Spray Paint

If you’re into urban art or abstract expressionist works, George Thornton Art has a beautiful and unique range of spray paint paintings for sale. This technique has existed for thousands of years before the invention of the aerosol spray can or air brush. Prehistoric peoples used their mouths to moisten and blow pigment through hollow bones to paint cave walls. The likes of which can be seen in Lascaux, France - one of the worlds most famous examples of prehistoric painting. The technique employed by early man was a splatter effect not unlike that of some modern-day spray paint applicators. In modern times, the medium is typically associated with either graffiti art, but many fine art painters also use everyday spray paint within the studio, often in addition to brushes. The rise of industrialization in the late 1800s led to the creation of the first modern airbrush, which was used to produce finely detailed images used in manuals, advertisements, and magazines. In the 1950s, many painters utilized spray paint to produce abstract colour field compositions. The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the birth of the graffiti boom in New York City. Street artists embraced aerosol spray paints and airbrushes, covering public spaces with subversive visual commentary on socio-political topics like class, race, and gender. Artists today continue this tradition of rebellion both inside and outside of the studio, using spray paint to beautify and educate the urban jungle. The most famous spray paint artists include street artist Banksy , known for spray painting his witty, cutting and political stencils across cites all over the world. Jean-Michel Basquiat used spray paint in his early SAMO days as well as to touch up his later paintings. Fred Brathwaite and Lee Quinones, most known for graffitiing “Stop the Bomb” on a subway car (1979), are some of the earliest and most known street artists of the New York boom.