Street Art Around The World: I

I love finding great street art on my travels. A great wall painting can undoubtedly lift a whole area, turning a plain boring wall into something interesting and making the surrounding area feel much more alive. This is the first in a series of posts where I showcase some of the great street art I've seen around the world.

Johannesburg, South Africa

Johannesburg is not a great tourist city, but one thing it is great for is street art. You can find it anywhere in the city, and the quality is usually very high!

This one is a good example of a wall painting that enhances the area it is in. This plain wall would make for a very boring and empty location if it weren't for this painting. Now this whole area is much brighter and less gray.

This specific painting can be found near Constitution Hill, on Joubert Street.

Seattle, Washington

I liked the message in this painting, and while it doesn't lift the surroundings so much, it's still a welcomed addition to the cityscape in Downtown Seattle.

It's near Pike Place Market so it's quite easy to go and see it if you are exploring Downtown Seattle. It's located on the corner of 1st Ave and Blanchard Street.

Be a little bit careful in the area as a lot of sketchy stuff was going on in the alleyways nearby, as well as that part of 2nd Ave (a bit to the left in the picture).

Glasgow, Scotland

Possibly my favorite! In the middle of a dilapidated, run-down, dirty alleyway in central Glasgow this beauty can be seen! It brings color to an otherwise dark area.

It's located on Mitchell Street, very close to the Glasgow Central Station, as well as the major pedestrian streets; Argyle Street and Buchanan Street. It can be hard to see from the picture, but the location is not supposed to be a trash alley, it's supposed to be a normal city street.

"The Lighthouse" is a gorgeous building located if you continue about 50 meters past the wall painting.

Casablanca, Morocco

It's very simple, yet very beautiful! Imagine how boring this wall would be without this painting, and how bright it stands out compared to the gray surrounding environment it stands in.

I found this at random while walking in some areas behind the main street through central Casablanca, Boulevarde Mohammed V.

It's located on Boulevarde de la Résistance, near the Ola Petrol Station on Dakar Roundabout.

São Paulo, Brazil

This one, found in the Liberdade area of São Paulo, is a very organized type of street art, likely paid for by the city government. São Paulo hosts the largest Japanese community outside of Asia and the most Japanese part of São Paulo is Liberdade. Walking from Centro into Liberdade is like walking between two continents by just crossing the street. This wall painting honors the Japanese community of São Paulo.

You will find it near the bridge Viaduto Guilherme de Almeida on Avenida de Liberdade. The viewpoint of this picture is just outside of the Metro Station "Japão - Liberdade".