Institutionalization of underground art

Some forms of communication and expression of the underground culture have evolved from often illegal practices aimed at a limited group, to accepted artistic practices with a wide audience. Institutions such as galleries and museums have started to include these types of art, which were once excluded and even considered as criminal elements, in their programs. Thus, the increasing visibility by the institutionalization of these alternative art practices gathered under the term underground art is followed by steps such as academic acceptance, popularization and commercialization. In this thesis, the institutionalization stages of underground art are first discussed in terms of the transition process of graffiti and street art movements to art galleries. Today, as a result of the concept of street art being accepted as a contemporary art movement, a genre in which many works are examined under its name, this concept has expanded considerably to include works produced in an art studio and exhibited in galleries, museums and auctions. This situation has been shared as the clearest example that reveals the transformation that followed the institutionalization of underground art. Then, the institutionalization stages of the American underground culture through the lowbrow art movement inspired by the forms of expression such as street art and comics are discussed; the transformation experienced is examined through the development scheme of the galleries which are the representatives of this movement. Finally, the examples of otaku culture, which is a subculture that advances its communication, expression and movements through closed groups and the methods seen in the previous underground culture examples, and the superflat movement, which allows the elements of this culture to meet with high art, popular culture and design are analyzed. By studying the stages of institutionalization through examples, it is aimed to reveal the transformation of the work, which was taken out of its context, in terms of the work itself, its environment and its audience.