Talk Explores ‘Street Art Now’

G. James Daichendt, art critic, curator, art historian, and dean of the colleges at Point Loma University, examines how street art is changing the art world and how we engage art in a free public lecture, “Street Art Now,” on Thursday, Feb. 23, from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.

The museum is currently hosting an exhibition by Madeleine Tonzi and Graffiti Against the System (GATS), Entangled: Responding to Environmental Crisis, which is open through March 25.

Daichendt, co-host of the podcast Two Degrees of Art and the founding editor of the academic journal Visual Inquiry: Learning and Teaching Art, says the street art movement is a genre of art-making that’s arguably more relevant and visible than any other since Pop Art. 

His presentation will overview the field while focusing on several California-based street artists, such as GATS, and highlight issues of legality, success, and where it enters our own communities.

He has written several books, including Robbie Conal: Streetwise: 35 Years of Politically Charged Guerrilla Art, The Urban Canvas: Street Art Around the World, Kenny Scharf: In Absence of Myth, Shepard Fairey Inc.: Artist/Professional/Vandal, and Stay Up! Los Angeles Street Art.

Daichendt won a 2021 Lifetime Achievement award from the Office of the President of the United States for his service to the arts community.