Guerilla Art, edited by Sebastian Peiter, is a coffee-table style, hardcover art book that contains a compilation of profiles and interviews with some of the world's best-known street artists. These include British Banksy (of course!), Brazilian twins os gémeos, New York graffiti crew, Barnstormers, and Parisians Space Invader and Blek Le Rat, as well as a number of up and coming artists who are constantly redefining the scene. The hardcover, image-strong format of the book suits its purpose – to profile influential street artists and record a snapshot of their signature style and key works. Fans of typography might enjoy the photographs of Eine's distinctive letters on London roller-doors which are used as headings throughout the pages. While rich in images and very effective in terms of ensuring that the voices of the artists themselves comes through loud and strong, thus providing insight into their creative drives and political motivation, the book is somewhat lacking in a critical narrative that ties all of these different perspectives together. It does not explore the key themes and similarities that drive the diverse collection of artistic styles, or dig into the aesthetic debates, disparities and schisms that may drive innovation and creativity within the scene. The interviews and profiles merely sketch out a brief history of each artist – when they starting making street art, what motivated them, how they defined their unique style. This is not to say that such insights are not interesting or even useful, especially to fans of popular and street culture, but I felt there was a little something missing in terms of bringing together these narratives into something that was more than the sum of its parts; more than a catalogue of individual street artists with memorable visual signatures.

This is rectified to some degree, however, in the accompanying DVD documentary, which is cleverly embedded into the book's front cover. Filmed in large cities all over the world and featuring interviews with many key street artists, it shows the artists' in action, and includes an accessible and in-depth commentary on the ways in which commercial cultures have appropriated and interacted with graffiti artists, and vice versa. An overarching critical theme comes together in the film much more strongly than in the book. There is something about the multimedia format of the film that brings the subject matter more to life – to see Blek Le Rat pasting up a massive stencil, or witness how WK Interact gets his dynamic portraits of stretched gunslingers on to the walls of Manhattan's streets is truly fascinating. It is also very interesting to see how leading street artists – such as Paris' André, known for his stick figure tags - have successfully crossed over into gallery spaces and become innovative cultural entrepreneurs in their own right, skirting the appropriation of large multinationals.  

All in all, the Guerilla Art book/DVD set is sure to be a handsome addition to trendy coffee tables (especially if there is a Banksy or Obey print on the wall behind it). Its certainly a good introduction to the word's leading street artists to those not yet in the know, although to those who are, the film in particular offers great insight into a fascinating area of popular culture. 

Guerilla Art
Edited by Sebastian Peiter
Laurence Kind, 2009