Street Art
Street art is a style created for city walls, subway trains and other public spaces. Sometimes it is commissioned, yet most often it is an individual statement of defiant free expression. Although mostly an urban style, street art can be found all over the world, including JR’s pasted portraits on the separation wall in Palestine, Invader’s playful ceramic tile mosaics in Paris and the provocative stencil and spray-paint works by Banksy in London.
The Philadelphia-based Cornbread — aka Darryl McCray — is considered the first modern graffiti artist. He began tagging his name around the city in the 1960s. Graffiti art later flourished in New York City in the 1970s. There, young artists used spray paint and markers to create tags and large-scale graphic works, with Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring both developing their distinctive styles through the graffiti scene, which would evolve into street art. Artists such as Tracy 168 and Lady Pink pioneered the Wild Style of complex graffiti writing in the 1980s, pushing the movement forward.
Because of its unsanctioned, improvisational and frequently covert nature, street art involves a range of techniques and aesthetics. Some street artists use quick and effective stenciling, whereas others wheat-paste posters, commandeer video projectors or freehand draw elaborate illustrations and murals. Shepard Fairey made his mark with street art stickers before designing the iconic “Hope” poster for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
While the origins of street art are rooted in a strictly noncommercial creative act that confronted political issues, sexuality and more for a general audience of passersby, the art form has moved inside the galleries over the years. Today, just as Basquiat and Haring took their works from Manhattan’s Lower East Side alleyways into Soho galleries, artists including KAWS, Barry McGee and Osgemeos are in demand with collectors of fine art.
Find a collection of street art paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more on 1stDibs.
1980s Street Art
Spray Paint
2010s Street Art
Ink, Acrylic, Handmade Paper, Paper, Mixed Media
2010s Street Art
C Print
Artist Comments
On a blue-sky day, two friends meet up and talk about everything. One is logical, lightening quick, and forthright. The other is simple, intuitive and uninhi...
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper
2010s Street Art
Wood
1980s Street Art
Paper, Lithograph, Offset
Early 2000s Street Art
Archival Pigment
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Felt Pen
2010s Street Art
Wood, Spray Paint, Acrylic
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Archival Paper, Digital
2010s Street Art
Paint, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Street Art
Paint, Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
2010s Street Art
Digital Pigment
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Screen, Ink
2010s Street Art
Oil Crayon, Acrylic, Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Tea
2010s Street Art
Wood
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Paper, Acrylic
1980s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Canvas
1980s Street Art
Paper, Acrylic, Pen, Permanent Marker
2010s Street Art
Paper, Digital, Digital Pigment
15th Century and Earlier Street Art
Lithograph, Screen
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Varnish, Archival Ink, Acrylic, Digital
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Giclée
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Archival Paper, Magazine Paper
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Screen
2010s Street Art
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Canvas, Mixed Media
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Other Medium
1980s Street Art
Spray Paint, Stencil
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Newsprint
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Street Art
Spray Paint
2010s Street Art
Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Street Art
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper
21st Century and Contemporary Street Art
Archival Paper