Some of the most inspiring and jaw-dropping works of art can be seen for free simply by stepping out your front door (probably not in Des Moines). Cities are full of vibrant street art, some are hidden and some are large and vibrant to attract attention. Whenever I visit a big city I look for street art. I love finding hidden pieces or phrases on a bus or light pole.
Street art is so popular because it is so available. Unlike a painting in a museum you can touch street art, you are close to it and it interacts with and changes a community. Street art is not hung in a museum (except for certain circumstances). but street art’s worth is still decided by curators and reviewers who have become out of touch with their community.
The most memorable names in street art are Keith Harrring and everyone’s favorite, Banksy. They have had extremely successful commercial success. Keith Harring’s art was released into the public domain, and I have seen his artwork everywhere. American Eagle, Forever 21, Casetify, and other retail brands have taken and appropriated their work into objects to make profits.
Of course, I think art should be appreciated and known by everyone but it saddens me that so many don’t know about Harring’s message behind the art Most of his art deals with the outrage of the AIDS crisis in New York City, which he would eventually die from.
Okay, I don’t hate Banksy. I’m just sick of him. I also believe that his work falls flat on many occasions and only exists to attract attention. He’s very talented but so many more deserve praise over him.
Street art is a male-dominated medium. Most of the street artists you know of are white men but most street artists are black. The elitist art scene has pushed black and women artists to the back deeming them unworthy of praise. Art tends to neglect minorities in its story. A majority of museums only began to display black artists in the 1990s. We have silenced and overlooked so many great art pieces because we were enraptured by artists like Banksy.
I will be highlighting street artists who are part of a minority and have chosen to embrace the weird and obscure.
Steven Ogburn (Blade) - Bronx, New York
New York’s public transit is iconic for its painted street cars. In the 70s and 80s, the subways boomed with colorful and bold graffiti. Some denounce it as simple vandalism, but I think the art adds personality and depth to the usually bland and disgusting subway system.
Blade became an infamous name at this time. he painted 5,000 trains since he started painting in 1972 and rightfully earned the title “King of Graffiti”.
Charismatic characters and overlapping 3D letters to canvas remain recognizable for its ’70s-era color palette and abstract imagery. On his Instagram Blade posts throwbacks of his art from the 70s and 80s. He became the blueprint of graffiti and tagging for all of New York.
To’Ree’Nee’ Wolf Keiser - Tucson, Arizona
To avoid the unforgiving Arizona heat To’Ree’Nee’ works at night. But her art is not inspired by it. Her abstract murals cause bystanders to stop and look at her bright art full of expression and personality.
"I’m your basic American girl. This is what it looks like. Cowgirl boots and dreadlocks," - To’Ree’Nee’ Keiser
This specific art piece was made in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Keiser is Native American and African American, her work is reflective of her experience.
Elizabeth Schoettle (Phoebe New York) - New York City, New York & Paris, France
I love this style. It reminds me of Y2K fashion books I was given as a kid to color in and also of magazine cuttings that I hung up on my walls. It holds a sense of nostalgia for me. I also love small graffiti. Something about it is so personal, it feels like a secret that the artist and I share.
Phoebe is not a small artist by any means, her art has even been covered in Vogue, Phoebe is the alter ego of artist Schoettle. The positive phrases in her art are a testimony to her power, she says such influential words with such a tiny mouth.
Her medium differs from all other artists on this list. Instead of working on a large scale with spray paint, she creates a small scale with mixed media and found objects to leave her mark on the city.
Zoya - St. Petersburg, Russia
Zoya uses her political and social protest graffiti to fight the political regime and also to stand up for women’s rights in St. Petersburg, Russia.
There is not much info on her as an artist. Her art is a hidden gem. her art is so deeply personal that you can see into her mind and feeling just through one piece. One of her murals, The Monster, deals with themes of trauma from growing up in a household with an alcoholic father.
Kashink - Paris, France
Kashink is one of the few very active female artists in the French graffiti/street art scene. She paints huge four-eyed characters, with thick lines, and vivid colors, in a very distinctive style. Her work seems otherworldly and alien-like. She attracts attention with large and strange murals; also with her appearance. Every day she draws on a mustache.
She doesn’t just use one medium to express her meaning but dabbles in performance art as well. To create art means you must like as an artist — it becomes a part of your personality. Kashink embodies this theory, every day she makes art a part of her life.
Street art makes everyday life beautiful. On your monotonous commute to work you probably pass multiple works of graffiti and glance back at them. It draws attention, sometimes it shocks and sometimes it awes. Art is always around us, it does not exist in isolation. Instead of celebrating works just from Banksy we should notice and appreciate local artists, especially those who don’t get as much attention.