Reading comprehension 7
The story of street art
Modern graffiti began in big cities in the United States in the 1970s. In New York,
young people wrote their names, or 'tags', in pen on walls around the city.
One of the first 'taggers' was a teenager called Demetrius. His tag was TAKI 183. He wrote
his tag on walls and in stations in New York. Other teenagers saw Demetrius's tag and
started writing their tags too. Soon, there were tags on walls, buses and trains all over New
York.
Then, some teenagers started writing their tags with aerosol paint. Their tags were bigger
and more colorful. Aerosol paint graffiti became very popular in the 1970s and 1980s. It
appeared on trains, buses and walls around the world.
In the 1990s and 2000s, a lot of graffiti artists started painting pictures. Some artists' pictures
were about politics. Other artists wanted to make cities beautiful and painted big, colorful
pictures on city walls.
Graffiti in galleries
In some countries, writing or painting on walls is a crime. Sometimes, graffiti artists have
problems with the police. In other countries, artists can draw and paint in certain places. For
example, in Taiwan, there are 'graffiti zones' where artists can paint on walls. In São Paulo
in Brazil, street artists can paint pictures on walls and houses. Their pictures are colorful and
beautiful. Some tourists visit São Paulo just to see the street art!
In Bristol in the UK, there is a street art festival in August every year. Artists paint all the
buildings in a street. Lots of people come to watch the artists and take photos. You can
see exhibitions of street art in some galleries too. There have been exhibitions of street art
in galleries in Paris, London and Los Angeles.
Who are the artists?
Some street artists have become famous. Here are three stars of the street art world:
Os Gêmeos are twin brothers from São Paulo. They paint big, colorful pictures of people on
buildings. In 2007, they painted a castle in Scotland!Blek le Rat is from Paris. He is famous
for painting pictures of homeless people in big cities.Faith47 is from Cape Town in South
Africa. She paints big, colorful pictures of people and animals. She likes painting in different
places and you can find her work on pavements, postboxes, buses and, of course, on
walls!The future of street art
Many street artists use the internet to look at photos of street art from around the world.
They communicate with other artists online and share ideas. Some street artists are famous
and you can see their pictures in galleries. We don't know about the future of street art, but it
is here to stay for sure!
I - Find a suitable place for below sentence
1. Os Gêmeos painted a castle here.
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2. Faith47 comes from this South African city.
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3. There is a street art festival here every August.
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4. Tourists visit this city to see street art.
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5. In the 1970s, young people wrote 'tags' on the city walls.
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6. Here, artists can paint and write in 'graffiti zones'.
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II - Are the sentences true or false? Let’s fix it !
1. Demetrius’s tag was 'TAKI 457'....
2. Demetrius wrote his tag in pen….
3. Aerosol paint graffiti became popular in the 1970s and 1980s…..
4. Some galleries have exhibitions of street art….
5. Os Gêmeos paints pictures of homeless people in big cities…..
6. Faith47 doesn’t paint on walls…..
