Words by Smiley Team
Street artists are becoming more and more internationally and officially recognised for their environmental work. In 2018, Hawaiian-born artist Sean Yoro, who goes by the artist name Hula, made the Forbes “30 under 30” list for his murals, mostly of female faces being submerged in water. His works raise the question of rising sea levels due to climate change.
Street art has typically focused on megacities and urban festivals. But a generation of digitally ultra-connected artists has been encouraged to engage with grassroots campaigners and spread their brushes and spray cans elsewhere – to forests and seas – and to creatively question our relationships to the natural world.
Street artists have recently been criticised for “selling out” to big companies for taking on commissioned work, without showing any critical awareness of the social impact of these big companies. Yet these examples of climate activist street art shows artists can actually bring an alternative and responsible message to the public through their work.
Original article by Stephanie Giamporcaro and George Kuk - Source The Conversation
