Image via Complex Original
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Armed with rags, brushes and in some cases, pressure hoses, a number of street artists across the globe have begun expressing themselves through reverse graffiti, an art form that removes dust, rust and dirt from urban surfaces to create images, tags and advertising slogans. While many see the work as positive and imaginative, some view reverse graffiti in the same negative light as traditional graffiti.
We certainly approve of the innovative endeavor and have created a gallery with our favorite examples of “clean” urban art.
The 10 Coolest Examples Of Reverse Graffiti.
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10. The Reverse Graffiti Project, San Francisco
Paul Curtis, also known as Moose, invented reverse graffiti about a decade ago. Since then, he’s created personal, charitable and commercial work throughout the world. In 2008, he joined forces with Greenworks in order to promote their plant-based cleaner and make a statement about environmentally friendly street art. The outcome is a 120-foot mural of indigenous California plants in San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel.
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9. Das Sein Des Nichtsseins, Duisburg-Kasslerfeld, Germany
The title of this piece roughly translates to “Being in Not Being” and was created by a group of unidentified artists on the wall of a highway bridge in Germany. The design publicizes the components of the grime that previously coated the wall: the geometrical shapes are Benzene rings found in gasoline and the molecules are the chemical components of flue gas.
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8. Ronaldinho Gaúcho Dirty Car, Texas
Artist Scott Wade lives at the end of a mile and a half dirt road composed of limestone dust, gravel and clay. Using brushes, fingers, sticks and even leaves, he creates extremely detailed back window murals that take the customary “wash me” inscription to another level. This tribute to international soccer star Ronaldinho was commissioned by Brazil’s TV Globo.
(Wade is also responsible for the dope holiday themed reverse graffiti on the intial slide).
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7. Ossario, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Alexandre Orion sees his reverse graffiti work as a way of getting an environmental message across to people who wouldn’t normally listen. He etched these skulls on the side of a tunnel in Sao Paolo over a two-week period in order to “bring a catacomb from the near future to the present, to show people that the tragedy of pollution is happening right now.” After police were unable to stop Orion, the city decided to wash the entire wall clean. Then, for good measure, they washed all the other tunnels in the city.
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6. Pull the Plug, Toronto, Canada
For part of IBM’s “Fight Carbon” campaign, a mural artist was hired to communicate green messages by scraping the soot off of dirty buildings and subway stations in Toronto using only a rag, water and earth- friendly cleaning products. After finishing each mural, the entire site was cleaned,
leaving no trace of the artwork besides a series of short films taken as the artist worked. By using the tunnel tiles as a grid, IBM’s artist created a pixilated piece that urges businesses to “Pull the Plug on High Energy Costs.”
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5. Birds 101, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
A tribute to the abundant biodiversity in the area, this mural was created by a group of Durban Vega Brand and Communications School students and recent graduates. The birds are etched into a road interchange over a section of the Umegeni River. Martin Pace, the leader of the group that now goes by The Dutch Ink Clan, was rushing to meet a deadline for a final project when he came up with the Birds 101 idea.
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4. Burnout EA Sports Campaign, Paris
Realizing they could capitalize on the reverse graffiti movement, EA Sports—along with a slew of other companies— contacted Moose to create some buzz for the release of Burnout Paradise, the seventh edition to the Burnout racing series. Seemingly hundreds of these screaming faces, along with a web address, were placed throughout the city, generating far more than “some buzz.”
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3. Scratching the Surface, London
Some people call the work of 24-year-old Alexandre Farto, aka Vhils, reverse graffiti, while others claim his murals are too destructive to fall under the genre. Regardless, his striking reliefs created by chipping away at existing plaster and concrete, merit inclusion in this slideshow. In addition to carving portraits into walls across the world, Vhils applies the same “destruction for creation” principle to metals, papers and woods.
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2. Operation Roadside, Toronto, Canada
Also the handiwork of IBM’s “Fight Carbon” campaign, this British banknote featuring Queen Elizabeth was created using a combo of stencils and freehand. Just one image in a series of money murals along a tunnel in Toronto, the message of this particular piece of the project was to make it known that contrary to popular belief, going green can save some green.
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1. The Hastings Moths Project, Hastings, UK
An art and multi-media company paired up with Moose to create a selection of large, patterned, camouflaged moths hidden in seven locations throughout the Sussex town. Based on moths native to the area, Moose used bold geometric patterns and elements of folk art to produce intriguing graffiti in otherwise boring and unused urban space.