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Style↕ | Origin / Era↕ | Medium↕ | Notable Artists↕ | Known For↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tagging | Philadelphia/NYC, late 1960s | Markers, spray paint | TAKI 183, Cornbread, SEEN | The most basic and oldest form of graffiti, stylized signatures, territorial marking, every graffiti artist starts here, contentious: art or vandalism? |
Wildstyle | New York City, 1970s-80s | Spray paint | Tracy 168, Zephyr, Dondi | Interlocking, overlapping letters nearly impossible to read, arrows, connections, and extensions, the most technically complex graffiti form, NYC subway cars were the canvas |
Stencil Art | 1960s political protest, popularized 2000s | Spray paint through cut stencils | Banksy, Blek le Rat, C215 | Fast application (seconds, not hours), political messaging, reproducible images, Banksy made it world-famous, Blek le Rat pioneered it in Paris |
Wheat Paste (Paste-Up) | 1960s-70s political posters, art since 1990s | Paper/poster affixed with wheat paste | Shepard Fairey (OBEY), JR, Swoon | Pre-made art applied quickly, Shepard Fairey's OBEY Giant campaign, JR's massive photographic portraits on buildings, less legally risky than spray paint |
Muralism | Mexico 1920s (Diego Rivera), global revival 2000s | House paint, spray paint, mixed media | Diego Rivera, Os Gêmeos, Kobra | Large-scale wall paintings, often commissioned and legal, community storytelling, Diego Rivera's political murals, Kobra's kaleidoscopic portraits |
Throw-Up | New York City, late 1970s | Spray paint (two colors: outline + fill) | COPE2, COST, IN | Quick bubble letters (done in under a minute), quantity over quality approach, 'bombing' — covering as many spots as possible, bridge between tags and pieces |
Piece (Masterpiece) | New York City, 1970s-80s | Spray paint, multiple colors | Lee Quiñones, Futura, Lady Pink | Full-color, detailed spray-painted works, the gold standard of graffiti art, NYC whole-car subway pieces were the pinnacle, can take hours or days |
3D / Anamorphic | 2000s-present | Spray paint, house paint | Odeith, Edgar Mueller, DAIM | Creates optical illusion of depth on flat surfaces, looks three-dimensional from specific viewing angle, Instagram-era street art, Odeith's hyperrealistic insects |
Yarn Bombing (Knit Graffiti) | Houston, Texas, 2005 | Yarn, knitted/crocheted fabric | Magda Sayeg (Knitta Please), Olek | Covers street objects in colorful knitting, non-destructive guerrilla art, Magda Sayeg started by covering her door handle, the 'grandma' of street art |
Sticker Art (Slaps) | 1990s-2000s punk/skate culture | Adhesive stickers, vinyl | Shepard Fairey, D*Face, Invader | Mass-produced and stuck everywhere, 'Hello My Name Is' postal stickers as canvas, low-risk, collectable, skate culture crossover, trading culture |
Mosaic / Tile Art | 1990s-present | Ceramic tiles, Rubik's Cubes | Invader, Isaiah Zagar | Invader installs pixelated Space Invader mosaics worldwide, each installation is 'scored' like a video game, durable and weather-resistant, Zagar's Magic Gardens in Philly |
Reverse Graffiti (Clean Tagging) | 2000s | Cleaning agent / pressure washer on dirty surfaces | Paul 'Moose' Curtis, Alexandre Orion | Creates art by removing dirt/grime from surfaces, legally grey — you're cleaning not vandalizing, Alexandre Orion cleaned skulls into a São Paulo tunnel |
LED / Projection Art | 2000s-present | Projectors, LED lights, lasers | Graffiti Research Lab, Hera, SWEATSHOPPE | Temporary light-based graffiti, L.A.S.E.R. Tag projects writing onto buildings with lasers, zero permanent damage, digital-age street art, interactive installations |
Calligraffiti | 2000s (named by Niels 'Shoe' Meulman) | Spray paint, ink, brushes | Niels 'Shoe' Meulman, eL Seed, Retna | Fusion of calligraphy and graffiti, elegant letterforms at street scale, eL Seed paints massive Arabic calligraphy on buildings, bridges fine art and urban art |
Installations / Sculptural Street Art | 1990s-present | Found objects, sculptures, mixed media | Bordalo II, Mark Jenkins, Joshua Allen Harris | 3D objects placed in urban spaces, Bordalo II creates animal sculptures from trash, Mark Jenkins makes realistic human-shaped tape sculptures, blurs art and public space |
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