11 International Graffiti Artists to Follow Right Now

Graffiti can be disrespectful, vandalistic, and obscene. Or it can be rebellious, artistic, and charged with political and social meaning. Or it can be a combination of the two.

In archaeology, ‘graffito’ refers to a deliberate mark that prehistoric people left on a stone surface to depict figures, but nowadays graffiti is usually frowned upon.

Contemporary graffiti can be an artistic expression through which street artists share with the public their artistic skills as well as their social, political — and often provocative — beliefs.

There are some places where graffiti is legal, but in general, it’s not. There are city councils that recognize the possible artistic value in graffiti and provide wall space. Instead of unilaterally demonizing the practice, they are finding ways to promote creativity while upgrading the urban landscape.

An example is the Urban Act in Rome (Italy), a project set to give people space, time, and exposure to express themselves in the city.

Another initiative is the website legal-walls.net, which allows anyone to find any of the 1764 (and counting) legal graffiti walls around the world.