
A street artist is a person who makes art in public places. Street artists include
portrait artists,
caricaturists,
graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
artists,
mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
ists and people making
craft
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
s. Street artists can also refer to
street performers such as
musician
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
s,
acrobats
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...
,
juggler
Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...
s,
living statue
A living statue, also known as a human statue, usually refers to a performer who poses as a statue or mannequin, usually with realistic statue-like makeup.
''Living statue'' may also refer to art installations created by an artist using living ...
s, and
street theatre
Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves, college or universi ...
performers. Street artists can be seen throughout the world.
Legality
Some countries and sub-national jurisdictions require a license or permit in order to do business as a street artist. Without legal authorization, artists run the risk of being fined or arrested by the police if municipal ordinances prohibit their activities. For graffiti artists and muralists, part of the experience may be finding a suitable wall, permitted or not. In some municipalities, artists may apply for a license that allows them to legally occupy public space or a permit to paint a building. These licenses and permits place limitations on where the artist can perform or create their art, and may also regulate what artists are allowed to sell or depict.
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
Berkeley, and
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
are American cities that regulate the display and trade of artists selling their wares on the street. Additionally, San Francisco has a public approval process for murals painted on public buildings or using public money on private property.
Graffiti art is often seen as a controversial art form and can at times be referred to as vandalism.
However some graffiti artists have become famous for their art, notably
Banksy
Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive ep ...
and
Shepard Fairey
Frank Shepard Fairey (born February 15, 1970) is an American contemporary artist, activist and founder of OBEY Clothing who emerged from the skateboarding scene. In 1989, he designed the " Andre the Giant Has a Posse" (...OBEY...) sticker campa ...
also known as Obey.
Gallery
File:Street artist Centre Pompidou.jpg, A street painter working near the Centre Pompidou
The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The painting being copied is Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...
's '' Girl with a Pearl Earring''.
File:Street artist.jpg, A street painter in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
(July, 2000)
File:Street Artist-2.jpg, Street artist in Palm Springs
Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
, United States.
File:MattCaric.jpg, An example of a caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...
, a popular form of street art
File:Street artist BW.jpg, alt=A man sits on the ground with a paintbrush in hand facing a wall. He paints images of women holding baskets on their heads and wearing traditional clothing., A muralist paints his work on a building.
File:Banksy people Clerkenwell.jpg, alt=A gray wall is painted with black and white images. A 1980s style boom box sits on the ground. Older adults are dressed in 1980s street style clothing., A Banksy mural. Banksy is a world famous street artist who paints guerrilla street art in cities.
File:Newtown area graffiti and street art 03.jpg, Andrew Aiken/ Juilee Pryor: ''Martin Luther King'' Mural on King St, Newtown, 1991, now heritage listed.
File:Carolina Falkholt - - - Ystad-2015.jpg, A mural by Carolina Falkholt in Ystad
Ystad () is a town and the seat of Ystad Municipality, in Scania County, Sweden. Ystad had 18,350 inhabitants in 2010. The settlement dates from the 11th century and has become a busy ferryport, local administrative centre, and tourist attracti ...
/Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
2015.
See also
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Mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
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Graffiti
Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...
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Street painting
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Street art
Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.
Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant gr ...
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Busking
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...
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Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a Marketplaces#Types, public market in Seattle, Washington, United States. It opened on August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the United States. Overlooking the Elliott B ...
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Street Artists Program of San Francisco
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Street Fashion
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Street Style
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Street Photography
Street photography is photography conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within Public space, public places. It usually has the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by caref ...
References
External links
Zina Saunders' ''Overlooked New York'': Central Park artistsGerman street artists
{{Authority control
Street performance
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Artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...