more important than the human experience and when people focus on that, they miss out the spirit of art.”

Street art is a very open art, by definition it is open to the public and artists use basic materials and Musma are selling bags of stickers, provided by the artists for 15 euros.

Mimi The Clown, a French artist, produces large stencils of iconic figures modified with his trademark make-up. We meet under a portrait of Sarkozy, with a crown and red nose. What inspired him to produce this piece? “We're all clowns, Mimi is everybody and I used Sarkozy because our President is like a king and a bit of a clown so I made this to show that the building of a republic is not finished. All my clowns are political”.

He is drawn to the streets, rather than galleries, “If I want to paint, I just go and do it. I don't have to ask anybody. Times change and more people can see it in the streets”.

Captain Borderline is the pseudonym of two German artists who are inspired by world events and politics. “We try to make fun of politicians and express our views. There are many street artists who just use characters, but we want to make people think.”

They see street art as a young medium that is rapidly evolving and changing. “We may have to wait another three or four years to see where it's heading. If you look at it realistically, this is the art of the future. We want art that shows something of our emotional state and says more to us than a nature painting. Originally it was just people scrawling their names but now it is something that makes the city beautiful.”

Some people thing this art is nothing more than vandalism, but it is usually to be found  on disused spaces and areas of decay. Is a stencil really defacing a blighted urban environment, or is it something that represents the voice of people who live there?

Spencer is from Brussels and it is the city that inspires him. How does he choose an image to use? “It depends, It's usually something that touched me, that really got to me. Often a movie or a face. I adore cinema and I work in cinema. I'm trying to get a message across but I don't want to tell people what to think or do, but invite them to an idea, a reflection.”

His work has changed, technically he uses better materials and says his message is getting clearer, more specific, but he's still working on the same themes. Brussels excites him as it has so many different areas. “We want to take over the public space, because Brussels is like a public gallery and you can put your point over anonymously. Even though stickers and posters are easily taken off, we find they stay up longer than in other cities”.

If you want to see what's happening on the streets, call in at Gallery Musma, 194 Rue de Molenbeekstraat and find out for yourself. The exhibition is open daily from 3pm to 9pm and closes on November the second.

Text and photos: Andy Carling

More information: Musma

Artists:
Mimi the clown
Captain Borderline
Henry Spencer

(expatica October 2008)