Graffiti often has a bad reputation, but when real artists are taken on, this street art turns the city into a completely stunning modern place. Graffiti and street art are not always legal, but this rarely stops street artists from showing their work to others.
In recent years, quality street art has become one of the areas that attract tourists from around the world. Street art is able to tell a whole story about culture and life without a single word. More and more communities include street art and graffiti in the design of modern neighborhoods and districts of their cities.
Street art, as a living display of thought, crowded the world. This direction of art continues to gain momentum, opening to the world more and more writers, conducting more festivals and spraying more and more colors on the walls. But some cities stand out, striking the scale and boldness of thought. Below are the cities, literally permeated with the atmosphere of graffiti, which should get on the tourist route of every connoisseur of style and the best graffiti fonts.
Take a look at the best street artwork from around the world:
BERLIN | GERMANY
You can find street art in the German capital literally everywhere. One of the main street art teams of Berlin is considered to be three guys from the Mentalgassi team, who have some of the best and unique art works in the city.
This city can literally be called synonymous with street art. A striking example is the historical heritage of the city, part of which occupies the East Side Gallery: 1.3 km of the Berlin Wall is covered with 105 graffiti, which was worked on by writers from around the world. The transformation of the wall into an art object began in 1990.
NEW YORK | USA
For many years now, this city has attracted an incredible number of talented people from all over the world. Thanks to this, New York City’s history and culture is unlike any other city. No list of the best street art cities in the world will be complete without one of the founders of this art form – New York.
In recent years, street art artists from New York City have flocked to Bushwick, a neighborhood of Brooklyn known for its hipster culture. There are many world-famous street art works, from pink Buff Monster drawings to incredibly realistic portraits on the walls of buildings.
This uncompromising city, known for its towering skyscrapers and bright billboards, has been a haven for street art workers since the early 1980s, representing many different forms of art from Harlem to Brooklyn and beyond.
There are such famous works as Banksy’s “Hammerboy”, a stencil-painting work near Broadway, or Keith Haring’s huge “Bowery Mural”, which became popular with other artists creating their own works in the area.
LOS ANGELES | USA
Many people associate Los Angeles strictly with Hollywood and the film industry. But this is a misconception. LA is one of the main world centers of street culture development. The city’s ethnic diversity gives us the most different masterpieces of street culture. Here you can find murals inspired by Mexican history, and strictly African-American criminal graffiti, and works that would not be ashamed to be exhibited in art galleries… In general, street art in Los Angeles can be studied for weeks and still find something new.
BOGOTA | COLAMBIA
Among other things, Bogota differs from many other cities in the world by the fact that many areas are legal for drawing on the walls. Therefore, in recent years, many talented young artists have grown up here, who were not forbidden to express themselves. One of them, CRISP, a few years ago began conducting tours for interested people who want to see street art hidden from the eyes of visitors. CRISP not only shows the drawings to all comers, but also explains the hidden meaning behind them.
However, in terms of street art, Bogota still remains in the shadow of its more famous neighbors – Brazil and Mexico.
MEXICO CITY | MEXICO
In the capital of Mexico you can find truly incredible works from the world of street art. The city became even more colorful with the appearance of the street movement All City Canvas, which included 9 talented street art artists. Most of the works of the team were created with the support of the city of Mexico City.
In Mexico City you can see with your own eyes absolutely stunning works of artists from all over the world! Many murals have already become a historical treasure of the city and without them it is simply impossible to imagine it.
A big step in the “new” history of street art in Mexico City was the festival “All City Canvas”. 9 artists painted many city buildings with bright and conceptual paintings. Permissions for this grand event were collected for almost a year, but it was worth it.
VALPARAISO | CHILI
Street art in Valparaiso can be seen in some of the safest tourist areas of the city – Cerro Alegre and Cerro Concepcion.
LONDON | GREAT BRITAIN
Street art in London can be found in many places and in many kinds: from Banksy street stencils and bright graffiti on the walls to giant statues like the blue rooster placed on Trafalgar Square.
To truly immerse into London’s street art culture, you should definitely visit Shoreditch’s district. Also a great option will be walking London Walking Tours – one of the longest walking tours in London, dedicated to street art.
Street art festivals are gaining popularity around the world, attracting more and more artists. But perhaps the most atmospheric graffiti festival in Europe is Upfest, which is held every summer in the hometown of the most famous rider – Banksy. In recent years more than 300 famous artists from all over the world have been working on the Upfest project. Some works are temporary in nature, but there are also those that live until next summer on large sites and buildings.
PRAGUE | CHEZIA
Prague’s streets are simply covered with various drawings. Graffiti in this city is already a part of culture and one of the main ways of expression for young street art artists. Almost every street in Prague is painted with graffiti. This art form here expresses the cultural traditions and diversity of the city. Many famous writers have left their mark in the Czech capital. Among them are CRYTIC257, SCARF, TRON and EPOS257. The real names of these people are unknown to people, but in Prague you can find their works even in art galleries.
