Supervising Street Sensibilities: On the Intersection of the Curator, the Community, and Graffiti

Supervising Street Sensibilities:
On the Intersection of the Curator, the Community, and Graffiti
By Claire McKown

[Page 45]

The artists and works chosen to display come from a wide array of cultures and styles, and starting with the piece on the left of the museum we see the Barcelonan Sixeart’s graphic and colorful figure (fig. 18). Sixeart’s work, which the artist calls a kind of “mutilated animal,” is abstracted with a cartoonish quality, giving it a childlike, yet accessible feel. (217)
Like several other street artists, such as Anser, Sixeart carved out their reputation on the streets as a graffiti writer, before experimenting with other art forms, and eventually moving into a studio, although not completely abandoning the streets. (218)
According to the artist, he is influenced by the urban landscape and his experiences in it, including the melancholy of the city. (219)
The Barcelonan influence of the piece is reflected in its similar style to other Barcelonan artists such as Joan Miro and Gaudi, who share Sixeart’s use of bright color, strong lines, and bizarre looking figures. (220)
The piece by Sixeart on display at the Tate Modern reflects these qualities and styles, showing a large
abstracted figure. The graphic image is among the most colorful and vibrant of all the images in the show, thanks to the artist’s use of a white undercoat in painting the piece to make the colors stand out.

217 “Street Art: Artists: Sixeart.” Tate Modern. http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/streetart/artists-
sixeart.shtm (accessed 23 March 2009). And Street Art at the Tate Modern (2008).
218 “Biography.” SIXEART. http://www.sixeart.net/biography.html (accessed 13 March 2009).
219 “Biography.” SIXEART. http://www.sixeart.net/biography.html (accessed 13 March 2009).
220 Street Art at the Tate Modern (2008).