*CFP* “EXPLORING THE CO-OPTATION AND COMMODIFICATION OF GRAFFITI AND STREET ART”, SPECIAL ISSUE, VISUAL INQUIRY JOURNAL

Both graffiti and street art are noticeable fixtures in our contemporary urban environments. The individuals and collectivities that are responsible for this activity are as diverse as the content of their work. Although often seen as an anarchic aesthetic movement(s) working outside the machinations of capital and government, recent scholarship on graffiti and street art has begun to focus on how these creative practices are being co-opted and commodified by larger interests (e.g., municipal councils, business improvement districts and corporations) in order to control their placement, and/or to sell goods and services which are deemed desirable. In some areas of the world, this co-option and commodification work within a single block or a neighbourhood; other times, whole cities are aesthetically transformed.

Just as the dividing line between graffiti and street art is ambiguous, so are the forms and impact of this co-option and commodification. Graffiti may be used in the fields of fashion, film, real estate and tourism to sell items or experiences; it may also be used to resist capitalism and offer an angry voice of the marginalized. Street art may be an aesthetic balm covering the wounds of a gentrifying city; it may also be a way for neighbours to rally around art in order to resist being dispossessed of their homes. Questions of co-optation and commodification fit squarely into the debate over the sustainability of street oppositional practices and resistance to powerful interests.

This special issue will assemble approximately six papers that speak to the core of this debate, authored by existing and emerging scholars in this field. We seek articles that explore graffiti and street art from a wide variety of environments (both inside and outside the United States) and time periods, challenging simplistic divides between graffiti/street art and instead argue how these visual practices fit within the larger society.

All papers will be peer reviewed through a double-blinded procedure.

Potential authors are encouraged to contact the editors about possible submission ideas in advance of the submission deadline.

Deadline: 1 January 2020

Articles should be approximately 6500 words in length

Please note: The journal can only print 3-4 pages in colour. The rest of the images will be printed in black and white, and can appear in colour in the online version of your article.

For more information about the call for papers and the journal, click here.