Art / Culture / Community · We Breathe Art
What is
street
art?
Art that meets you where you are.
Street art brings creative expression into everyday public space. A wall, doorway or city corner can become a place for an image, a message or a different way of seeing. It can be playful, political, personal or simply unexpected.
Explore the rootsIts forms include freehand painting, stencils, stickers and pasted paper works. Graffiti and street art share territory, but the terms are not interchangeable: graffiti writing often centers on names, lettering and style, while street art can use a wider visual language to reach people passing by. Artists and historians still debate the boundaries. Explore the distinction at STRAAT Museum (opens in a new tab).
01 / The roots
Where the
movement
took shape.
Art in public places has a long history, so modern street art has no single starting point. One important thread is the name-writing culture that grew in American cities during the 1960s. In Philadelphia, Cornbread became an early pioneer of repeated personal tags. In New York, writers including Julio 204 and TAKI 183 helped establish a new language of visibility by the end of that decade. STRAAT Museum’s early history (opens in a new tab).
During the 1970s, New York’s subway became a moving showcase. Young writers developed tags into increasingly elaborate letters, color combinations and large-scale pieces. Trains carried those individual styles beyond the neighborhood where they were made. The work sparked both admiration and conflict over public space. Museum of the City of New York: City as Canvas (opens in a new tab).
New York was pivotal, but it was never the whole story. Los Angeles, San Francisco, London and São Paulo developed distinctive scenes too, shaped by local cultures, politics and creative communities. MOCA: Art in the Streets (opens in a new tab).
02 / Sound meets style
New York.
Hip-hop.
Expression.
Hip-hop took shape in the 1970s Bronx through the creativity of Black, Latino and Caribbean communities. Its influence reaches beyond music into dance, visual art and everyday style. Smithsonian: The sazón in hip-hop (opens in a new tab).
Graffiti is widely recognized alongside DJing, MCing and breaking as one of hip-hop’s four foundational elements. That connection helps explain why graffiti, music and movement feel so closely linked in the culture. Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (opens in a new tab).
For us, hip-hop offers a useful way to think about street art: personal style, creative exchange and making something that speaks to your community. It is a major influence, not a requirement. Graffiti’s early name-writing history and street art’s different local scenes remind us that neither belongs to just one musical tradition. STRAAT’s timeline (opens in a new tab) and MOCA’s global survey (opens in a new tab).
03 / A few names to know
Five artists.
Distinct voices.
Banksy
Banksy’s stencil-based images have appeared on walls and bridges around the world. Closely associated with Bristol, the artist connects street work with political activism. The 2009 Banksy versus Bristol Museum exhibition showed how a street-art practice could also take over a major museum. Bristol Museums (opens in a new tab).
Keith Haring
Beginning in 1980, Haring drew in white chalk on unused subway advertising panels in New York. His direct, energetic imagery helped him communicate with commuters outside conventional art spaces. He later created public murals and used his work to support social causes, including AIDS awareness and children’s programs. Keith Haring Foundation (opens in a new tab).
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Basquiat and Al Diaz made poetic statements on New York walls under the name SAMO©. Basquiat’s later work combined words, figures and recurring symbols, including his crown, while confronting subjects such as racism and representation. His story connects street expression with a much broader painting practice. National Gallery of Victoria: Crossing Lines (opens in a new tab).
Lady Pink
Lady Pink began writing graffiti in 1979 and painted New York subway trains through 1985. Born in Ecuador and raised in New York, she became a prominent woman in the graffiti scene and appeared in Wild Style. Her practice also includes canvas painting and mural workshops for young people. Lady Pink’s official biography (opens in a new tab).
Shepard Fairey
Fairey’s 1989 sticker campaign grew into OBEY GIANT. Rooted in punk and skateboarding as well as popular culture, his work demonstrates how street art can move through stickers, posters, murals and political imagery. His 2008 HOPE portrait of Barack Obama became a widely recognized example. Shepard Fairey’s official site (opens in a new tab).
These artists are included for cultural context. Their inclusion does not imply an affiliation with or endorsement of We Breathe Art.
04 / Familiar images, new meaning
Where pop
culture
comes in.
Street art and Pop Art often share familiar imagery, but they are different categories. Pop Art drew on advertising, comics and consumer culture; Andy Warhol is a key figure in that history. His example helps explain the appeal of everyday images without making him a founder of street art. National Gallery of Art (opens in a new tab).
Building
a culture.
A community.
At We Breathe Art, we’re trying to build a culture and community around art. We want this to be a place to discover different styles, share what inspires you and connect through creativity. Whether you make art, collect it or are just getting curious, you’re welcome here.
Meet We Breathe Art