Street art can be found on buildings, sidewalks,
street signs and even trash cans from Tokyo to Paris to New York City. This
special kind of art can take the form of paintings, sculptures, cloth or even
stickers. Street art has become part of a global visual culture. Now, even art
museums and galleries are collecting the work of street artists.
It is not easy to provide an exact history of the
street art movement. This kind of art has developed in many kinds of ways in
places all over the world. Also, because it is illegal to paint public and
private property without permission, street artists usually work secretly. This
secretive nature of street art and its countless forms make it hard to define
exactly. And people have different opinions about the movement. Some think
street art is a crime and destroys property. But others see this art as a rich
form of non-traditional cultural expression. Many experts say the
movement began in New York City in the nineteen sixties. Young adults would use
paint in special cans to spray their TAG on walls and train cars around the
city. This tag was a name they created to identify themselves and their
artwork. This colorful style of writing is also called graffiti. It is visually
exciting and energetic.
Graffiti also became a separate movement expressing
the street culture of young people living in big cities. Graffiti art
represented social and political rebellion. These artists could travel around
areas of the city making creative paintings for everyone to see. Sometimes this
street art created a dispute between artists and city officials. Graffiti
artists created their images and city officials quickly painted over them.
During the 1980s, two famous New York painters—Keith Haring and Jean Michel
began showing their work in art galleries and museums. This is when street art
started to become part of the more general popular culture.
1.What can we infer from the first paragraph?
A. Street art has become popular and is accepted as a
kind of culture.
B. Street art is very special compared with other
forms of popular art.
C. Many people are beginning to learn street art.
D. Street art is better developed in big cities than
in rural areas.
2.Which of the following statements is true according
to the passage?
A. TAG was a word created by people to distinguish
street artists and the other artists.
B. There are three reasons to explain why it is hard
to define the history of street art.
C. The movement of street art began in the 1980s in
New York City.
D. Not all the people think that the street art is a
rich form of cultural expression.
3.The city officials used to do away with graffiti
probably because .
A. they caused arguments between people
B. they were ugly in someone’s eyes
C. they were not painted under proper guidance
D. they didn‘t express good traditional culture.
4.They best title of the passage is
.
A. The way to become a street artist.
B. What does Graffiti art stand for?
C. The history of an art movement.
D. The work of street artists.