Five Street Artists You Should Know

I am a great fan of Street Art. Collecting it is one of my hobbies. I have on my trips around the world since the 90s, searched for and photgraphed Street Art in more than a hundred countries.

Humourous, captivating, disturbing and heavily engaged urban frescoes adorn the walls of cities worldwide. However, with street art’s increasing presence in galleries, many believe that the street art is “domesticating” itself, and is losing its urban identity. This post take ypu to the streets to find the five street artists you simply must know.

1. Banksy

Evidently, we cannot approach the street art subject without talking about Banksy. Mixing politics, humour and poetry through stencils of children, soldiers and even monkeys, Banksy’s murals have become an essential reference for every street artist. Through provocative imagery, the enigmatic Banksy creates highly engaging artwork. My absolute favourte artist (or artist group). The King of Street Art

2. Vhils

Alexandro Farto, A.K.A Vhils, is a Portuguese street artist born in 1987. Vhils’ notoriety exploded when Banksy invited him to the London Cans Festival in 2008. The artist travels around the world, creating his monumental frescoes and revolutionising stencil-based artworks. He approaches graffiti with a variety of media and material, including scissors or even jackhammers.

3. Roa

Belgian artist ROA predominately works in Europe and the United States. The street-artist creates enormous black and white murals, which most of the time represent animals such as rodents or birds. His work explores the classification of species and living organisms.

4. Kobra

Eduardo Kobra is a Brazilian artist, who began his career in 1987. Kobra transforms urban landscapes into multicoloured frescoes, which often carry political messages warning of the effects of global warming and deforestation. Kobra’s kaleidoscopic works have earnt him an esteemed ranking in the world of street art.

5. Invader

You might have seen various “invaders” adorning the walls of Paris or Los Angeles. These popular computer game characters were created by an artist who hides behind the pixelated faces of his subjects, never revealing his true identity. Since the late 90s, Invaderhas turned the streets into an urban tribute to 80s video games, “invading” public spaces with a vintage, digitalised reality.

Source:Artspe Magazine