Column: The sheep need a Shepard

Street art has shifted from taboo to trendy

Rosie Fatemi / Roundup

Dear Shepard Fairey,

Do you remember when street art used to be taboo? When graffiti artists didn’t have a crew of people working for them? When they used to put their necks on the line to put their own work up on the streets? How about when art galleries were created by yuppies for yuppies, and graffiti artists wouldn’t be caught dead in a gallery?

Well, Shepard, I hope you don’t mind if I call you Shepard. I mean, after all, I do feel like I’ve seen you grow as an entrepreneur.

Anyway, Shepard, any local Angeleno can tell you that street art isn’t what it used to be. What once used to make the general public cringe and was only associated with a “gang” lifestyle is now making people stop in their tracks to see the “urban” art produced by our very own locals.

Not only is there acceptance by the general public, gallery owners are catching on to this trend. The more “risky” owners are trading in their photographs of pieces of naked bodies for spray paint cans, political cartoons and hard-to-read lettering.

If you check the L.A. Times or Brand X postings for art gallery openings, it seems as though more than half of them are some sort of “street art” inspired gallery. Read the rest of this column on www. therounduponline.net.