Street Art Spotlight
Over the past couple I've weeks I've been running through five cities in three different countries to feed my street art addiction. I ended up with loads and loads of pictures of just about every piece of street art that caught my eye and happily posted quite a few of them on my blog and on Instagram. But as I was scrolling through the pictures the other day, I noticed that quite a few of these pieces hadn't gotten the attention they deserve. They don't make the cut for a street art tour post, I don't know enough about them to write an entire article on them, or they would simply get lost in the ocean of images that is Instagram. These pieces deserve better than that, which is why I'm putting them in the spotlight today. I hope you'll love them as much as I do!
Location: weird stairs connecting Grassmarket and Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh, Scotland
Seen on: March 26th
Ignore the word NARG here, cause I have no idea what it's supposed to mean and it's not a particularly catchy name for a street artist. No, this one is all about the eyes. When I rounded the corner of ... they were the first thing I saw on these doors full of graffiti. I immediately loved them. The artist used stencils to make these, which is my favorite form of street art since it results in very clean and often very detailed pieces. The color is what blew me away though. I never would've picked green for eyes like these, but it works really well and those little specks of white just make it complete!
Artist: KBTR
Location: Grindbak, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Seen on: April 1st
You might recognize this gnome from my post about the street art tour in Utrecht. The reason why it deserves more time in the spotlight is the mysterious 5/5 you can see on the page that's come out of the book. When we noticed this number during the tour, we kept on speculating what it could mean and no one came up with an idea. I wanted to say 'aliens', but that would've made even less sense than it already does in most situations. So we eventually moved on and let it be.Then, a few weeks ago, I could not sleep and found myself stalking Dutch artists on Instagram when I found myself looking at another KBTR piece with the mark 2/5. Turns out there was a total of 5 pieces and in each of them the gnome was wearing a different type of headgear. This was the last piece in the series and even though I haven't seen the other four in real life I think it's safe to say that this one is my favorite, because books are the best, no questions asked.
Location: 4e Westewagenhof, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Seen on: April 14th
The irony of putting a word so strongly associated with freedom literally behind bars is what makes this piece so good. True, the letters might not be pretty or even special, but they get the job done. It spoke to me and every time I look back on this picture I smile. 
Location: Westewagenstraat, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Seen on: April 12th
This one is already an all time favorite for me. It just popped up out of nowhere. I saw this piece while shopping in Rotterdam with my mom, which isn't the best of moments to disappear and fangirl over street art. I figured someone'd used some special fluorescent spray paint, marked the location on my mental map of the city and let it be. When I came back a few days later I was surprised to find out that these awesome little paper planes were actually made with tape. Yes, you read that right, tape. With a few simple lines someone managed to create the most recognizable image of paper planes ever. Thanks to the colors it's impossible to walk past them without noticing. But what I like best about it, is the choice of material. Tape. Who even thinks of tape as a things to make images with? Definitely not me. Just goes to show that everything is possible in the world of street art.
x Envy
20 Fellow Ramblers
Street art is some of the most expressive art out there. It can be a pain for some - and downright ugly in some cases - but there's always something about it that makes me take a second look. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! These are some great pictures too. ^_^ Thanks for writing!
ReplyDeleteStreet art is also some of the most original art, because there are no rules or limits to it. Okay, wall space might be limited, but nothing else is limited. I agree that some of it is ugly, but if you don't open your eyes to all of it you'll miss out on the best pieces too. You're definitely not the only one who feels this way!
DeleteOooooh, I absolutely loved these murals! They make me want to take outfit photos in front of them. There is lots of awesome street art in Chicago, but I hardly ever haul my tripod around. I just love how colorful they make the city, especially in winter!
ReplyDelete❤️❤️
Emily
emilyhallock.blogspot.com
Murals are great backgrounds for outfit posts! If I ever visit Chicago I'll be more than happy to be your photographer in that street, no matter what season!
DeleteI love the KBTR piece! It seems to be the most inventive to me, it's sad that in the U.K. I never see much good street art :(
ReplyDeletesophieannetaylor.com
KBTR is one of the best in the country, the pieces are always awesome. I don't know where in the UK you live, but I've heard that there's lots of good street art in Aberdeen, Manchester and Newcastle!
DeleteThat's so cool! I feel like I need to go to some more exciting places to find stuff like this!
ReplyDeleteYou should, it's so great to go out with a camera and just see what you can find!
DeleteThanks so much for sharing this, Envy! As always, I've never seen anyone posting about a similar topic to this before, you're always so fantastically unique! I also really love the juxtaposition of the wanderlust text behind the bars, I always find it such a shame when people refer to street art like this as just graffiti and just roll their eyes at it, because you can find some real gems in unexpected places, just like all these! Fab post!
ReplyDeleteAbbey �� www.abbeylouisarose.co.uk
You're welcome! If no one writes about street art, I'll do it :)
DeleteThe wanderlust piece is probably underappriciated, but I think it's genius. Someone probably put a lot of thought into that placement!
These are so interesting. I don't know much about street art. But I can appreciate a beautiful painting or tagging on a wall. Manchester has a lot of street arts and they make it a really colorful city! xx corinne
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter how much or how little you know about street art, anyone can enjoy it :) I recently put Manchester on my travel bucket list, people just keep telling me that the street art there is amazing!
DeleteI love street art. In our city, some people see it just like regular art.:)
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DeleteI love street art as well and these look super cool!
ReplyDeleteNabila // Hot Town Cool Girl
I'm really glad you like them, I'll be posting stuff like this much more often :)
Deleteahhh street art!! these are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThey're definitely great!
DeleteThis is an awesome showcase. I love looking at street art as well. What could've motivated a person to place their art in a certain public space? If I was a street artists, I think I'd constantly be wondering what other people see and think when they look at my graffiti. I love the tape art especially. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! From the little experience I have I can say that placement is the thing you keep thinking and thinking and thinking about. I want my work to be seen but I also want people to put a little effort into discovering something new!
DeleteThe tape art is my favorite piece of this series too. I never thought I'd see a 'mural' made with tape in the middle of Rotterdam.
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