I just discovered the work of French street
artist Sean Hart. “I am a poet,” explains Hart, “and my poetry is a weapon
loaded with the future.”
I am an outlawed
Incorruptible
I am not for sale
I am the distance
between self-censorship and freedom
As I viewed Hart’s artistic production - his
most notable series being Shine – I
got to thinking about how words have a deep correlation to their context. Take “open
the door.” It the kind of sentence I say when I come home with my arms full of
groceries. It’s the phrase you might hear whispered by a giggling friend moments
before a surprise party. But here, Hart takes three mundane words and gives
them a new – eerie – meaning. You can almost picture him, painting incognito in
the dead of night.
All photographs by Sean Hart
The same is true of the following images. One piece
was created in warm Brazil and the other in an undisclosed location. I know
which one I’d rather be at! (Well... neither when you stop and think about
it... but palm trees trump bed bugs in my book.)
In a recent article discussing Hart’s work, RJ
Rushmore from Vandalog writes “those photos look more
likely to be photoshopped than the finished piece … Hart's
website says [the photos are] legit. I'm not sure it really was painted. But
I'm not sure it's important either way.”
What do you think? How would you feel about Sean
Hart’s work knowing it was created on a computer screen instead of in the
streets? In fact, how do you feel about street art?
This is interesting. I think that the important thing is that the artist is honest. Whether they are real paintings or not doesn't really matter, but he shouldn't lie about it. Otherwise, what's the point?
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point, Dominique! Actually, I was in contact with Hart today and he is adamant that his work is the real deal. I’m excited to say that I will be interviewing him this week, so we’ll get to hear more about his process!
ReplyDeleteIf Hart is a street artist, doesn't that imply that he does actually work in the street? But having said that, his message is powerful. I agree that if the work was indeed created on a computer screen, I am not sure that it really matters. Perhaps the problem is with the label of street artist. Is it important to label someone's work? Does Hart even want to be labeled? Wouldn't a label pigeon-hole his work and make it less free?
ReplyDeletelove all these shots! so fun! Happy Friday
ReplyDeletelove from San Francisco,
Britt+Whit