Urban Art – Street Scene

Anyone who walks the streets of Germany has seen them. Opinions about them are controversial. Many people see graffiti as vandalism, as a criminal act. Graffiti smeared on the ground can also be described as such, but that’s not what this is about. It is also not specifically about graffiti, but much more about the term that stands above all this: Urban Art!

Urban Art, a term that many have heard before. A term that is and says much more than most know. So, what is “Urban Art” actually?

Urban art is a genre of visual arts and is mainly seen in public spaces. You can also say it is a synonym for the different types of visual as well as action art. Among them are: Graffiti, Street Art, Sticker Art or Guerilla Gardening. 

It is important to know that only all the legal forms of this art may be called “urban art”! So if someone calls himself an “urban artist”, although he only sprays his initials or scribbles on house walls, he is not an “urban artist”, but commits a crime. That is then vandalism! “Urban art” is often commissioned. So if you see on a house wall an elaborately sprayed work, then that is urban art, is allowed and in addition still beautiful to look at!

But this kind of art is much more than just house walls and street art! The art has become very popular in recent years and replaces old exhibitions here and there in museums! In Leipzig you can admire urban art in the “Urban Art Gallery”. Specifically street art can be found in the “Street Art Gallery”.

If that’s not enough, you can also visit various urban art festivals throughout Germany. For example, the Monumenta festival in Leipzig, Germany or the bug festival for urban arts!