Street Knowledge is the new book published by Harper Collins, which celebrates street art from around the world. The book includes contributions from some famous artists and talents from across the world including Banksy, David LaChapelle, Kelsey Brooks, The KLF, Shawn Stussy and Benjamin Zephania. Irvine Welsh has also contributed, by writing the forward. Now, down to the important bit. What’s it like?
The book acts as an “insiders guide” to both graffiti and street art alongside some of the cities in the world that the art is found in. Spanning a massive collection of contributors, both from the early 80’s up to the modern-day work of Iranians, it’s basically aiming to encompass and describe how street culture has injected itself into every aspect of modern life.
The city guides act as a radar, giving the you an insight into the hottest spots, where to eat, sleep and drink and places to check out the freshest art, design and fashion. Of course, printed matter is going to be out of date exceptionally quickly, but it stands as a good starting point if you are visiting any of those cities or want to read up on them.
In terms of design and print standards, the book matches the content. A great cover, with artwork by Hush and a cut out for the title. I have to say though, the cutout and blue is a bit over the top for the colours in Hush’s anime character behind – but hey, you can’t have it all. Inside, you’ll find vivid print and well laid out copy, which helps to tell the story behind each city and it’s unique qualities.
The video above sees some of the contributors talking about the book, including Martha Cooper and Irvine Welsh.
Want a copy? Pick one up from Amazon.co.uk for £12.90. But if you haven’t got the money to spare and fancy your chances of winning a copy, we have 3 to give away.
To enter this simple competition, we ask that:
- 1. You become a fan of UK Street Art on Facebook
- 2. Leave a comment on the Facebook page explaining why you should win a copy of the book by completing the sentence “I want a copy of the new King Adz book because…”
- 3. Cross your fingers.
Terms & Conditions
Competition closes on Friday 8th October, 2010. We will notify the winners shortly afterwards and arrange delivery for their books