Guerilla art is the surreptitious, and often sudden, creation or installation of unauthorized public art, often with the purpose of making an overt political statement. The term is often used interchangably with "street art."

Guerilla art consists of reclaiming space and changing its dynamics with images or counter images, art that has been created anonymously and left on walls or in places such as public squares. Guerrilla art is not only spray paint and text and images. It can also encompass theater and film projections projected on walls of buildings.

Guerilla art has arisen as a small underground movement starting in the 1980s, partially as a response to the perceived takeover of public space by commercial interests, the perceived banality of many authorized public art pieces, and the frequent lack of authorized exhibition opportunities for artists.

One of the most popular forms of guerilla art is the alteration of billboards, often with the intent of creating an absurd or ironic message from the original advertising content. Such installations are often meant to be somewhat subtle.

A school of thought exists that much artistically-intended graffiti can be considered as guerilla art as well.

Stickers, stencils and poster art are increasingly influential—Robbie Conal regularly uses Los Angeles as his personal gallery space. Shepard Fairey's Obey Giant stickers can now be seen in cities across the United States. Other prominent members of the movement include the billboard liberation front, Adbusters, Bansky and the Guerilla Girls.

Although guerilla art is sometimes equated with the use of disposable media, one of the most famous pieces of guerilla art was the installation of the bronze sculpture Charging Bull by Arturo Di Modica in front of the New York Stock Exchange in December 1989. Although unauthorized, the sculpture became an immediate hit with many New Yorkers, leading to its permanent installation a few blocks away in Bowling Green plaza.Jason Sprinkle, part of Fabricators of the Attachment (FA), tied a chain to the hammering man in Seattle, WA. Another guerrilla art group, the Provos, during the 60s in Amsterdam acted out happenings where the Provos would give out thousands of white bikes. In another "performance," the Provos dressed up as Santa Claus and handing out presents that did not belong to them to children in the department store, causing the police to respond and publicy arrest a handful of Santas in front of the children.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Guerilla_Art".