From post-graffiti to contemporary mural art:

The evolution of conservation criteria

Abstract

Works of art in public spaces are part of a type of art adrift because, throughout their existence, they face different attempts of appropriation. From the first instance of sales of graffiti in international fairs like ARCO to their involuntary arrival at auction houses, all of these intermediate actions can be understood as attempts at conservation, since there is a system of assessment in which their ephemeral nature is more questionable than their need for survival. This change of approach also influences the different self-organized artistic approaches that have given way to commissioned works of art, due to the professionalization of artistic activity, which has given rise to a legal change in works of art and, therefore, in the possibilities of their transcendence.