There were Australian and British characters that some think inspired Kilroy. There is some mystery about the origin however, the predominant theory is that soldiers began duplicating it, allowing it to easily spread across Europe. It was even rumored that Hitler spotted the doodles and was concerned about this possible “super spy” and ordered German soldiers to track him down. Sometimes, the doodle was hid in hard to spot places and other times, it was made a bit more obvious. It’s simple and small, but has become extremely familiar to many. Kilroy is a character with a bald head with just a few hairs hanging his nose over a wall and has the words “Kilroy was here” written underneath him. Using street art as a form of protest and expression has been around for thousands of years! Kilroyįast forward to World War II, a small character starting showing up in many of the places American service members were stationed and on war ships. The city of Bologna also clearly has Roman-era graffiti in Latin sprawled across the ceilings and floors of some of its many porticos. Depicted with a man’s body and a donkey’s head, it’s believed to be a mockery of religion. Also in Italy, there is a mural in Rome created around 200 AD and is thought to be one of the first images of Jesus Christ. Pompeii is another place with multiple images depicting themes of politics, sex, and religion. It includes a hand, a foot, and a number.

There are some incredible examples of street art in ancient Roman and Greek cities that are still able to be viewed today.įor example, there is some wall art in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (located in Turkey) that appears to have been advertising a brothel in the city. Let’s jump ahead a few thousands years to the ancient empires in Europe. It’s been happening as long as humans have been around as a way to document, communicate, and express ourselves. While today’s street art is very different from the cave paintings of thousands of years ago, it’s important to recognize that the desire to use walls and shared spaces as a canvas to create art isn’t a new invention in the 1900’s. It has been uncovered on multiple continents and helped historians learn more about the ways of life. This is just one example of art painted on walls inside and outside of caves from the Stone Age. Nothing is known for sure about the meaning behind these paintings, but it’s believed it was religious or ceremonial. It dates back to 7000 BC or possibly earlier.

One of the oldest pieces of wall art is located inside of a cave in Santa Cruz, Argentina and it’s called Cueva de las Manos. Street art isn’t an invention of the 20th century. Here we will briefly cover some of the major moments in the history of street art to give you a deeper understanding of how the art has evolved. From artwork on the side of caves to the police of New York City chasing down taggers in the subway system to city-sponsored public art funds to pay for new murals, there’s a lot to cover. Like we mentioned above, street art has a crazy history. It’s created for the public to enjoy outside in open spaces instead of inside gallery walls requiring tickets for admission. There aren’t rules on what can or cannot be used, which is part of what makes street art so special. You will find that some artists use new techniques like poster-sized stickers, mosaics made with different materials, and even video projections. In recent years, the medium has been growing. Some large pieces require additional tools like scaffolding or a cherry picker, but most of them are simple and done with just one guy and his or her paint. Traditional street art, like the graffiti you’d recognize from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air logo or the side of bus stops, is done with paint in aerosol spray cans. Famous street artists like Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, and Banksy are extremely mainstream, household names, and their work is seen on t-shirts and even presidential campaign posters. It’s expanded beyond just public places now. It can be used to advertise businesses, spread socio-political messages, or just bring joy and color to different spaces.

Street art is also known as guerrilla art, graffiti, urban art, and independent art.

In addition to walls, artists utilize sidewalks, windows, and even subway cars. The most common place to find street art is on walls like the sides of buildings, billboards, and other flat surfaces that can be easily viewed. Put simply, street art is a form of artwork that is located in public spaces.

Street art view