RESEARCH : Stencil graffiti

As mentioned in the previous post, I have a bit of a liking for graffiti. My favoured style has grown from massively complex throw ups to the seemingly simpler, yet equally as complicated, stencils.




Stencil graffiti is the one form which I see has having most in common with my particular concept. Stencilling a design allows it to be easily replicated and displayed elsewhere. In this light I can see why this method has been accepted by numerous advertising agencies as a cheap and very effective way of spreading information such as website URLs.



This stencil, for the MYLO album Destroy Rock & Roll was spray painted across various towns and cities across the UK. The style has since been replicated, usually to comic effect.

One thing that really appeals to me about stencilling is that it allows the use of a computer to degrade the quality of photographic images, making them stencil-friendly. Although many stencil artisits may see this as cheating - I think that it opens the style up to a larger range of potential artists. It also means that it is easy to include iconic images into designs, allowing them to be subverted to reveal the artists stance.