Graffiti Art

A couple of weeks ago, cleaners painted over this Banksy mural worth an estimated £300,000.

It's not the first time, either. It made a good story, but it also raised the question of how an ordinary person can tell the difference between commissioned art and talented vandalism. Some of the amateur artists are so good, they turn an urban landscape into a delight. But the best pieces are liable to be covered over, either by wall cleaners or by other graffiti artists. Lucky for us, they are often photographed first. Amazing graffiti, after the jump.

This graffiti-covered building in Queens allows painting by permit, so it has become a gallery of urban art.

I love graffiti with a sense of humor. This wall is from Acro, found in the extensive gallery at Robots Will Kill.

Folk art graffiti in the Ukraine, from a collection at English Russia.

Peeta, a grafitti artist from Italy, is also involved in photography, sculpture, and painting on canvas. See more of his three-dimensional works featured with this interview.

Bonom and Lork created a series of dinosaur skeleton pictures that seem to move when viewed from a moving train at Etterbeek Station in Belgium. See the dino in action at Google Video.

I can't find anything about this image, except that it may be in Canada. Can anyone shed more light on it? I really like it.

This video records the process of creating graffiti, which is more involved than you'd think, given the clandestine nature of the project.

You can find lots of amazing graffiti from around the world and information on graffiti culture at Art Crimes.