Custom «Art and Advertising» Essay Paper Sample

The actual art history is its economic background. Art is mainly said to take place when there exists surplus wealth that can be spent on promotional activities of institutions, products or persons. This can be evident because major art production centers in history have always been the hubs of successful commercial activities. For instance, presently, New York has brought out more art compared to places like Sarajevo, also, for the same reason, that is why there exists more art galleries in Santa Fe, Scottsdale and Santa Monica compared to the working classes in the backwoods.

Numerous street artists are even paid for their art to be used in advertising a product. Then is this still advertising, or is it art? Since many street artists' works are not licensed and artists do not get permission to display it, it could be a masterpiece although at the same time, it may seem as a criminal offense in the eyes of the law. These 'unlawful' art pieces are at times used in ads and thus make them no different from other adverts (Golobish, 2009).

The line between art and advertisement gets even more blurred when you bear in mind the litany found on many corporate slogans and logos that invade our public space everywhere; be it on the roads, in towns and other streets' walls. These are referred to as advertisements, but they are actually graffiti, that are not meant to make money. They fit the public's descriptions of visual litter. Artists such as Bransky hereby appear to be hypocrites for hating adverts for their brightness, ".The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people." The same bright colors are ever-present in these graffiti and they are as invasive and distracting as the other advertisements that are meant for making money.

Delana asks, "what about advertisements that are truly beautiful?" Another very bewildering part on the difference between real art and advertisement is the fact that street artists have gotten fame, recognition, fame and prestige for their art. Artists such as Neckface and Banksy, who criticizes advertisement and says that it cannot be real art, were once regarded as criminals but today, they enjoy triumphant careers as artists (Delana 2008). Other people who relate to art and have gained commercial success and live their dream earning their living from art include Shephard Fairey, who is the creator of Obey and Faile, who is an artist collective. The fact that they earn from art makes art just as equivalent to advertising.

The border line between pure art and advertising cannot be set. The truth is that even the so-called fine art, has no difference in principle from advertising. There exists no fundamental difference between art and advertising, they are no longer different from each other and thus, what the critics try to do is invent distinctions so as to preserve the individualism fantasy. Street advertising is no weapon for evil advertisement because it all starts as street art such as graffiti and then it turns out to be another moneymaking ad that the artist can live on (Bill, 2001).