66 Street Art Activists

Graffiti May Have Gone Mainstream, but These Artists Did It First

— January 31, 2010 — Art & Design
The history of street art is long, and street art activists are some of the original offenders. Even though there are still complaints about some street art, in many places murals and public paintings have become welcome parts of the community.

However, the origins of street art are quite unaccepted. The public display was used by street art activists to get a message across to the public, and usually the message was something very controversial. Check out the slideshow for more.
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Popularity
Activity
Freshness
66
'Guess Who?' Graffiti
'Guess Who?' Graffiti
Kids' Board Game Gets a Street Art Touch From Surplus Bargains
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65
Lyrical Graffiti
Lyrical Graffiti
'Bittersweet Symphony' as Told Through Street Art
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64
Repetitive Skywriting
Repetitive Skywriting
'Cloud' by Ron English Takes Street Art Skyward
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63
Edgy Easter Street Art
Edgy Easter Street Art
Above's ‘AIG Easter Egg Hunt' Parodies Financial Bailouts
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62
Digital Requests for Graffiti
Digital Requests for Graffiti
SMS Your Message to Palestinian Street Artists for the West Wall
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61
Crowd-Sourced Graffiti
Crowd-Sourced Graffiti
Cape Town Election Street Art Spurs Activism Through Stencils
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60
Falling Foxes
Falling Foxes
Street Artist Bonom Makes Building Length Graffiti
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59
Corporate Lowbrow Support
Corporate Lowbrow Support
Nike Brings Street Art to Their TPE 6453 Creative Space
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58
Illuminated Graffiti
Illuminated Graffiti
New Guerrilla Street Art From Posterchild Fights City Debate
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57
Conversational Street Art
Conversational Street Art
Dave the Chimp's Unusually Sociable Graffiti Ethos
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56
Politically Powerful Street Art
Politically Powerful Street Art
Cash4 Uses Words, Simple Images in Political Graffiti
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55
Graffiti Notebooks
Graffiti Notebooks
Scratchpad Features Blank NYC Walls for Your Street Art Homework
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54
Flaming Graffiti
Flaming Graffiti
Fire Tagging NYC Street Artists Set Their Graffiti Ablaze
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53
Triumphant Street Art Sites
Triumphant Street Art Sites
Nysat Website Launches After Group Overcomes Lawsuits
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52
Graffitied Offices
Graffitied Offices
D*Face Gives Magazine HQ A Cloudy Street Art Makeover
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51
Mixed-Media Street Art
Mixed-Media Street Art
Zach Johnsen's 'The Wanderers' Blends Psychedelic Cartooning and Graffiti
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50
Pixacao Protests
Pixacao Protests
Graffiti Artists Deface Street Art Exhibit
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49
Self-Evaluation Street Art
Self-Evaluation Street Art
The Sidewalk Psychiatry Project
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48
Gritty Graffiti Gear
Gritty Graffiti Gear
Jon Naar & Stussy Make Street Art-Approved Shirts
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47
Street Artist Appreciation
Street Artist Appreciation
Shepard Fairey's Print Retrospective at Merry Karnowsky Gallery
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46
Street Art Spray Can Invasions
Street Art Spray Can Invasions
Subversive Urban Art by DFace
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45
Giant Mouth Street Art
Giant Mouth Street Art
The ‘Big Mouth Project' by D*Face
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44
Street Artist Disguises
Street Artist Disguises
D*Face As A Council Worker
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43
Subversive Street Art
Subversive Street Art
Sir X Blends Whimsy & Scathing Social Commentary
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42
Urban Protest Art
Urban Protest Art
The Anti-Gentrification Street Art in Alabama is Something Worth Fighting For
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41
Dummiefied Installation Art
Dummiefied Installation Art
Mark Jenkins Street Art Provokes Thought
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40
Street Art Interventions
Street Art Interventions
D.Billy Uses Art to Humorously Interact With the Streets
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39
Iconic Street Artist Arrests
Iconic Street Artist Arrests
Despite Fame, Shepard Fairey Busted for the 15th Time
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38
Stunned Street Art
Stunned Street Art
Alsacherie's Unusual Poster Children at the KKO Festival
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37
Girly Street Art Sneakers
Girly Street Art Sneakers
Fafi by Adidas Collection Highlights Female Graffiti Artists
