Graffiti…Art?

Cy Twombly






After visiting the Tate Modern in London a while ago, I became interested in the work of Cy Twombly who was one of the first American artists to take an interest in graffiti. At the time in which Twombly was working, the term graffiti did not conjure up the images of what we would think of the term graffiti nowadays. If the term graffiti was mentioned to people these days they might think of the spray painted writing or pictures sprayed onto brick walls or subways in towns. However, at the time that Twombly was working the term graffiti referred to a more rural and gentler type of graffiti art.



There is a distinct texture within some of his work where the movement of the paint is slowed down by mixing it with earth. However there is then a contrast with this slow movement where he uses a distinctly faster, edgy movement in scratching around the edges.

Text and mark making are built up and overlapped in his pieces, building up many layers within the painting. These two elements combine to form Twombly's distinctive painting style which consists of loose expressive brush marks together with small visible passages of graffiti like writing. Some of the mark making evident in his paintings are scribbles and splatters of paint which are made using anything from a brush, fingers or pencils to build up the energetic layers displayed in his work.

I think his work is great evidence of how you can combine two completely different elements- text and image- and make them work artistically. Essentially as designers this can prove a problem- combining text and image so that they work together to form an attractive and eye catching piece.

Another thing I find engaging about his work are the methods he uses to create his artwork- mixing paint with different substances to create various textures. In a previous post I discussed how I thought that the human senses sometimes weren’t used enough whilst engaging with designs. Twombly’s work incorporates the sense of touch in his work instantly differentiating itself from most other artists of his time.