Here in Chicago, we at RIPT Apparel see a ton of art hidden in alleyways, decorating building walls, and brightening the streets. Art unifies us through open-ended images. If you think about it, street artists are the unspoken superheroes that give a voice to issues facing their community. They live through their art in order to get their message across, which sounds like one hell of a superpower to me.
So without further introduction, check out these 9 street artists you want to know about.
1. David Zinn
Cartoons, superheroes, and aliens, Oh my! Zinn’s temporary chalk sidewalk art can be found in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A concrete sidewalk can become a peeled back hiding place for his whimsical creatures. With his pieces, David makes sure you aren’t stepping on those cracks in the sidewalk.
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2. Everfresh Crew
These 9 Aussies know how to decorate their city. Their street style ranges from graffiti cartoon anthropomorphic spray cans to realistic black and white portraits. Check out one of their members, Phibs, and his tagging adventures on Instagram.
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3. Banksy
We couldn’t leave out the biggest mystery man in street art. Banksy’s full name is still unknown, and that’s just how he likes it. Banksy creates controversially dark pieces all throughout the world. His stencil graffiti masterpieces never fail to make you contemplate the state of our society. Check out his Academy Award nominated documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, on Netflix!
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4. OakOak
This French artist is the King of doodle trolling. He can take the blandest cracks in the pavement and transform them into humorous portrayals of pop culture characters. In his words, his city is “his own huge playground”.
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5. Shepard Fairey
Well known for his Obey Propaganda clothing line and guerilla marketing tactics, this 46-year-old American bred activist first became famous from a sticker campaign entitled “Andre Giant Has a Posse”. Since then, he illustrated his activism through most of his works, including the well-known Hope artwork done during Obama’s presidential campaign. Brownie points, he’s designed covers for several musicians’ (Smashing Pumpkins, Led Zeppelin, Flogging Molly).
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6. SpY
Similar to Banksy, SpY takes a satirical stance on society through inventive street art. Unlike other urban street artists, this Madrid-bred man uses everyday urban objects to make messages (replacing buckets for fountain heads, making massive designs out of leaves, installing 150 CCTV cameras on a Madrid wall).
thisiscolossal.com
7. Swoon
This Pratt Institute graduate made her art global through a medium called wheat pasting. Her name, Swoon, illustrates the gender discrimination for women in graffiti art. Hey boys, she can run from the coppers too.
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8. Inti
Representing Chile, Inti portrays pre-Colombian clown-like figures that represent social, economic, religious, and political themes in society. One of Inti’s icons, the glowing, mysterious, and ghostly figure, Kusillo, scales plenty of buildings throughout the entire world.
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9. Eduardo Kobra
This fedora-wearing Brazilian muralist surely knows how to catch your attention with his vibrant murals of popular pop culture icons. This cool cat doesn’t forget any shade of the rainbow in his works depicting David Bowie, the V-Day poster, Tupac, Albert Einstein, and more.
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Are we right when we say these are the 9 street artists you want to know?
From humorous doodles to political satire, these street artists know how to connect to the random passerby. Still, there are thousands of other street artists, taggers, and muralists whose work impacts our world.
What other artists deserve a spot on this list?