Last Updated on February 12, 2024 by Travelationship
It is only fitting that my first post for Street Art is in Amsterdam. After all, Amsterdam is where I first became enthralled with Street Art. On my first visit, I stumbled upon a section of town seemingly devoted to Street Art, and I have been admiring and photographing it ever since. It’s just one of those things I have always been interested in, especially seeing the differences from country to country. I am neither a fan of tagging nor carelessly scrolling your initials on a freeway sign; that feels more like littering than anything. There are a couple of forms of Street Art, most of which are paint-based. Here is a quick breakdown of the types for you to reference:
Types of Street Art
Character – typically a cartoonish or real character that serves as an artist’s signature or calling card.
Piece – short for a masterpiece- describes a much more labor-intensive, detailed image.
Mural – a little more self-explanatory, could take up a whole wall showing one scene or interconnected characters.
Installation – more often is a site-specific piece of art, much more likely to involve multiple disciplines and be either 3D or sculptural.
Sticker – stickers are everywhere and are street art’s version of the drive by because you can walk by and slap it on in seconds. Stickers can be professionally printed or made of found materials: it was quite popular to get USPS labels and attach your art to the labels for a while.
Wheatpaste – is like a much more elaborate sticker. This is one of my favorite types. The artist mixes equal parts water and flour, coats a wall with a layer of paste, then puts up a picture, drawing, etc., and smooths the whole thing out before adding a final layer of paste. (Unfortunately, I didn’t find one on this trip.)
Stencil – a little extra planning goes into this as the artist cuts an image or phrase out of cardboard or something similar. The artist has to rely on how the positive and negative spaces play with each other to make the picture.
Now that you know about the different types of Street Art, I will show you a few of my favorites from this visit to Amsterdam. Want to see even more Street Art photos? Check out our Flickr page.
Do you think Street Art is a nuisance, beautiful, or somewhere between?
If you like street art, I have since been to multiple places and documented it here.
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