Instant gratification: How graffiti has 'transformed' from the streets to high art

It has been said that graffiti is the biggest art movement since the Renaissance.

Most children will know the works of Banksy, but will they be so well acquainted with the masterpieces of Caravaggio?

Young or old may have tried their hand at spraying a wall with a paint gun, but are they so keen to take out the paint and easel? 

Perhaps it is the fact graffiti is banned in many places that adds to its allure, particularly for young people.

Now, the Canadian artist Louis Pierre Boivin has pinpointed how the influence of graffiti has penetrated the world of art in subtle but influential ways.

Christening this 'trasgraffiti', Boivin says it is separate from the huge impact artists like Banksy have had on the cultural landscape. Instead, what he is keen to highlight is the ways graffiti techniques are now used in other methods of art and beyond.

“It is the integration of graffiti into contemporary art practices in a very subtle way. It is different to urban art,” he says.

“Urban art, like pieces by Banksy or other artists, would be painting something on a wall then doing something which is exactly the same in a gallery.”

Boivin, 40, who is from Quebec in Canada but lives in Barcelona, will take part in a debate on trasgraffiti at the Museu Art Prohibit in Barcelona on October 30th to discuss this new concept with artists from around the world.

Among the other artists present will be Martí Sawe from Spain, Alsino Skowronnek from Germany, the French artist Bertrand Main, and Marc Mascort Boix, a Spanish cultural curator.  

Banksy is perhaps the world’s most famous graffiti artist. His identity remains a mystery but his works fetch millions in auctions and he has popularised the urban art world as it is today. 

However, Boivin believes