Best of Street Art 2022 by your choice!
12 January 2023Here we are, like every year, at the beginning of January, I’m sharing with you your Top 20 Street Art 2022 based on your “Likes”. I think it will become a custom on the blog to start the year with a little retrospective. I take the pictures and you decide what you like… or not on my Instagram account. As in 2020 and then 2021, your choices always surprise me!
1. The lovers of the rue Mouffetard in Paris by Seth in the spotlight!
It’s always a pleasure to walk past this school. Renovated in October 2020, this small work hides a much larger one in the background! For the first time, a human-sized work of art has taken over the top of your ranking. Seth is a talented graffiti artist and his way of sublimating childhood is certainly a factor!
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2. An iconic work of the Bushwick Collective by Owen Dippie
OD -Owen Dippie– is an iconic American artist who was influenced by pop art. This work is a tribute to Keith Haring in which the artist has humorously mixed classic pop art. It’s up to you to understand the allegory 😉 I’m happy to see it in this top 20, especially since it’s a must-see work in Brooklyn that I didn’t use to illustrate my article!
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3. The majestic tiger of SonnySundancer
A retrospective on the street art of 2022 is also an awareness of the ephemeral nature of this art, even for magnificent works. This impressive jungle animal made by SonnySundacer, an artist committed to fighting against the disappearance of wild species, is no more! It stood on Lafayette Street in New York. I can’t wait to go back there and see the work that replaces it, and I’m happy to have saved the image of this beautiful creation.
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4. The anamorphic cat from Braga to Port de Bouc in France
It doesn’t surprise me to find this perfect -3D- anamorphosis of Braga in this Top 20! The small narrow street chosen to make it is just the right place! He is giant, he leaps,… he seems simply alive. This Marseilles artist never stops interacting with the urban environment where he places his works, systematically distilling a good dose of creativity and humour. Artist to follow…
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5. The desperate sailor from Maye to Port de Bouc
The artist Maye is definitely in a good position again this year. Last year he took the lead in this top 20 with his filiform Georges Brassens made in Sète. Here he is again with his levitating disarticulated sailor, just like his boat flying over a dead sea. It seems that the very particular style of this artist pleases you a lot 😉 I hope to discover another of his works in 2023 to check if the expression “never two without three” also applies to urban art!
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6. The semi-face of Guaté Mao in Barcelona
Just posed in a doorway, the piercing look of this child struck me. I must admit I am surprised to find such a small work (by its size of course) in this Top Street Art. For the past three years, the “likes” have systematically been for monumental works! Maybe this look has also hypnotized the instagrammers? Or simply because we are looking for a little more humanism in the works… Time will tell.
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7. Graffiti from Aubervilliers in the north of Paris makes it into the Top thanks to Slimer Hec-Mfk
ou have no idea of the pleasure I had when I finally discovered graffiti and 3D lettering in this TOP. First of all I had a great time at the Auber Graffiti Show watching the graffiti artists at work. Then, every year at the end of the article I added my grain of salt because there was no graffiti in it. This is a first, and I hope not a last, because when you love urban art like I do, graffiti is the essence of it!
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8. The Times Square Kiss by Eduardo Kobra in New York
This kiss painted in 2012 is a beautiful highlight of this iconic photo taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 13th 1945 in Times Square. The day New Yorkers took to the streets to celebrate the end of World War II. This iconic piece of New York street art has unfortunately been erased this year. But this Valentine’s Day post is for me a celebration of love through art and also a highlight of other artists such as: Shiro, Adamdare, Chris RWK, Jason Naylor, Jgoldcrown, Christian Guémy and Phoebe.
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9. Jef Aérosol, Obey and Invader, Stravinsky Fountain in Paris
The heart of Paris! Jef Aérosol was the first to put up his “chuuut”, then Shepard Fairey followed and now Invader. Two French and one American artist, whose works have become an integral part of the capital, share this wall facing the Centre Pompidou. On the evening of this photo, the light was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but share this work with you once again! This is the first time I’ve posted the same work twice on my Instagram account and you’ll see that it makes the Top 20 a bit comical!
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10. Under the concrete, nature by Russ
The Muralis Festival in Dax -South West of France- continues to evolve smoothly. Since my visit in 2021, new works have come to embellish the walls of the town and of course when visiting the Landes, I make it a point of honour to share my new discoveries with you. Each artist considers the theme of water in his or her own way in this spa town in the South West. Here Russ questions the power of water and its cohabitation with the concrete of urbanism. This geyser seems stronger than anything!
