Street to Studio

Overview

For fifty years, graffiti and street art have been challenging conventions and stimulating debate around our perceptions of what constitutes art. As the genre enters its sixth decade, this ground-breaking book presents a new interpretation of where street art and graffiti are situated today. Introducing the concept of 'Intermural Art' - art in between the walls - Rafael Schacter presents a genre at a key moment of transition. While many street and graffiti artists are still challenging the orthodoxies of the public sphere, an increasingly large group are reshaping the field by no longer furtively entering the institution, no longer slavishly reproducing exterior works inside, but instead attempting to merge out and in to create a form that articulates graffiti, street and contemporary-art influences. Through forty profiles of the leading proponents of this new approach from around the globe, Rafael Schacter presents a compelling analysis for 'Intermural Art' while also showcasing some of the boldest work being made currently.

Reviews

"The process of the book takes the performative act of making street art, and reroutes it back to the studio—acknowledging 'studio practice as part of the process.'" —Harriet Thorpe, review, Wallpaper

"This book is a useful example of how graffiti and practices of urban expression have become active inspirators in the telling of the contemporary art narrative." —Jerrold Shiroma, review, Art Libraries Society of North America

"Whether figurative, conceptual, performative, iterative, abstract, ephemeral, or purely digital, Schacter endeavors to find a common thread in a wide field of work and influences that have as their common denominator a regard for the practices of art in the streets." —Interview, Brooklyn Street Art

Author Biography

Rafael Schacter is an anthropologist and curator and is currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Anthropology Department of University College London. He has been undertaking research on graffiti and street art for over ten years. He has curated a number of high-profile exhibitions including co-curating the iconic show Street Art at Tate Modern in 2008. He is the author of two books: the award-winning World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti (2013) and Ornament and Order: Graffiti, Street Art and the Parergon (2014).