Partly cloudy

Street Art Sponsored by the State
Considered vandals on the streets, Czech graffiti artists are finding a new home in galleries
The first time he was arrested for spray-painting on walls was in 1996. Being only 14 years old at the time, he was released after a few hours. Since then, he has had a number of encounters with the police. When he couldn't escape, he had to pay a fine or spend a night in the cells. Today, Cryptic 257 creates vending machines from which you can buy a can of spray paint for 50 crowns. The cans are labelled "Use for vandalism only." Should police hassle him about this, he can always argue that the machines, known as "Graffomats," are government-sponsored and therefore legal.
It looks like Czech street artists have finally made it -- but it's not as clear-cut as it seems. The local street art community has entered a phase typical for any subculture: it has gone from being a marginal art community to becoming a widely accepted part of mainstream culture. There are even a number of festivals celebrating Czech street art. On top of that, works of street art are exhibited in galleries and sold at art fairs. All with the financial support of city councils.
The current Metropolis exhibition, of which the Graffomat project is a part, couldn't be a better example: created by former street artists with plenty of experience of being chased by the police, it was selected for the Shanghai Expo -- hence the financial support from the government -- and can now be seen at DOX, the country's biggest and, in my opinion, best private gallery, located in Prague's Holešovice district. It's worth bearing in mind, however, that if a street artist went to work outside DOX's walls, the police would soon be on the scene.
Nothing for vandals
There's a big difference between exhibiting street art in galleries and in the public domain. Somewhat counter-intuitively, Czech street art is doing much better in galleries than it is on the streets, and Cryptic 257 knows this very well. When displaying his artwork in galleries, he's regarded as a respected artist; out on the streets, he's considered a common criminal.
Cryptic 257, a recent graduate of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová - UMPRUM) isn't a vandal, however. He selects areas where spray-painting could only make an improvement. Using a paintball gun, he creates "pointillist" paintings on empty billboards alongside highways. His goal is to improve neglected public areas, making them a more colorful place, and to inspire others to be creative too.
That's certainly true of his most original piece, which he created under his former nickname Epos 257 and which was exhibited at the biennale for young artists at the Gallery of the City of Prague (Galerie hlavního města Prahy).
Graffomats should also inspire people to get creative in urban spaces. Of course, there's a danger that some people will abuse their free spray-paint and use it to tag a historic building -- which is, in fact, what most people think of when they hear the phrase "graffiti art."
From the streets into galleries
One part of the Czech pavilion at the Shanghai Expo was designed to illustrate the changing face of local street art. Each of the artists chosen to represent the Czech scene had had run-ins with the police in the past. Now that they're all around 30, they've gradually moved into galleries. The works of once-illicit artists' names such as Point, Tron, Skarf, Masker and Pasta are more often seen in prestigious galleries these days than on trains and houses.
As the space they're working in has changed, so have their ways of expressing themselves: In galleries, spray-painting as such now only complements their installations and statues. Instead of creating new variants of his name, the artist Point, in his Metropolis project, worked with models of apartment buildings and piping to create something resembling Fritz Lang's cult movie Metropolis. Meanwhile, Pasta, who used to use paste to paint his own fictional hero, has created a sweet shop that sells ostentatious slogans from global subcultures.
The six artists are considered founding fathers of Czech street art and some of their followers may not like their going commercial. Many hardcore graffiti artists regard any association with the establishment -- be it the government or a gallery -- as hypocritical. Admittedly, fighting the system while you're accepting money from it doesn't look too good for street artists. But without money, exhibitions such as the one at DOX would never see the light of day.
Also, as we all know, you can fight the system from within. The growing number of legal graffiti zones around the country show that it can be done. In the end, it helps the community, too. The Metropolis project, one of the year's most extraordinary exhibitions, is a great example of that.
Video on YouTube
Related articles
-
A Day Trip To Some Of The Best Castles by Shaun O'Banion
The results are in and the most popular Czech castles (based on the number of visitors) have been announced by the Czech state.
-
The upcoming TEDxUNYP event: Inspiration in a complicated world by Paul Lysek
What is TEDxUNYP? Who is invited? Why would one attend? These were the various questions going through my head when I spoke to Mark Anderson , TEDxUNYP Organizer & Licensee.
-
Films to Watch at this Year’s One World Festival by Brad McGregor
-
HBO’s The Sleepers Takes You Back to Prague 1989 by
If you’re familiar with award-winning HBO’s Chernobyl, then you will love HBO’s new mini-series The Sleepers.
-
JOJO RABBIT, shot in the Czech Republic, receives six Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and six BAFTA nominations! by Shaun O'Banion
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the best in cinema for 2019 and among the nominees was Taika Waititi’s JOJO RABBIT which stars Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, newcomer Roman Griffin Davis, and Thomasin Mackenzie.
-
WATCH: Hungarian PM Victor Orbán Booed at Reopening of Prague State Opera House by Caroline Marcela
On Sunday Evening, Hungarian PM Victor Orbán was received with jeers and boos from protesters as he attended the reopening of the State Opera House gala event. Protesters shouted out ‘hanba’, meaning shame in Czech as he exited his private car.
-
'Movie Barf Monday' - a weekly English friendly film night by Ryan Keating
Movie Barf and Edison Filmhub are thrilled to present 'Movie Barf Monday' - a weekly English friendly film night dedicated to screening a diverse variety of award-winning contemporary and classic films in the new Edison Filmhub cinema and bar located in Prague's old town.
-
The Prague Orgy - a new Czech film in English in Czech cinemas by Michal Kráčmer
LESS LIBERTY, BETTER FUCKS
-
Festival 4+4 Days in Motion by Eliška Míkovcová (4+4 Festival)
Festival 4+4 Days in Motion to start in Desfours Palace, this year’s slogan is Nobody Has Anything
-
Lunchmeat Festival 2019—Dark Stars on the Horizon by Tony Ozuna - (Photo Lunchmeat Festival)
Lunchmeat Festival returns to Prague at the end of September as the leading arena for cutting-edge electronic music and with more audio-visual punch than ever before. Their new motto is a challenge to the mainstream: “obsessed with audio-visual mindf**cks— & those who question the status quo.”
Facebook comments
Best Irish Pub in Prague
Enjoy Prague from a different view
Authentic Italian cuisine in Prague
Discover the history of Prague’s famous Charles Bridge
Trabant Museum @ STK Motol
Armádní muzeum Žižkov
Národní památník hrdinů heydrichiády

Prague’s # 1 source for Czech news in English…
.png)
Digital lifestyle magazine platform promoting life in Prague.