At one point, I was asked to do an interview on camera for something and it was those questions that inspired me to write a blog this morning. Questions like ‘what first attracted you to street art’ and ‘what does street art mean to you’ – I just found myself driving home thinking about it all and decided to blog about it. I mean, I was not the kind of kid that you would have thought would end up standing in front of a painting, or a collage or an installation, quietly appreciating the underlying message it conveys. In fact, when I was a lot younger, I hated museums in general. Dusty old relics of a bygone age hanging on walls where you couldn’t touch them and paintings of old geezers in wigs that looked like my schoolteachers. No thanks!

But along with the musical renaissance that was punk rock came the imagery. The spectacular clothes from Vivienne and Malcolm - (that ironically do the rounds now in the worlds greatest museums!) - and the wonderful artwork of Jamie Reid. The God Save The Queen union jack flag, the postage stamp of the Queen with a safety pin through her lip, these were revolutionary images of rebellion and youth that I could identify with – and when, as an adult, I learnt that these images were reproduced in lithograph form, signed and numbered by the artist, and highly collectable, I made it a point to find them and buy them. This was the first time I realized the power of a nicely framed, subversive piece of art that meant something to me, hanging in my home.

From there, I became aware of other artists that created lithographs, high quality prints, and then obviously from there I became aware of the fine art versions – HPM’s (or hand painted multiples) – extremely limited numbers of these artists works that are not screen-printed but hand crafted. Originals. The more I learnt, the more I realized that the message was a punk rock message. One of ‘anyone can do this’ – one of ‘express yourself’, ‘look around you’, ‘see the truth’, ‘don’t accept what they feed you’ – an extremely creative and individual genre. I related to the vibe and to the emotion. And the way I see it, events like last night are bringing that world into the mainstream consciousness.

I was talking to someone last night who said they didn’t understand it. But I asked them what it was that they didn’t understand – and they proceeded to give me an amazing account of how the art made them feel – fearful (of the world we live in), scared (that the Man is out to get us), heightened awareness of our daily surroundings – I mean, this person was very clear about the many emotions and feelings they experienced while in the museum. I simply pointed out that in that case, they actually did understand it all, that art provokes emotion (that can be different in each person.) That it was obvious they had been very moved by the exhibition. My point is that maybe you don’t have to overthink art. If you look at it and it makes you feel anything, then voila! You get it. It doesn’t have to be the same thing as the artist felt when they made the piece. It’s the same as music – when I write a song, it means a certain thing to me, it’s about a certain thing. But if someone else hears a different message or subject in the same song, then that’s perfect to me. As long as it makes you feel SOMETHING!

Now the debate is, of course, what will happen. When Punk Rock was brought into mainstream consciousness, it died immediately! The energy and the attitude live on of course, but the movement as a whole became diluted and overplayed. But somehow I doubt that will happen with contemporary/street art. It’s been around us for decades. From Andy Warhol to graffiti, we’ve had years of creative, individual expression through art. The fact that Shepard and Banksy and Invader and Blu are now being shown in institutions like the MOCA, alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat just raises the bar and illustrates the power behind the art. The emotions and the messages are the same, and I love that. And the pieces are just amazing. Everyone deserves to be able to see them – and now they can. If you live in LA, get off your fucking arse and go see this exhibition. You can thank me later.