Irish Graffiti: Some Murals in the North, 1986.pdf
The photographs in this book were taken on a very short trip to the North of Ireland and represent a snapshot of that time, 4–8 November 1986. They were to convey my interest in the political murals on display there ... and came by way of my fascination for the street art of the Constructivists in early revolutionary Russia. Even though there seems to be a concensus that peace has arrived in the troubled communities of Northern Ireland, its veneer is as thin as the fact these territorial markers, these political statements, these magnificently diverse graffiti are still adorning unionist/protestant and nationalist/catholic neighbourhoods. Seldom considered respectable or ‘art’, graffiti cannot be ignored. Immediate, rebelious, public, confrontational, honest, malicious, political, vulgar, informative, territorial and in your face broadcasting of opinions, ideas ... and usually anonymous. This has been a constant expression for the talented and talentless since human stirrings, welcome or unwelcome depending on your viewpoint. Graffiti comes from the same loadstone as ‘high art’, but because of its egalitarian and anti-establishment nature it subverts ‘high art’ and ‘the artist’ modes of recognised celebrity and value by undermining and one-finguring ‘high art’s elitist and posturing nepotism.
The photographs in this book were taken on a very short trip to the North of Ireland and represent a snapshot of that time, 4–8 November 1986. They were to convey my interest in the political murals on display there ... and came by way of my fascination for the street art of the Constructivists in early revolutionary Russia.
Even though there seems to be a concensus that peace has arrived in the troubled communities of Northern Ireland, its veneer is as thin as the fact these territorial markers, these political statements, these magnificently diverse graffiti are still adorning unionist/protestant and nationalist/catholic neighbourhoods.
Seldom considered respectable or ‘art’, graffiti cannot be ignored. Immediate, rebelious, public, confrontational, honest, malicious, political, vulgar, informative, territorial and in your face broadcasting of opinions, ideas ... and usually anonymous. This has been a constant expression for the talented and talentless since human stirrings, welcome or unwelcome depending on your viewpoint.
Graffiti comes from the same loadstone as ‘high art’, but because of its egalitarian and anti-establishment nature it subverts ‘high art’ and ‘the artist’ modes of recognised celebrity and value by undermining and one-finguring ‘high art’s elitist and posturing nepotism.
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