Tribute To Graffiti: 50 Beautiful Graffiti Artworks
Street culture and graffiti are well-known for being provocative, appealing, bold and uncompromising. Originally used by gangs to mark their territory in some urban area, graffitis have now become a rich medium for unrestricted expression of ideas and statements. In fact, creative designers and artists across the globe use this form of art to deliver their message and showcase their work.
Probably the most prominent graffiti artist is Banksy, a famous pseudo-anonymous British artist whose works focus on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics. His art has appeared in cities around the world; it’s worth mentioning that Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti or mount exhibitions of screenprints in commercial galleries. You can explore Banksy’s works in the Time’s slideshow The World According To Banksy. However, many different artists explore graffiti in a variety of ways.
In this episode of Monday Inspiration series we are presenting a tribute to street art and graffiti — over 50 examples of beautiful and impressive graffiti artworks. Hopefully everybody will find some inspiration at least in some of the works showcased below. Feel free to explore the works of artists by following the links to their sites.
Graffiti Art
Retna Saber Revok SeventhLetter
Wall Spankers Project
Our goal is to bring together international artists and designers in a collaborative, sharing environment. The website serves as an online gallery showcasing the artists involved in the sticker swap. Currently 4 issues are released.
Muck
Lady Pink: Sandra Fabara
Lady Pink is a legend. In the 1980s she made a name for herself as one of the only females capable of competing with men in the graffiti subculture.
Collective Graffiti, Chiado, Lisbon
Further Resources
- Graffwriter
Create your custom graffiti artwork. - Reverse Graffiti
Eco-friendly graffiti created by actually cutting through and cleaning up grit to leave a lasting impression. - Graffiti finds its place in contemporary art
A young French graffiti artist who goes by the tag name Teurk, clambered onto the ruins of an old bridge and set to work with an aerosol can. - Crookedbrains:Beautiful Graffiti Art
Graffiti from the walls of Israel/Palestine,Brazil and Ukranian - Rene Gagnon:Post-Graffiti Abstract Expressionism
Bridging the Gap Between Urban Graffiti Art and Contemporary Abstract Expressionism. - Artist Draws ‘Clean’ Graffiti from Dirty Walls
A British street artist known as Moose creates graffiti by cleaning dirt from sidewalks and tunnels
Related Articles
You can also take a look at the following related articles:
jOsh
September 14th, 2008 4:56 pmprimero!!! n___n
sorprendente…
i must not copy what i see on the simpsons jajaja XD
ary
September 27th, 2010 7:19 pmlol that is funny but yes u must not
Joe Barstow
September 14th, 2008 5:05 pmAwesome and Inspirational, I’ve been waiting for a graff article for a while!
Thanks SMasH
iamsomebody
July 10th, 2011 8:14 pmtotally agree. i love these artworks… ;)
Andrew G
September 14th, 2008 5:09 pmThanks for the link to the article at Designflavr.
We also have a collection of unique Melbourne Street Art
shishkebab
September 14th, 2008 5:11 pmI love the fact that the title is 50 Beautiful Graffiti Artworks and not ’50 most beautiful’ which you guys featured earlier on some other articles that i found were very subjectives. What a way to start my monday. SMASHING!
zvonko
September 14th, 2008 5:35 pmthanks for these sm…i really loved some of ‘em…
freshness
September 14th, 2008 5:51 pmnice post, but where are the REAL legends??? can2, daim…etc.
they are the real oldschool m’fakaz in this business.
David
September 14th, 2008 5:52 pmGreat Artwork… Keep it up SM!!!
carlos alfredo
March 18th, 2010 9:34 ampuedes darme una letras graffity para mi es q qiero una letra mara tela de alianza lima
tempstyles
September 14th, 2008 6:21 pm50 entries and nothing about mode2 or daim you must be kidding me!?!
Ingram
September 14th, 2008 8:29 pmI really love the drain bunny, cute.
Mark
September 14th, 2008 8:37 pmAwesome set! A lot of inspiration for web designs here too! Did I see a photoshopped one in there?
rajaraman
September 14th, 2008 10:01 pmwt a surprise show, I love it
adam d
September 14th, 2008 10:16 pmIf you all like this post- make sure to check out http://WoosterCollective.com – It’s a celebration of street art and documents street art world wide.
mephistopheles
September 14th, 2008 11:37 pmumm, you can correct me if i’m wrong; but i’m pretty sure banksy and obey are the same person. but other than that, great collection.
farfela
November 25th, 2010 12:47 pmNo, as far as I know Banksy and Obey are not the same person.
Duke
September 14th, 2008 11:45 pmthe “unknown” artist is flickr. com/ photos/ gaiastreetart/
Ash
September 14th, 2008 11:55 pmAbsolutely wonderful article !
neil
September 15th, 2008 12:22 amGreat list by my all time favourite was not on that list….
