street artist

Urban wall painter

A street artist creates visual art in public spaces—murals, graffiti, stencil work, wheat-paste posters, or installations on walls, sidewalks, and buildings.

The term emphasizes artistic intent over vandalism, though the work is often unauthorized: Banksy is the world's most famous street artist.

Street artists may work anonymously to avoid prosecution or cultivate mystique.

graffiti

spraypaint

Pressurized pigment in cans

stencil · throw-up · piece · caps · nozzles · crew · tagger · bombing · underpass · buffing

urban

alleyway

Narrow urban passage

wheatpaste · paste-up · sticker · decals · hip-hop · underground · reclaim · skatepark · gentrification · subculture

aesthetic

colorful

Full of varied hues

vivid · eye-catching · neon · fluorescent · psychedelic · dynamic · saturated · striking · raw · edgy

muralist

mural

Wall-applied artwork

façade · community · restoration · large-scale · fresco · trompe-l'oeil · collaboration · panorama · tableau · iconography

performer

mime

Wordless expressive performer

magician · stilt-walker · fire-eater · contortionist · puppeteer · unicyclist · beatboxer · balloonist · living statue · illusionist

busker

guitar

Fretted stringed instrument

crowd · performance · tips · passerby · amplifier · acoustic · repertoire · pitch · pavement · pedestrian

Categories
Opposites
venue/institutional context

street artistfine artist

Creator of aesthetic works

court painter · portrait painter

artistic legitimacy/establishment status

street artistacademician

Learned society member

old master

Family

artist, street, streetwise, streetlight, street art, streetcar, backstreet, streetwalker, streetwear

Familiarity
Top 50,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Positive · Everyday, not technical · Rated G