LISBON | PORTUGAL
In 2011, the Portuguese capital created the Crono Project, which was aimed at decorating abandoned buildings. The best local street art artists took on the work.
RIO DE JANEIRO | BRAZIL
Street art in Rio is more than just drawings on the walls. For some crime-stricken neighborhoods, colorful spaces have become a real salvation: by attracting the attention of tourists, residents have been able to attract the attention of city authorities to their problems.
MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA
Street art in Melbourne gained its popularity back in the 70-80s of the last century. At that time, inspired by New York City graffiti culture, local youth literally made a street art revolution in Australia.
Melbourne is the most unusual city in Australia in terms of street currents. Street frescoes, graffiti, murals… – All this will literally fill the streets and buildings of the city. The authorities do not interfere with freestyle art: tourists can explore a map of the city, which shows the most striking examples of graffiti. Owners of buildings easily give their premises to street artists. And the best works are concentrated around such streets in the city center as Hosier Lane.
BUENNOS AIRES | ARGENTINA
This beautiful city is known for a variety of moods and directions in the street art. Here you can easily see on the walls of both the inherent Latin American themes of mixing reality and fantasy, and work on quite modern themes, inspired by technical progress. The number of different murals in Buenos Aires is so great that you can study them more than one day. Recently, local guides even hold special tours for visitors, showing the most famous of them.
The capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires, is a dynamic city with streets that can be fully photographed in Instagram The ideal place to create paintings on already magnificent facades.
Buenos Aires is also unique because there are practically no restrictions on where and what you can paint. There are no laws to obtain the consent of the authorities (although you must ask the owner of the property for permission) and there are definitely no restrictions on freedom of speech – you can safely draw images on politically sensitive subjects. This city is an attractive place for artists with a clear message. For example, the artist Blu, who created a work on the Argentine people, “blinded” by his devotion to the flag of the country.
The area around Palermo (in particular, the Mercado de Las Pulgas), the Santa Rosa street, the suburbs near Fitz Roy and Castillo streets, and the Avenida del Libertador, where you can see impressive frescoes stretching through vast spaces, are especially notable.
LODZ | POLSH
You hardly knew how strong the street art scene is in Poland. The pearl of the country is the city of Lodz, where you can see absolutely stunning wall paintings of huge size on the streets. Most of the graffiti in Lodz is painted by the duo Etam, and each of them is unique in its own way. All the guys’ works have their own connotations and often reflect one or another local folklore plot.
ISTANBUL | TURKEY
Istanbul Street Art has gained momentum in recent years and is not going to stop. This is largely due to the great popularity of the local graffiti festival Mural Istanbul. One way or another, the city streets are filled with drawings of various sizes and themes. Such areas of Istanbul as Kadikey and Karakoy are mandatory for anyone who is at least a little bit interested in street art. Here you can see a lot of works by local masters, as well as internationally recognized graffiti legends.
PARIS | FRANCE
The streets of Paris are filled with works of masters of various calibers and attract the attention of tourists with their originality. Due to the fact that France has experienced many revolutions, coups, wars, and a number of radical social changes, graffiti here is often imbued with historical and political context. In addition, it is noticeable that the French remember the history of their classic art and often make references to it.
BARCELONA | SPAIN
STAVANGER | NORWAY
OZ | FRANCE
MALTA
GAVI | USA
ATHENS | GREECE
In the capital of Greece, graffiti has a somewhat political character: street art has become a way of expressing beliefs and rights. The first graffiti with this connotation began to appear from the time of the financial crisis, caused by a large flow of emigrants. To explore alternatives to Athens, you can even take a tour of street art, which tells everything from stencils and tags to huge murals and graffiti on a large scale found in the Azi, Monastiraki, Psirri and Efio quarters.
CAPE TOWN | SOUTH AFRICA
At the very edge of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, there is a small enclave of artists who turn the streets of Cape Town into works of art.
Emerging as a form of protest against apartheid oppression, street art in South Africa has become a way to revive communities and overcome racial inequality. Street art in Cape Town is no exception and also has its roots in revolts against racism and oppression. Today, however, it touches on many issues, from human rights to wildlife conservation, as evidenced by many elephant inspired works by renowned local artist Falko One.
Street art with images of idols like former President Nelson Mandela or performer Hugh Macekela and faces of locals can be found all over the city. However, this art is definitely concentrated in some areas previously affected by segregation, such as the Sixth Quarter and Woodstock, and among the colorful houses of Bo-Kaap.
Prominent artists include Faith47, Nardstar, the Bushman and Skumbozo Vabazo.