Here he is, Mode2 – http://www.mode2.org/
OverZero.it
September 15th, 2008 12:33 amGreat collection guys, very interesting!
Thank you.
Mekon
September 15th, 2008 12:47 amWhat about Keith Haring?
Freddie
September 15th, 2008 12:49 amReally good and inspirational stuff here.. great!
Edwin
September 15th, 2008 1:05 amGreat collection! Really awesome!
Abdul Akbar
September 15th, 2008 1:08 amvery good
keepitmassive
September 15th, 2008 1:24 amgood one
Paul
September 15th, 2008 2:02 amHey,
here’s some awesome graffiti / street art, from my home town (Southern Most City in the World), Dunedin New Zealand.
http://heatherbilly.wordpress.com/
sevenTsix
September 15th, 2008 2:21 amNice post, thanks for sharing. I had seen a few before but most were new and some were amazing. Thumbs up NOT because you asked at the top of the page but because it was a good post (ie: no need to ask upfront).
subcess
September 15th, 2008 2:49 amAwesome pictures! I like it! wow!
juFo
September 15th, 2008 3:27 amCum* nice stuff from Belgium.
If you walk in Ghent (BE) you can see some of the work “Cum In The Streets” on several buildings.
informer
September 15th, 2008 3:47 amActually the one with two bottles attributed to Kekko73 (that in this case is just the photographer) is from Bros, a well-known italian writer. Source goes to brosart.com
Tom
September 15th, 2008 4:16 ambanksy and obey are not the same person…
Vašek
September 15th, 2008 4:29 amSkvělé! Jde o opravdu pěkné kousky. Grafiti mi svým způsobem ani nevadí, pokud jsou legální a neničí majetky.
Wes
September 15th, 2008 7:22 amInspiring as hell.
Siah
September 15th, 2008 7:44 amgreat post.
Growing up in NYC, I have always been a fan of graffiti and found it to be an artform that taps in to the social heart of inner cities.
Its kind of like the Mayans or Egyptians that left their stories on walls and stone.
awesome.
Lee Regan
September 15th, 2008 8:14 amHey awesome article to come in to work and read for the cloudy Monday morning here in San Diego. Very talented individuals you chose to showcase here. Cities should support graffiti art such as this because it helps with the arts and culture and is a true representation of the public’s feelings, not some authorized piece by a committee of out of touch politicians.
On that note I wanted to let you all see something I just found out about last week. Its great inspiration for web developers and artists a like. Graffiti Archaeology. This guy put together a flash piece to show how certain graffiti hot spots change over time. Such an amazing idea.
Thanks again for the great inspirational start to the week. You all rock.
freshness
September 15th, 2008 8:38 amYou should know these guys ;)
can2
daim
divine zeal from my hometown, budapest
Sandrups
September 15th, 2008 8:56 amexcelent!
fantastic art of Marco
Eddy
September 15th, 2008 9:09 amI did my art exam about Banksy, some of his work is fantastic!
catarinap
September 15th, 2008 10:12 amamazing!
steve
September 15th, 2008 10:19 amthat is some pretty impressive artwork, i love the sewer drain ones.
Starre Vartan
September 15th, 2008 10:44 amBookmarked to send around anytime idiots say graffiti is vandalism and not art.
Mr Colour Drunk
September 15th, 2008 10:45 amOk where you listing the Artist or the person who took the photo. The top photograph is from a Birmingham Graffiti Artist Spider i think. oh the location is Walsall Skate Park.
Thanks
Tom
September 15th, 2008 11:37 amthe first picture is sadly no longer existing. it was on the skate park in walsall (about 3 miles away from where i am) but the skate ark was recently knocked down to make way for a big apartment building. always enjoyed looking at it though… shame it had to go :(
Johnny Nothing
September 15th, 2008 12:02 pmThey are so beautiful my head is spinning. Really.
Mylith
September 15th, 2008 12:04 pmSory, but there is Daim ?
Vegard
September 15th, 2008 12:34 pmNice collection.
While visiting Cuba last year I found this wonderful piece of art in Centro Habana:
O Silêncio de Musica
It is made by the well-known “Os Gemeos” (the twins) from Brazil.
Cosmi
September 15th, 2008 12:35 pmThis is art! Great job.
Jiff Wilson
September 15th, 2008 12:56 pmLOL, the smoking and the bunny manhole covers are totally awesome. Cool stuff.
