In recent years, street art has become embedded
in popular culture and received growing attention
from the art market and art institutions. Work
by street artists has entered galleries, auction
houses and museums, and some artists have
been given the opportunity to create large-scale
sanctioned public art projects. Simultaneously,
widespread photographic documentation of street
artworks and the circulation of images online have
provided artists with a potentially global audience.
Based on studies of everyday interaction among artists,
gallerists, collectors, bloggers and street art enthusiasts,
The Street Art World investigates the often contradictory
attitudes within the street art community towards art
history and the institutions of art. The book also
deliberates on street art’s connection to the art market
and public art. It considers street art’s potential to
affect the viewer’s perception of public space, and the
possible challenges the increasing digital mediation of
street art may pose to bringing this potential to fruition.
Peter Bengtsen is an art historian and sociologist.
He has been writing about street art since 2006.