This lecture traces the growth of Street Art in the UK, since the early 1980s, when young British people went to New York and brought back stories of the explosion of graffiti, hip hop, and street dance in that city and in many other US cities. Soon the streets of London, Bristol and other cities and towns were being sprayed and tagged with graffiti. The lecture will look at some of the pioneering street artists as well as some of the current generation. They include not only Banksy but also Jody, STIK, Inkie, and others. The lecture will talk about the rights and wrongs of graffiti, the attitude of authorities plus technical aspects of spraying and removing it when necessary. The lecture may help explain its power, beauty and the point of it.
Banksy ‘Valentine’s Day Mascara’, 14 February 2023, Margate
Raymond Warburton has had a life-long love of art although studied social sciences at the London School of Economics and the School of Oriental and African Studies. These studies led to a career in health and social care, with art being an evening and weekend passion. But all that changed in 2011, when Ray became a guide at Tate Britain and Tate Modern. Then from 2014 to 2017, he studied art history at the Open University, and then at the University of Buckingham, from where he gained an MA in the History of Art. He became an Arts Society lecturer in 2017