There are few things more divisive and subjective as art — experience, lifestyle, and frame of mind all have an impact on how we consume and interpret it. On the streets, art becomes a fair bit more egalitarian. Murals painted overnight become the highlights of a daily walk to the corner shop for milk. It’s less about seeking a gallery or installation and more about connecting culture with the everyday experience.
Personally, I have some hard and fast rules when it comes to what art I like. It’s pretty simple really. If I like it, I like it. If I don’t, then I don’t. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be much harder than that. Trends come and go. Tastes change. And sometimes it’s easier just to own what it is that speaks to you.
Below are a few street artists that speak to me and so I follow them on Instagram. Hopefully they’ll speak to you too.
HANKSY
https://www.instagram.com/p/63C1MBtfA-/
Any trepidation you have over Hansky’s copping of Bansky should have been assuaged by his now iconic Drumpf pile of sh*t. Hansky’s light-hearted skewering of pop culture figures from Tom Hanks to Homer Simpson to Marty McFly has a long-lasting endurance. Hell, people get tattoos of Homer’s Avocad’oh! Though there’s less cutting social commentary in Hansky’s work, it’s still deeply dirty and ironic without being too snarky.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BI73ZYogIWO/
https://www.instagram.com/p/zf6a0nNfE8/
DABS MYLA
Dabs and Myla travel the world creating their manic murals and art. Their frozen-in-time animated characters are so blissed out they become equal measures unnerving and mesmerizing and their murals evoke a topsy-turvy preschool decor that’s sure to catch your eye.
FINTAN MAGEE
Like so many modern muralists, Aussie Fintan Magee got his start as a graffiti artist. His murals evolved into portraiture, capturing a simple life. His subjects look like they just walked out of their homes or an H&M. They look like me and you, if we were rendered through a water-colored dream. There’s a simplicity that sets Magee’s work apart. He paints huge buildings with average looking people. People you can imagine may well dwell within.
STREET AGAINST
https://www.instagram.com/p/1VB0K6BnFD/
Street Against illustrates the irony of our current world. Their art is sheepish by design. If you were to blink, you might even miss it while walking the streets in Spain. But when you do see it, there’s always a message that takes you a little deeper into the mind of the artist.
https://www.instagram.com/p/5Aee-shnPS/
MEGGS
David “MEGGS” Hooke isn’t afraid to be brash with color and imagery. His pieces walk a razor thin line between chaos and order — with important messaging at the forefront of the work. Although MEGGS hails from Australia, his street art can be seen all over the world.
DALeast
DALeast has been busy this decade. His murals appear on buildings in over a dozen countries in every corner of the globe. For good reason, there are few artists out there with his aesthetic. A fearless use of lines create animals and birds that seem like they may come to life. Birds look like they’re ready to fly off buildings. Deer seem to prance from one side of a wall to the other. There’s a magic surrealism afoot in DALeast’s art.
NURIA MORA
Nuria Mora’s street art blends pop-synth albums with notes of Patrick Nagel and 8-bit technology into a nostalgic technicolor of murals. Lines, blocks, and neon colors make her art and murals wholly unique. Working mostly in Spain and Europe, Mora’s work recently caught the eye of Facebook where she has installed murals in their London and Madrid offices. Luckily for the rest of us who don’t work at Facebook, we can enjoy her work all over the world.
MISS VAN
Miss Van started in France and quickly moved to Spain. From there her feminine forward and carnival-of-the-absurd work has taken her all over the world. Feminine sexuality masked in a mythological animist world has become her calling card. The art stands out from everything else on the streets and catches your attention in a way that will stay with you for a while.
MORLEY
Morley’s street art is half inspirational mantra and half declaration of war. He asks you not to give up. He reminds you you’re not alone. And maybe that’s enough in this world to keep someone going. The street art is usually black and white posters with a simple message that asks little but accomplishes a lot. A positive message on a sh*tty day can often be the one thing that gets you through.
BANSKY
And here we are. Bansky is the mountaintop of street art in the 21st century. He doesn’t need the followers (he has nearly a million already). But maybe you need to follow him. His art is creating a social conversation that needs to happen. Although his Instagram isn’t updated as often as many would like, it’s still the place to find new pieces when the artist has time to post them.
