Ben Mish - Urban Entrepreneur: Street Art

"What is art?" From Paris toLondon and from Los Angeles t o New York, it is a wayof decorating the world, much like fashion. Just walk down your street and youwill see many examples of art. Advertisers understand the importance of art andso do politicians.

It is the way to get messages across.Street artists understand this reality and use this freedom to send their ownmessage.

Look around your city. You may see largeblank walls on the sides of buildings that have not been decorated. Many tim es you will see areas like this that have been covered byart. This work is done by a street artist.

What do people use to make street art?

Stickers, stencils, posters, videoprojection, flash mobbing, work with tile, murals, woodworking, and often juststraight-up spray paint!

In other industries, you can clearly seethe heroes. Rap has Jay-Z. Basketball has LeBron James. Country music has Taylor Swift.

Some of the names of the top streetartists are not well known. Not like rappers and actors andfashion designers. Some of the more famous street artists are Shepard Fairey,WK Interact, KAWS, Paul Insect, Swoon, Twist, Neck Face, FAILE, Space Invader, and, the most famous artist, Banksy.

Banksy is an artist from London who hasa unique style that has contributed to his fame. When you look at his works,painted on the sidewalk or the side of a building, they almost look three dimensional.

He uses a stencil technique. He didgraffiti first, but he was slow, so he began to prepare his pictures in greatdetail in his studio. He would then set out to post them aro und the city.

Part of the thing that makes people talkabout Banksy is that they do not know his true identity. Street art is the kindof thing where this is possible, since he can post his work without anyoneseeing him. Some were critical of his work, sa yingthat it was not real art. But he was able to eventually get his artwork intoactual shows at galleries, where it sold for high price tags ($50,000,$100,000, and $400,000).

He even ma de amovie, "Exit Through the Gift Shop," which told his story.

Banksy was able to get attention becausehe had talent. People pay attention to great talent. But talent is somethingthat is built over time. Banksy worked on his style and then decided to ge t his work out to the masses in order to achieve success.What is success? Fancy awards? Making lots of money? This is not really what an artistis shooting forbut they can achieve it sometimes. Banksy was nominated for anOscar for his movie, and accordi ng to some estimates,Banksy is worth $20 million!

Banksy's work is a great example of howstreet art changes the way people see the world. He is also an example of artas an industry. If you want to be the next Banksy, you must have the talent tocreate a rt. You must understand that there is abusiness side to it, too. If you have the right attitude, it can be veryhelpful to your career as an artist.

When becoming a street artist, it is about just doingit. It is also about finding your own vision, and your own way of expressingyourself. When that is achieved, the street artist can create beautiful worksof artfor the benefit of society!