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11. The Millo Gate in Port Barcarès, France
A door that opens onto… the dream, the world… The poetic universe of the Italian artist Millo is a real pleasure for the eyes. Made on maritime containers, this gigantic work remains delicate and poetic. I invite you to discover his elegant work as an illustrator.
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12. Collage by photographer Téo Vasquez in Barcelona
I honestly didn’t expect to see a photographer’s collage in this top Street Art 2022! A surprise and a pleasure at the same time. Téo Vasquez photographs the unknowns of the streets and gives them an unexpected exposure, as here a few steps from the Rambla. This work was done with the Arrels Foundation, which cares for the homeless.
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13. Tribute to Cesaria Évora by the artist Nuno Reis
I am very touched to see this representation of Cesaria by Nuno Reis. This artist, a pioneer of Street Art in Portugal, left us on August 4, 2022. He defined himself as follows: “I prefer to be immortalized and reborn in each piece I create, rather than always creating the same way. I am a person, not a brand.” I want to make it clear that the photography comes from his personal background.
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14. Frida Kahlo by SE BD at 104 in Paris
More than an artist, Frida is a muse for generations of young artists and the arrival of this stencil in the Top, “Ma nuit te cherche sans cesse” by the young stencil artist SE BD, is the very incarnation of this. Produced in an incredible location at 104 avenue d’Italie, he put his signature surrounded by about thirty other artists. You can discover his works in Paris and surroundings.
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15. The infernal trio is in the Top for the second time!
Impossible not to echo it! It’s the first time I post a different photo of a work on my Instagram account and both are in this top Street Art 2022! I won’t be caught again 😉 At the same time it’s always a pleasure to see these iconic works of Jef Aérosol, Obey and Invader in Paris. I promise I won’t repost it until the Stravinsky Fountain is back to its former glory with the restored Niki de Saint Phalle statues!
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16. Kalouf‘s giant tortoise in Port Barcarès
Still on the giant maritime containers, a few steps from the sea, Kalouf with his very particular imagery gives us a glimpse of this huge turtle. An artist from Lyon with ecological tendencies, who handles spray paint with dexterity in order to highlight endangered animal species.
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17. “5 ways not to see” by Eloïse Gillow in Port de Bouc
It seems that Street Art in Port de Bouc has more than seduced you this year. And for good reason, the works are very narrative, like this work by Eloïse Gillow. She takes up our everyday gestures; hiding from the sun, hiding your eyes so as not to see a scene, lowering your gaze… to tackle more sensitive subjects such as denial or self-protection.
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18. Jana & JS at Clos du Chêne in France
Jana & JS are a duo of artists who have been working together on stage and in the city for over 20 years. Both are passionate about film photography and it is from these photos that they create their works, which are often representations of themselves. Love, the real thing 😉
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19. Louis Masai‘s rabbit in Brooklyn
I took this photo in 2018; but now, in September 2022, this giant and multicoloured rabbit made by the English artist Louis Masai has been completely tagged! The life of urban art is ephemeral and we all know it… I try to make a small homage to the works that disappear, homage that each time makes me want to discover the new work… that will perhaps be in the Top of next year 😉 Who knows?
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20. Zosen Bandito on the wall of La Escosa in Barcelona
Even if it’s in last place, it’s a pleasure to find this place in the top 20! Simply because this old disused factory is the nerve centre of Barcelona’s street art. In the 90s, many artists squatted there, including Zosen Bandito, who created a wall that is now mythical and a symbol of resistance in this district of Poblenou, which is undergoing a complete transformation.
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What should we think of this Top 20 Street Art 2022?
Surprisingly, it is much more interesting and varied than the previous year’s. It must be said that the monumental works of Bayonne and Athens had somewhat invaded my Instagram account. This ranking is much more contrasted, small works stand out against monumental ones, young artists slip in among international artists. Even the graffiti from Aubervilliers came in through the front door! In fact, this year I won’t add my grain of salt by telling you which works I would have loved to see in this top… because in the end, your choice reflects the spirit of the blog… Don’t make the difference between this or that artist and get attached to the works, to the emotions they give us more than to their size which often makes us say Waouhh.
Bom-K – Port de Bouc – Photo ©Altinnov
I simply end this Top Street Art 2022 with a work by Bom-K in Port de Bouc which is the one that moved me the most last year.
On this note, I’m going back to new Street Art adventures, hoping to make you discover for 2023 new artists, new emotions, new places more improbable than the others.
See you soon and long live 2023!
Séverine
