Re: Art as a political statement

You've touched on two things: not only art as a political statement, but street art as an art form in general. For example, street art can tell a story about the history of the city. I will however agree that it seems street art often has some kind of political connection, whether or not the artist admits or intends for that connection.

First, let's go with obvious political statement:

US president Obama visit Stockholm, Sweden - Artists covered the city's statues with orange

US president Barack Obama visit Stockholm, Sweden today and some artists and activists covered the city’s statues heads with orange. – a clear link to Guantánamo. Click here to read more.

If you want to view street art from all over the world, check out this website.

Here is an example of street art that is focused more on the history of a city then a political protest or opinion:

Street art can be found around the world. Some city's promote this kind of art and give young artists a change to express their art around the city. In Heerlen, in the south of the Netherlands near the German border, a group of famous artists got the change of making a brand new mural. 

Earlier artists such as ROA and OsGemeos got the change of making a big mural on the streets of Heerlen. The local government also takes responsibility of maintenance of the art walls. The municipality will reserve €40.000 a year for projects like this. That's why Heerlen has become the most important city in street art in The Netherlands. 

Heerlen got two premiers at the reveal of the new murals. Chinese artist DAleast and South African artist Faith47 never painted on the streets of Holland before.

This mural with the caged bird and gas mask refers to the old days when mine workers in Heerlen took a bird with them to see if there were gas leaks. This is a perfect example of street art being used to tell something about the history of a city.