A Virtual Street Art Experience in Brooklyn : Review by Hannah

This was a 1-hour online art experience featuring street art located in Brooklyn, which detailed many different pieces of street art by many local artists as well as street art culture. I attended with my Dad on 7th January 2021.

The art form included was mainly spray-paints, along with various stencils, stamps and also stickers, but I learnt about more diverse mediums, like metal sculptures and wheat paste.

I didn’t really know much about street art before this event, and I found it very informative and it was also very fun to see how diverse street art is!

I learnt quite a lot during this event, and I especially enjoyed learning about how each artist shown has their own style. My favourites were: CP1 (https://www.cp1art.com/), Lexi Bella (https://www.lexibella.com/), Surface of Beauty (https://www.natashamayplatt.com/) and Dis Satisfied (https://noentrydesign.com/). I love how each one had such a distinct style and are instantly recognisable. I found one particular piece, by Dis Satisfied, particularly thought-provoking. It featured the words ‘empathy’ and ‘empty’, so that ‘empty’ was part of ‘empathy’. I would illustrate it like this: EMPATHY. This piece was by Adam Fu (https://adamfu.bigcartel.com/more-on-atoms). Also, it was interesting to know about the very fine line between what is legal and what is illegal when it comes to street art. The main principle was that permission from the building owner was needed.

I also learnt about a company that was using street art as a way of providing advertisements for well-known companies, such as Vans and McDonalds. This is becoming increasingly popular in Brooklyn, and I hope that it does not expand too far, for I enjoy seeing the artists express themselves freely.

I loved this event, especially because there was a lot of footage showing what you would have seen if you were there in person. I really couldn’t fault this experience easily at all, but I would have liked some more insight into the people behind the artwork, although that really is nit-picking.

I would recommend this event to everyone; however, I would have liked to visit Brooklyn, as this tour usually takes place in person. I will try to visit in the future because it sounds like so much fun to explore the streets and look at all of the art!