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by Molly McCall
Wed, December 05, 2007, 8:00 am PST

Bring up "street art" and most people imagine the sides of buildings treated artfully—or hurriedly—with graffiti, stencils, or stickers. Thanks to the artist Slinkachu, some people may also think: "little hand painted people, left in London to fend for themselves."

For a year and a half, the photographer and artist Slinkachu—no other name needed, thanks—has posed diminutive human figures around the U.K.'s capital in positions of longing, trouble, repose, or despair.

His blog documenting the poses, appropriately titled "Little People: A Tiny Street Art Project," quickly caught on with the Web's art and whimsy-minded citizenry. It has since garnered praise both online and off. Slinkachu now has a deal with a press to print and sell selected Little People shots. In September, he participated in a street and urban art show in Norway.

We wrote about Little People last September. Recently, we emailed the mysterious Slinkachu to see what he'd be willing to divulge about his activities since then...

Hey, Slinkachu. We had so much fun writing about Little People. Is coming up with the shots and posing the tiny figures as enjoyable as we imagine it to be?

It can be fun, especially seeing the final piece in place. A few weeks back, I was setting up an installation around a dog poo, though, and that wasn't so much fun. Read the full profile...

by Erik Gunther
Fri, October 26, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

If you're searching for a daily fix of art from the underground, look no further than Streetsy. Curated by Jake Dobkin, this amazing site offers up fresh street art every day. Besides the beautiful (and familiar) spray paint pieces on display in his epic online gallery, Dobkin provides a look at all forms of semi-illicit creativity bubbling up from the boulevard. You'll stumble across stencils, stickers, and sculpture in the colorful compendium of photos. Browse through the collection by region and glimpse the personalized streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. With every visit, you'll see a stream of new images thanks to a feed from Dobkin's Flickr photo pool, which is over 89,000 pictures strong. Take our advice and open your eyes to the wealth of public art staring back at you from the streets where you live.

by Erik Gunther
Tue, March 20, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

Colorful and funky murals throughout Southern California decorate many Mexican markets, restaurants, and taco trucks. As this site lovingly documents, these vibrant works of art sit squarely at the delicious intersection of folk art and food. Tony Mora stakes out L.A.-area carnicerias and lets his pictures of these "surreal and fanciful" paintings do the talking. Stop by and see cows grazing in a grass of fluorescent green or a mermaid awash in shrimp cocktail and octopus. Certain recurring themes make appearances, including La Virgin de Guadalupe, plump pigs, and abundant plates of food. Even if you're not a fan of Mexican food (blaspheme!), you'll enjoy the rich colors and outlandish themes of these marvelous murals.
Sat, October 15, 2005, 3:00 am PDT

Instant street cred lurks just a few clicks away at this hip gallery of stencil-based graffiti art. Found on urban sidewalks and walls throughout Europe and North America, stencils tend to feature political screeds ("I Heart Sweatshop Labor," "Buy! Buy!"), Warhol-like portraits of icons (Marilyn Monroe with a black eye, a leering Richard Nixon, good ol' Andre the Giant), or unique, standalone images (a skeleton in a grass skirt over the caption "Born to Hula"). Stencil art burst onto the scene in Paris during the `80s, and then quickly spread to Berlin, New York City, and other metropolises, welcoming or not. Naturally, trendy advertising firms have picked up on the style and are now using spray-paint stencils for their own nefarious purposes. So, check these out before they're lost to the corporate beast.
by Marty Gabel
Fri, August 26, 2005, 3:00 am PDT

To say that Mark Ferem has an unusual photographic hobby is a bit of an understatement. Mark believes that "the restroom wall is the last great medium for self-expression." To prove it, he travels the country and documents the graffiti he encounters on bathroom walls. From the purely artistic to the ridiculously sublime, Latrinalia showcases the gems of Mark's collection. Sometimes the messages are designed to amuse, sometimes the scrawlings reek of frustration, but most of the time they're fascinating, right down to the most bitterly ironic ones. Some may just see this as the defacing of public property, but look closely and you'll certainly appreciate the art.


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