Sea Wolf: February 2008

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Street Art

I have always enjoyed seeing the various forms of street art and graffiti briefly on display in alleys, on brick walls or on the entire side of buildings. It has now become mainstream what with several hard cover books and documentaries on graffiti and popular spray can artists from around the world being portrayed. There are also many styles ranging from the classic stylized letters and full blown murals to small stencil art and sticker art.

Here is a sample of some of my favourites.

All of the above are from Toronto. I have no idea who made them even though, sometimes, the artists' names or pseudonyms can be clearly seen. Part of the appeal is the anonymity. That plus the ephemeral life of each piece.

The next four below are from a couple of Brazilian brothers from Sao Paulo called "Os gemeos" (which means "the twins," which they are). They have an amazing and instantly recognizable style.

Havana

NYC

Sao Paulo

A stencil from Buenos Aires

Paris

Cool duct tape rendition of Michael Jackson, Paris

Next ten from Vancouver

Faith 47, South African artist whom I met doing a piece for Vancouver's Mural Festival.

Montreal is another one of those cities that has some fantastic murals and street art.

A piece inspired by the poetry and Arabic calligraphy of Massoudy

Astounding piece commissioned by the City of Montreal from El Mac, honouring Leonard Cohen

Mexico City

Skulls... a common theme in all Mexican art.

Another incredible mural by El Mac, LA based artist, here in Mexico City.

Bogota

Hong Kong

Honouring Carlos Santana in San Francisco's Latino hood of The Mission.

Sidewalk in San Fran's Chinatown.

Los Angeles: by the amazing artist El Mac. The writing is done by his friend Retna.

Shepard Fairey of "Obey" fame in LA

New York, considered the birthplace of modern graffiti, of course has some awesome street art. I have been going there a lot recently with my work and saw some great pieces.