Exercise 2 — Street art

STREET ART Street art was once dismissed ¹ pure vandalism, but today it is widely regarded as a serious art form. Artists such as Banksy have shown that walls and street corners ² be just as powerful a canvas as any gallery. ³ contrast to paintings in museums, street art is free for anyone to see, which is one of the reasons ⁴ its popularity continues to grow. Many cities now actively encourage the practice ⁵ commissioning murals from local artists and protecting them with special legislation. ⁶, traditional graffiti remains illegal in most places, and the line ⁷ art and vandalism is often unclear. Critics argue that allowing some artists to paint on public buildings ⁸ others are prosecuted is fundamentally unfair, and the debate is unlikely to be settled any time soon.