The Best Street Art In The World

Presenting the best street art in the world.  Over the past year I have travelled the world while day trading and writing my blog. I’ve met amazing people, including the one and only Wandering Trader, Marcello Arrambide.

I’ve also fallen deeply in love with street art. It’s not an exaggeration  I’ve taken thousands of photos of street art from the streets of Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, London, Toronto, and Buenos Aires.

It’s guided my travels, and even become a part time job, showing some of Buenos Aires’ best street art to people from around the world.

So, without further ado, here are my 10 favorite pieces that I’ve had the privilege of photographing, and a little about each piece.

10. The Woman With Grass For Hair

Unknown artist on the streets of Rio in the Santa Teresa neighbourhood.

The above piece is one of my favourites because of how unique the artist has been to incorporate the natural environment into the striking features of this portrait. The eyes grab you, and the grass complements the painting so perfectly, that people have asked me if it was Photoshopped in.  This piece was just a short walk from where Marcello & lived in an amazing penthouse.  It was great to be living in Rio de Janeiro where you can find amazing street art on almost every corner.

9. Two-Faced Woman in Ipanema

Painted on a corner wall in the Ipanema neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro.

Once again, I’m not sure who painted this one. I love the use of the corner of a wall to split this woman’s face in two. The one side, a striking woman with colourful hair. The other side, a human skull in black and white. This piece grabs you when you see it, taking your attention away from the many beautiful people on Ipanema Beach.

8. Sloth Hanging Out

Roa’s ‘Sloth’ in Buenos Aires.

Roa is a Belgium artist who has painted around the world. He’s famous for painting incredibly intricate animals, mainly in black and white. His favourite subjects are rodents and scavengers. He has ravens and rabbits in the streets of London. This piece was painted the first week of 2013 when Roa was visiting Buenos Aires. I love how he incorporated the building into the work. He commonly does this.

7. Woman With Door Handles for Nose Rings

Artist FCO incorporates the doors’ handles into his striking piece.

I love this piece for three reasons. One, it’s striking colours. Two, the power of her eyes. Three, the use of the door handles as nose rings. This piece does what great street art should do, it makes you stop and admire it. It’s from the graffiti filled, gritty streets of Bogota, Colombia.

6. World’s Fastest Man

Usain Bolt by Adelaide’s Jimmy C.

Australia’s Jimmy C painted this in East London during the 2012 London Olympics. He rented a crane, and boldly put this piece up illegally  The city liked it so much that they allowed it to stay around. Police even watched him working, assuming he had a permit considering the grand scale he was painting on. Sometimes you need to go big; Jimmy C definitely did this with his Usain Bolt piece.

5. Stinkfish’s Colourful Girl

Bogota artist Stinkfish is known for bright colours on his portraits.

Stinkfish is one of Colombia’s most recognized street artists. He paints portraits of people he finds on discarded photos. His work is so intricate that it looks like it’s a stencil, but it’s not. I love the colours and phantasmal feeling to his work. He’s also painted in London among other places around the world.

4. Iguais’ Hair Woman

A woman by Iguais in Rio de Janeiro.

This piece I found just outside of a Favela in the hills of Rio de Janeiro. The woman’s striking skin, eyes and hair define this life-like piece. I’m not familiar with Iguais’ work, but I hope to become more acquainted with it.

3. Martin Ron’s 3D Turtle

Martin Ron’s 3D turtle coming out of the wall.

Martin Ron is one of Buenos Aires’ top street artists. He can paint on a large scale, and has the ability to create incredibly life-like 3D characters. This turtle was painted at the Meeting of Styles 2012 in Buenos Aires’ Barracas barrio. There’s some big things in the work with this artist for 2013. Expect to hear more about him in the near future.

2. David Walker’s Beautiful Lady

David Walker’s amazing portrait in London.

The best street art in the world wouldn’t be complete without this piece.  How can you not love this piece? So realistic, yet so colourful. This piece of art has the power to make passing Londoners do a double take. Considering how busy Londoners are, that’s saying something. David Walker’s works regularly feature beautiful woman, with a lot of colour added to grande effect.

1. Blu’s Argentine Masses

The blinded and muted masses. A mural by Blu in Buenos Aires.

Blu is widely considered the world’s greatest active street artist. He paints politically and socially controversial pieces, and does them on a grand scale. He uses the natural contours of a building to help bring his piece to life.

This piece is found on Buenos Aires’ Avenida Independencia. Some of his other works have caused such an uproar that they’ve lasted less than a day (search ‘Blu Museum of Contemporary Art’.) This piece has surprisingly stayed mostly in tact for almost two years, despite the extremely controversial nature of it.

There you have it. My favourite 10 pieces of street art out of the thousands of photos I’ve taken traveling around the world. This has been Brice Peressini, The Trading Voyageur. You can see more great street art on his street art blog.