STREET ART ALL OVER THE WORLD

 

Street art is a form of art displayed in public places, on buildings or on publicly viewed surfaces. It was born as a form of vandalism with graffiti, it has evolved and changed and now street artists use street art to convey political massages, to draw attention on a particular aspect of society or just to show their talent. Street art allows artists to reach everyone.

 

Everything started with graffiti between 1920s and 1930s in New York especially in Brooklyn and Bronx, sides of trains, cars and walls started to be filled of graffiti.

 

In the 1970s and 1980s it was the time when young people, by responding to their social and political environment started to create a movement, and took the ‘battle for meaning’ in their own hands and street art started to grow.

 

Even if in most places it is still illegal to paint buildings without the owner’s permission and even if someone still considers it a form of vandalism, street art nowadays is part of the cities, and we can see impressive works all around the world. Here are some of the best cities for street art.

 

Buenos Aires 

The streets of Buenos Aires are adorned with massive murals and charismatic stencils made by both international and local artists. Throughout the barrios (neighborhoods) various urban artworks convey everything from political messages to lighthearted scenes.

 

Melbourne

Australia’s second largest city is internationally known for its labyrinth of colorful “graffiti laneways”. Street artists from around the world have left their marks on Melbourne’s most famous passageways.

 

Lisbon  

Previous public-art initiatives like the Crono Project and Galeria de Arte Urbana have made various spaces across Lisbon available for street artists to adorn, from building walls to recycling bins.

 

Berlin

Berlin brims with street art far beyond the graffiti-covered remains of the Berlin Wall. During the Cold War, the wall became a target for politically motivated art, as did abandoned buildings across the German city. Today, symbolic street art decorates facades in hip neighbourhoods near the East Side Gallery.

Montreal

Each June, Montreal hosts the 11-day Mural Festival, a lively event that attracts prominent street artists in celebration of the international urban art movement. But the local arts community in this Canadian city produces public works throughout the year (even during the winter cold).

 

New York

The city where everything started. Since the 1980s, visual artists from across the globe have flocked here to spray paint their masterpieces on the walls of the concrete jungle.

 

London 

London’s street art is one of the most widely-renowned. Rivington Street is the street where the most famous street artist in the world, Banksy, has satirical art. Other noted street artists here include Thierry Noir and David Walker. In total, there are nearly two dozen different pieces to see within a five-minute walk.

 

Seoul  

Students from the arts school at Hongik University first started painting the walls, shutters and buildings around the campus. The art has become so popular that a festival happens every year to celebrate it, with freestanding blank concrete walls erected so artists can decorate them.

Francesca, 4sc