Image via Complex Original
The street art scene this April was focused in Perth, Australia during the Public Forms Festival. ROA, Pixel Pancho, and and 2501 all unveiled stunning new work there, along with many other artists. During another large festival, Coachella, The Date Farmers began a street art project in order to bring attention to the contrast between the lavish event and the poverty in surrounding areas.
A few other artists created murals in support of struggling communities last month. Both Inti and Escif painted in Spain, while Seth Globetrotter and Kislow collaborated in Ukraine. Finally, Banksy's latest activity can't go without mention. Mobile Lovers caused a stir in the UK, while another possible Banksy piece surfaced at the same time. Check out our list In These Streets: The Best Street Art From April 2014.
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ROA
Location: Perth, Australia
Belgian artist ROA painted this gigantic photorealistic serpent against a crimson background for the Public Forms Festival in April. The snake is a reflection of its setting because Australia is known for dangerous wildlife.
Seth Globepainter and Kislow
Location: Ukraine
Renaissance depicts a beautiful, otherworldly girl who protectively embraces the city with one hand and holds a small boy in the other. The optimistic mural was painted by French street artist Seth Globepainter and the local Kislow to give citizens of Ukraine hope during this difficult time for the country.
Escif
Location: Valencia, Spain
Inspired by April's "blood moon," Escif created Eclipse, a mural commenting on the dire economic situation in Spain. The Euro is at its highest point against the dollar in over two years, and is predicted to take a nosedive, which spells trouble for Spain's economy.
Banksy
Location: Cheltenham, UK
This piece isn't a verified Banksy, but experts agree that most likely, the legendary artist dropped it. The mural is down the street from one of Britain's top intelligence agencies and features three old-school spies with trench coats and listening devices painted around a phone booth.
Banksy
Location: Bristol, UK
Banksy's newest piece, Mobile Lovers, caused a stir last week when the Broad Plains Boys Club, an organization located down the street, pried the work from its wall and placed it inside their facility next to a donation container. They believed Bansky created the mural to raise funds for the club, which faces bankruptcy. Public outrage drove the organization to turn Mobile Lovers over to a local museum.
Nychos
Location: San Francisco
Austrian muralist Nychos has made a name for himself painting anatomical murals of cartoon characters' and animals' innards. His latest, X-Ray Wolf, is just that: a running wolf halted mid-stride by its dissection. Nychos is preparing for "Fifty24SF," his first West Coast solo show.
The Date Farmers
Location: Indio, Calif.
Even though the host town of Indio, Calif. benefits from Coachella's tax revenue, residents of the poor farming region are almost completely overlooked. Local art duo The Date Farmers started "Coachella Walls" to bring awareness to the revenue discrepancy. A variety of artists participated, among them Andrew Hem, Jim Darling, and The Phantom.
OakOak
Location: Paris
Protect Polar Bears! offers a straightforward reminder of humanity's averse effect on the environment by trapping forlorn polar bears inside trash cans that cleverly double as cages. Trash piled on top only strengthens the message that we are trashing the planet. OakOak's clever street art campaign takes an often-dismissed issue and makes it immediate and accessible in a public area.
Bicicleta Sem Freio
Location: Los Angeles
The new mural by Brazilian graphic artist collective, Bicicleta Sem Freio, may now be the largest mural in L.A. Featuring warm, bold colors and a graphic style, the piece took the group 11 days to complete.
Rone
Location: Shoreditch, London
Melbourne-based street artist Rone's claim to fame is that he painted the largest mural in Australia. Last month, he painted this piece in the UK while in town for his solo exhibition at StolenSpace. It shows one of his haunting portraits of a young woman.
Pixel Pancho
Location: Perth, Australia
Painted for the Public Forms Street Art Festival, Mine Train Future depicts a debilitated yet excited young android playing with remote-control robots. The piece incorporates Pixel Pancho's usual mechanical aesthetic and dystopian atmosphere.
Inti
Location: La Mancha, Spain
Inti was invited to La Mancha to create a mural of the famous literary protagonist, Don Quixote. His inclusion of politically charged symbolism caused controversy. The star on Quixote's helmet and the "15-M" on his bandana signify a popular contemporary revolutionary movement in Spain that is deemed a terrorist organization by the government. Local government representatives threatened to buff the mural entirely, but instead allowed Inti to merely edit the piece to make the political elements less noticeable.
2501
Location: Perth, Australia
Milan-based 2501 was in Perth last month for the Public Forms Street Art Festival. The name of his giant, mesmerizing mural is 800 minutes, the burrow of the rainbow serpent.
Sam3
Location: Vila Real, Spain
Spanish street artist Sam3 titled his newest mural Voluntas, which means "the will" in Latin. It is a symbolic and inspiring portrait of human determination.
Gaia
Location: Baltimore
Gaia's mural, entitled Frontiers, for Open Walls Baltimore 2 is a collage-like amalgamation of overlapping, transparent images. It can be found in the arts district of Station North.
JAZ
Location: Perth, Australia
Moving Forward is JAZ's second Australian piece, the first having been completed only a few days prior to this one. A unique method of mixing asphaltic paint and petrol allows the Argentinian artist to create massive, yet delicate murals.
Ella & Pitr
Location: Santiago, Chile
The French street art duo painted The Sleeping Giant of Santiago on the ground outside of the Cerrilos Airport. The giant is literally gigantic, and we'd love to see the airplane he boards once he wakes up.
Fintan Magee
Location: Sydney, Australia
A classic Fintan Magee mural, this piece depicts a young woman resisting an overcast sky with her hands and feet. It also includes one of the artist's signature birds.
Stohead
Location: Linz, Austria
Beyond, Stohead's newest mural, is a continuation of the artist's indoor solo debut in Paris. The piece features blown-up tags in a geometrical arrangement.
Ernest Zacharevic
Location: Lithuania
Zacharevic visited his home country to take part in the "Made Corrections" project that The Kaunas Youth Correctional and Interrogation Facility began in 2012. The project seeks to change its inmates' lives with art. For these murals, Zacharevic combined his usual theme of children at play with the setting of the correctional facility.