What is High and Lowbrow

Author David Grazian defines cultural capital as, “one’s store of knowledge and proficiency with artistic and cultural style that are valued by society and confer prestige and honor upon those associated with them”(Grazian141). There are two types of cultural capital, one being high-brow culture which Grazian defines as being, “the fine arts consumed by the affluent classes,” and the other being lowbrow culture which Grazian then describes as being, “the kinds of mass culture stereotypically associated with the working class or so called lower class” (Grazian 132). 

         

Reassessing High and Lowbrow Cultural

With this shift in cultural beliefs people broaden what they consider to be valuable to their cultural capital. An example of lowbrow capital transforming into something more affluent people considered to be valuable is evident especially with artwork. Graffiti artist such as Banksy transformed what the wealthy considered to be high-end art pieces because he put what the wealthy would consider to be masterpieces pasted in urban spaces. Even before him the artist Jean Basquiat was a homeless man turned famed artist where he then, “…[was] making paintings that sell for $10,000 to $25,000. They [were] reproduced in art magazines and also as part of fashion layouts, or in photographs of chic private homes in House & Garden. They [were] in the collections of the publisher S. I. Newhouse, Richard Gere, Paul Simon and the Whitney Museum of American Art”(McGuigan1). Many now are able to look into cultures that they would not have been exposed to before. This exposer to other forms of expressions and idea by other social classes and different cultures is now broadcasted to a broader audience.

(Per Capita 1981) Jean Basquiat's work was interpreted by art enthusiast and collectors. Galleries that one his work have also created websites to deeper explore his art. Jean was of Black and Puerto Rican decent that had a drug addiction and was homeless but despite that fact collectors world wide saw his artwork as revolutionary and a creative and new way to interpret societal issue. 

(Untitled 1981) This is an example of Jean Basquiat's work that has an estimated value of $20 million. art collectors described his style as "Urban Primitivism" and aggressively compete to own his artwork and interpret the meaning.

(This is a Pipe) Artist known as Banksy transfixed the art world similarly to Jean Basquiat by using ubran spaces to display his artwork. This fascinated the art collector community, and in this painting he references the painting done by Rene François Ghislai Magritte who is a famous Belgian painter from the surrealist era. To understand this reference you would need the Cultural Capital, however, Banksy is considered to be a Graffiti artist which is considered to be lowbrow.

In this piece by Banksy paints a ballerina on the back of a framed picture to imitate a tight rope. The material used is considered urban but the image of the ballerina is a symbol of highbrow culture. 

Media's Effect on society

Unfortunately with this exposer to new forms of culture stereotypes are also at risk of being perpetuated or wrongly perceived. People then wrongly associate traits with other cultures and then proceed to distance themselves from the other race. With apps like Vine users perpetuate stereotypes in a form of comedy by exaggerating racial biases. People then internalize this and come to the conclusion that all people of this race act this certain way, solely based on it is all they are exposed to in media. This is especially true when it comes to people who are isolated from another race or have no connection with the other side. Then all they know is what the race is like from media sites. From that they separate their actions from the otherrace and create a barrier because of what they believe to be differentbehaviors.  This process is called “othering” where it,  “… consists in ‘objectification of another person or group’ or ‘creating the other’, which puts aside and ignores the complexity and subjectivity of the individual” (Dervin 7). This is the unfortunate side affect that came with the expanding of the media.