Sketcher
September 15th, 2008 1:13 pmGreat scetched wall art!!
crs
September 15th, 2008 1:19 pmthe -Unknown- artist you listed is Gaia — http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaiastreetart/
Also, I liked the selection overall, but I echo the other commentors… no Diam! There is a great amount of beautiful graffiti that doesn’t get photographed and uploaded to flickr… all the more reason to get out there and find that great art!
tori
September 15th, 2008 1:24 pmHey i just wanted to say that this is some of the coolest art work i’ve seen lately. really cool
gogreen
September 15th, 2008 1:27 pmwhat about Bumblebee?
gogreen
September 15th, 2008 1:27 pmwhat about Bumblebee? http://www.flickr.com/photos/theuglyyou
Pedro Almeida
September 15th, 2008 1:41 pmimpossible…
if there is nothing about “the twins”, feio, speto, nunca e nina… the brazilian most “mutherfuckers” in graffit art… isn’t the 50 most beautifull graffit in the word…
sorry the others… but the brazilian street artists are the best
Benedikt
September 15th, 2008 1:51 pmGreat graffitties!
crosone
September 15th, 2008 2:06 pmYou’ve left out some greats: Twist, Cope2, Seen, Os Gemeos, I could go on. Do your homework!
weston deboer
September 15th, 2008 2:22 pmobey’s official site is http://obeygiant.com
BALLZACK
September 15th, 2008 4:24 pmbanksy is bad ass
arranrp
September 15th, 2008 7:29 pmbanksy and obey are not the same person, and banksy has had many commercial exibitions in london uk, and huge rage of books on the market.
mark
September 15th, 2008 10:07 pmI see no DAIM, why is that? He is the best graffiti artist I know of.
lynne
September 15th, 2008 11:18 pmAt least this has given other artists the exposure they should get,also those out there with a real interest in this art form will no doubt be scurrying off and searching Daim(and other unmentioned artists)on the web.
This is an awesome collection by the way,all of these particular pieces are stunning,some thought provoking,others wickedly comical and all beautifully executed works of true art.
Romain
September 15th, 2008 11:28 pmThe abundance of “Graffiti Art” or “Street Art” was one of the reason I stopped writing. Most of this list is either ugly, poorly executed or unoriginal.
Graffiti in itself can be awesome. You just need to dig a little deeper than this superficial crust.
I suggest you google these names for really advanced stuff : RCB, Chintz, Egs, Pum, Cliff Barnes. Go on, they will blow your mind.
STPo
September 16th, 2008 1:13 amFrench guys Mode2 and 123Klan (Scien & Klor) should be in this list too…
Anyway too many amazing graffiti artists on earth to make a list that pleases everyone!
gingerchris
September 16th, 2008 1:59 amObey is not even a person, it’s a brand. All the Obey artwork is done by Shepherd Fairey
zoe
September 16th, 2008 2:22 amthe “obey” picture is OBVIOUSLY stuck onto the wall.. you can see the creases!!
Tyler Diaz
September 16th, 2008 2:37 amVery nice set in general, thank you for posting. :)
monek
September 16th, 2008 2:54 amgo watch “wild style” if you like this sort of thing:
http://www.guba.com/watch/3000021340
Sam Warnaars
September 16th, 2008 2:57 amI am not sure if it’s already noted: different from what is mentioned the image of Guy Fawkes is made by an oldskool Legend named ZEDZ (INC – The Netherlands)
i_want_my_full_feed_back!
September 16th, 2008 4:36 amHEY!!!! why did you stop the full feed? give tit bacccckk
JebRand
September 16th, 2008 5:46 amI recently watched an awesome movie called ‘Bomb It!’ which covers the history as well as the international scene of graffiti art.
I highly, highly recommend it:
http://www.bombit-themovie.com/
I also scored a wicked Gelaskin at the screening :)
Tqnnq111000033BKK
September 16th, 2008 7:44 amInteresting idea for an inspirational list.
Whether all of these (the majority) of the walls could be classified as graffiti is up for debate, of course. But I think that’s pretty irrelevant in this context.
Good that you’ve listed some old school heroes/bombers. Of course you can’t list every great writer ever to bomb this planet.
Shame not all pieces are properly attributed though.
@Starre Vartan
Don’cha worry, most real writers don’t care too much what people say. And a lot are quite happy with the vandal tag ;)
gonga
September 16th, 2008 11:12 amthere is so much more banksy stuff which you could have put in there. and better stuff than you have put in by him.
Feo
September 16th, 2008 12:18 pmOmg! It’s fuckin good!
angeloq
September 16th, 2008 1:00 pmwhat about blu and jr?
….c’mon….
what?
September 16th, 2008 1:45 pmyou left out Dondi? Where is Tats cru from nyc? And i agree with some previous comments… people like Daim and 123Klan deserve to be here too…
Pete
September 16th, 2008 2:11 pmGood job and people seem to just love complaining.
*The two flicks you have under Saber are not from him. I believe the first might be Ewso and the second one is Sever.
bill
September 16th, 2008 3:13 pmThe unknown wheat pasting is Gaia in NY…
web
September 17th, 2008 1:56 amBeautiful.
That is the sort of art more cityscapes need.
