Artists transform streetscapes around the world with giant murals

Street art has the ability to totally transform the feel of a neighbourhood, making it seem so much more inviting.

These artists prove that any wall can be a canvas for incredible photorealistic art if you try hard enough.

Here are before and after photos of the coolest street art transformations from around the world that prove that street art can have a positive effect on neighbourhoods.

Athens, Greece

Photo: Wild Drawing/ Google Maps. 

The incredible ‘Owl of Athens’ was painted by famous street artist WD aka Wild Drawing. “The owl symbolises wisdom and at the same time is the symbol of the goddess Athena, who gave her name to the city of Athens. On the other hand, owl as a bird famous for its extremely good vision of the long distances especially in low light. Today, Greece, and not only, experiences a very dark phase and I think it’s time for us to remember the wisdom of this creature,” WD wrote about his creation.

Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong

Photo: streetartnews.com. 

Photo: hkwalls.org. 

Spanish artist Okuda flew to Hong Kong this year for the country’s annual HK Walls festival promoting street art and revamping the old Sham Shui Po working class neighbourhood. The festival hopes to convince locals that street art is a legitimate art form and more than just graffiti. The piece took just three days to complete on the side of a 10-storey building.

Pachuca, Mexico

Photos: Germen Crew. 

 This village-sized artwork takes up 20 000 square metres of space and covers 20 houses in a hillside neighbourhood of Pachuca, Mexico. The artists who call themselves Germen Crew worked with a huge team of locals to complete the rainbow art. The project was intended to transform not just the hillside but the lives of local youths by giving them positive work to do in the community. 

Brives and Charensac, France

Photo: a-fresco.com

This amazing fresco depicts the town of Brives and Charensac. It’s the work of French artist Patrick Commecy and his team. You can see the town’s river which has flooded multiple times, and birds that look like they’re about to steal your chips at any moment. Commecy runs a fresco painting business specialising in scenes of French villagers.  

Puy-en-Velay, France

Photo: a-fresco.com. 

No, these very joyous villagers are not really hanging from balconies, they’ve been painted once again by Commecy. Here’s the website where you can put an order in for your own fresco: http://www.a-fresco.com/pages/loire.html.

Glasgow, Scotland

Photo: Google Maps. 

 

A photo posted by @smugone on Feb 17, 2016 at 11:02am PST

This artist simply goes by the name of ‘Smug’ and shares photos of his giant photorealistic murals on his instagram page. This mural is part of a series of nature themed works by the artist in Glasgow, many of which were featured and commissioned during the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Poznan, Poland

Photo:Naszemiasto.pl

This mural is in the Polish city of Poznan, commemorating the village of Srodka which dates back to 1213. There are some cool characters here including a medieval knight, a trumpeter sitting on the roof and a sassy dog going for a walk.