Trespass. A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art

In recent years street art has grown bolder, more sophisticated and in some cases, more acceptable. Yet unsanctioned public art remains the problem child of cultural expression, it has also become a global phenomenon of the 21st century. Not just another book on street art, Trespass features key works by 150 artists from around the world, and connects four generations of visionary outlaws such as Keith Haring, Jean Tinguely, Barry McGee, Guerrilla Girls, Shepard Fairey, Banksy and many more. The 318-page book also contains pieces of history, including unpublished photographs and images of street art by Keith Haring, Jean-michel Basquiat and Martha Cooper. The book starts with a quote from Queen Mary.

" My one regret in life is that I have never climbed over a fence."

Rio de Janeiro, 2008, by JR

Minotaur, Brooklyn Bridge, NYC, 1980, by Paolo Buggiani

Facebook, Mali, 2008, by Filippo Minelli

Mc Donald's, Paris, 2005, by Zevs

Death series, Cologne, Germany, 1981, by Harald Naegeli

Los Angeles, CA, 2008

Mona Lisa, London, 2007, by Nick Walker

Trespass is published by Taschen

All images courtesy Taschen

Source Zocalo Public Square

Graffiti Art, Street Art and " CRASH "

Recently, several editorials have been published on Graffiti Art. The Huffington Post had a slideshow of cities that have the best street art - Berlin, Philadelphia or Chicago were the cities listed among others such as LA, New york and London.

My pick is Berlin with Mentalgassi, view Mentalgassi, Big in Berlin.

ArtInfo also announced the launch of the Urban Art Foundation in New York, a new organization that aims to protect graffiti artists, and to offer financial backing and legal representation for those arrested for tagging city streets. A hope to procure landmark status for some of the city's finest street art and promote this art form in public schools.

Here is a selection of images shot in various cities by photographer Peter Politanoff.

Madrid

Venice Beach, CA

Downtown LA

This brings me to John Matos ( aka CRASH ), a famous American graffiti artist. Growing up in the Bronx NY, John Matos started his graffiti career traveling the trains on school nights when he was 13. He was first noticed through his murals on subway cars and dilapidated buildings. As he got older, he transferred his art from the street to canvases and has exhibited his work at museum's worldwide. He is now regarded as a pioneer of the Graffiti art movement.

The artist at work

Images courtesy of John Matos personal album.

View more on " CRASH "

To end this post, an image of a new mural in downtown New York by CA-based artist Barry Mc Gee -aka Twist - an homage to graffiti writers.

Knit, Crochet and Tricot

Knit graffiti as an advertising medium, is this the beginning of a trend ?

A Smart Car stands out with crochet cover in Rome, 2010

Mexico City Bus Project, 2007

At the Standart, Los Angeles

National Gallery of Australia, 2009

Knit graffiti by Magda Sayeg
Photos courtesy KnittaPlease

To celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Lionheart Project "Clouds and Crochet".

The Lionheart Installation

Knit by Shauna Richardson

Pink tank, crafted for a peace protest in Copenhagen

A crocheted coral reef, created as a statement about the impact of global warming on the coral reefs in Australia and the world.

A knitted house during London Architecture Biennale

Random ones, for keeping rescued chickens warm

For keeping trees cozy

From artist Kate Jenkins
Current exhibition in London
Come Dine with Kate

Bottles of Bubbly

Mentalgassi - Big in Berlin

The Berlin-based street art crew Mentalgassi did a nice job at the Alexanderplatz in the heart of Berlin. They created so-called “Flip-Images”, large-scale image-installations which make it possible for the public to see different images from different perspectives.

Mentalgassi are well-known for their oversized paste-ups, showing expressive, crazy faces of their friends. In the past, they also experimented with concrete, stickers and X-films, self-sticking color transparencies, for the ticket validators on the Berlin subway-stations.

more on ticket validators