JSHAW
September 17th, 2008 5:40 amThis is such an amazing collection of street art/ graff. It def. makes it noticeable the influence street art has on the design world…. there’s many instances street artists develop into designers as well and carry their influences into the corporate world.
Raph
September 17th, 2008 9:27 amJust amazing! The art quality are awesome, some one them I can’t believe it’s on street…
Darlin
September 17th, 2008 9:48 amLady Pink also recently did a street art event in Upstate NY called: Electric Windows (which just won the 2008 Dutchess County Executive’s Arts Award for “Art in Public Places”.
Upso, Lady Pink, Cycle, Elbow Toe, Ripo and others participated.
http://www.electricwindowsbeacon.com/index2.html
pasti
September 17th, 2008 10:07 amThe world’s biggest graffiti (90m x 5m!), Cracow, Poland:
http://krkrap.com/silvarerum.jpg
http://miasta.gazeta.pl/krakow/51,35823,4150804.html?i=2
This graffiti shows story of a royal city, Cracow.
kReEsTaL
September 17th, 2008 12:14 pmWonderful article! Thank you.
brian
September 17th, 2008 1:18 pmNice stuff, but in no way is that classified as graffiti, that’s all “Street art, Stencil art, and Illustration art”.
fonkya
September 17th, 2008 2:55 pmthis recopilation is shit! go and take a look fo’da streets and you will see a lot of more fresh stuff than on this blog. sucks!
PAk
September 17th, 2008 3:25 pmI miss pretty much “El niño de las pinturas”…a genius from Granada:
Bar Candela
Amstrong
Pippi Långstrump
Changing Questions
Bem Bem Bem…
and many more in flickr…remember… EL niño de las pinturas
LEONCHO POTOSI
September 17th, 2008 7:39 pmESTAN BIEN VERGAS¡ SE LA RIFA ESTA PAGUINA CHIDO POR smashingmagazine.com
Alessandro
September 18th, 2008 3:28 amGreat article! Bansky is the best :)
Other links:
- Street art
- Milan, Italy – my city
- Street art 2
MSOnWired
September 18th, 2008 10:07 amThese are great. I love the color in Stuart Herbert’s design. It’s sharp but has a smooth flow to it. The simplicity of the Cloud -TA design is nice too.
Casey
September 18th, 2008 1:27 pmUnless he’s changed it recently… “duece 7″ is called “27″
To the person who posted that Obey (Shepard Fairey, USA) and Banksy (UK) are the same person, people… you are sorely mistaken.
bravo for sharing…
Guy
September 18th, 2008 5:17 pmHey.
The 6th from the top – the UNKNOWN one is by an NYC artist name “GAIA”.
Probably should update that gangstar.
Alex
September 18th, 2008 9:58 pmBanksy is the best.!!
NAREK
September 18th, 2008 10:50 pmThe “SABER” one is wrong. The pictures show the work of SEVER [also from msk/awr/tsl], not SABER…
HowAboutNo
September 19th, 2008 3:07 amThe girl tugging the AT-AT is by Eelus.
And Christ, do you really think in 50 pictures he could have made all of you happy. Nice selection of pics OP.
For more check out my pics of around London mainly, but also other parts of the UK (Over 130 DIFFERENT Banksy pieces for all you people who think his sh*t dont stink :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howaboutno/sets/72157594304678225/
General ones here. . . .
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howaboutno/sets/
Drome
September 19th, 2008 11:21 amGuy Fawkes is the photographer Zedz is the artist!!
Joey
September 19th, 2008 10:54 pmTHIS BLEW MY MIND
the “unknown” wheatpaste of the girl is a piece by my cousin in NY
kamil
September 20th, 2008 6:39 amValla süper olmuş.
asp
September 20th, 2008 9:15 amit’s fantastic collection. Great!
Easy Rider
September 20th, 2008 3:39 pmSome of these are amazing, but more than half of these suck shit.
kasey
September 20th, 2008 7:36 pmthe piece of the little girl with the halo- it’s made out of paper and it’s by a lady named swoon
the 11th one from the top
Metsecman
September 21st, 2008 4:39 pmAlthough I think they are all (mostly) accomplished artists, they should all be stood up against their respective walls and shot. How dare they impose their art on us. All graffiti is pretentious, contrived and unwelcome by society as a whole.A building’s facade is what it is. If they don’t like it then tough. Maybe I should go and defecate on their front doorstep because I don’t like the smell of their house.
seneka
September 22nd, 2008 6:45 amhi great picssss
but I would like to add some information.
This graffiti is “drew” of granada (spain)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/508940517_189c034148_o.jpg
having a good day
Gene
September 22nd, 2008 9:23 amBy the way the “unknown” that goes with girls face is by artist “Swoon”. I’m almost sure of it. She’s based in NY.