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36
Calligraffiti
Calligraffiti
Calligraphy Meets Street Art in These Beautiful Works by Shoe
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35
Street Art of Kids Classics
Street Art of Kids Classics
"Where the Wild Things Are" Gets a Pure Evil Graffiti Touch
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34
Norwegian Street Art
Norwegian Street Art
Government-Funded Graffiti
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33
Dark Shadow Street Art
Dark Shadow Street Art
Sam3 Brushes The Streets of Spain With His Counter-Culture Touch
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32
Mean Street Art
Mean Street Art
Little Girl Trapped Behind A Grate By Dan Witz
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31
Love Sharing Street Art
Love Sharing Street Art
French Artist Remed Uses Walls to Celebrate Life
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30
Street Art Porcelain
Street Art Porcelain
All City Graffiti Dishes Let You Add Sass and Class to Your Hip Loft
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29
Street Art Showcases
Street Art Showcases
‘Whole in the Wall' Exhibition in New York Features Great Graffit
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28
Social Commentary Graffiti
Social Commentary Graffiti
Street Art Comments On Bristol's Drinking Laws
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27
Skeleton Street Art
Skeleton Street Art
Macabre Outdoor Creative Inspiration
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26
Chalked Shadow Street Art
Chalked Shadow Street Art
Ellis Gallagher Brings the Streets of New York to Life
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25
Quirky Doodled Street Art
Quirky Doodled Street Art
20-Year-Old Graffiti Artist Takes His Talent Outdoors
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24
South American Street Art
South American Street Art
Gualicho's Graffiti is Colorful and Imaginative
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23
Secret Street Art Shows
Secret Street Art Shows
Banksy Exhibition in Bristol Brings it Back Home
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22
Fine Art Graffiti Artists
Fine Art Graffiti Artists
Charming Baker's Paradoxical Street Art in London
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21
Street Art Cartoon Makeovers
Street Art Cartoon Makeovers
BLOC28 by Disney
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20
Paint-Dripping Cars
Paint-Dripping Cars
BMW Krink Mini Gets Street Wise With Street Art
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19
Street Art Museums
Street Art Museums
The Ephemeral Museum in Lisbon
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18
Street Art Collectives
Street Art Collectives
Burning Candy
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17
Sweet Street Art
Sweet Street Art
Maria Imaginario's Gooey Lisbon Graffiti
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16
Disfigured Street Art
Disfigured Street Art
Morbid Portraits of Pop Icons
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15
Activist Street Art
Activist Street Art
Fauxreel's 'The Unaddressed' Addresses Homelessness in Toronto
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14
Japanese Street Art
Japanese Street Art
Remo Camerota Releases Expansive ‘Graffiti Japan' Book
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13
Highlighter Street Art
Highlighter Street Art
Judith Supine's Colortastic Creations Light Up NYC Walls
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12
Expressive Street Art
Expressive Street Art
Interactive Vandalism by Mentalgassi Features Funny Faces
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11
Graffiti Warfare
Graffiti Warfare
Weapon-Inspired Street Art
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10
Dr. Seuss-Inspired Street Art
Dr. Seuss-Inspired Street Art
Quirky Cartooning Channels Childhood Icon
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9
Preteen Street Artists
Preteen Street Artists
10-Year-Old Solveig is Hailed as the “Female Banksy”
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8
Geotagged Graffiti
Geotagged Graffiti
Street Art Fans Use Google Maps Street View to Locate Best Pieces in UK
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7
Super-Sized Street Art
Super-Sized Street Art
Alexandros Vasmulakis' Grandiose Graffiti
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6
Monopoly Graffiti
Monopoly Graffiti
Classic Game-Inspired Street Art
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5
Mona Lisa Graffiti
Mona Lisa Graffiti
The Classic Painting With a Street Art Spin
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4
Skeletal Street Art
Skeletal Street Art
Anatomically Correct Graffiti
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3
Naughty Disney Subversion
Naughty Disney Subversion
Street Artist Creates Mickey Mouse as You've Never Seen Him Before
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2
Guerrilla Street Shadows
Guerrilla Street Shadows
Katie Sokoler's Playful Street Art Project
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1
Graffiti Police
Graffiti Police
Banksy Coke Cop Is An Arresting Example Of Street Art
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