Image via Complex Original
2012 was a great year for street art. Artists hit the streets worldwide painting murals that have since become widely seen online. While this list does not include any of the murals that were painted at Art Basel Miami this season, it's otherwise a comprehensive look at The 25 Best Murals of 2012 and why these made the cut.
Written by RJ Rushmore (@vandalog).
Untitled by Hendrik Beikirch aka ECB
25. Untitled
Artist: Hendrik Beikirch aka ECB
Location: Busan, South Korea
Month Completed: September
This is now the tallest mural in Asia, and it has immediately become a defining feature of Busan's skyline.
Photo courtesy of Public Delivery
Untitled by MOMO
24. Untitled
Artist: MOMO
Location: Baltimore
Month Completed: May
This is the only completely abstract piece on the list, and while some abstract street art can be mistaken as mere decoration, that's never going to happen with anything by MOMO.
Photo by Geoff Hargardon
Free Speech Megaphone
23. Free Speech Megaphone
Artist: Shepard Fairey
Location: London
Month Completed: June
While the actual location of this mural is out in a part of London where it won't be seen too much, that can't be helped. Shepard still put in the hours to make this piece his best mural of the year.
Photo by Sandra Butterfly
Untitled by AEC of Interesni Kazki
22. Untitled
Artist: AEC of Interesni Kazki
Location: Cholula, Mexico
Month Completed: June
While others may say that Interesni Kazki's best work is one they paint on every inch of a wall, effectively turning it into a giant canvas painting, it's pieces like this that catch the eye. Without a painted background, it's like these surreal elements really are entering our everyday lives.
Photo courtesy of Interesni Kazki
Unitled by Jaz
21. Untitled
Artist: Jaz
Location: Lima, Peru
Month Completed: March
The level of detail in this piece, particularly in the legs, goes beyond what I think we've ever seen from Jaz before or since.
Photo courtesy of Jaz
Unitled by Roa 2
20. Untitled
Artist: Roa
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Month Completed: April
This piece may not have the blood or the bones that draw some people to Roa's work, but it is a bold piece that transformed a bland wall into something worth walking by.
Photo by Bill Dickinson aka Sky Noir
Brilliant
19. Brilliant
Artists: Paris Koutsikos and Alexandros Vasmoulakis
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Month Completed: May
The bits on the wall that look like they are sparkling? They are. There's at least 10 kilograms of sequins glued to this wall.
Photo by Alexandros Vasmoulakis
The Day After
18. The Day After
Artists: How and Nosm
Location: New York
Month Completed: November
How and Nosm's Sandy-themed mural at New York City's historic Bowery and Houston wall is exactly what the spot needed. How and Nosm's work is great to walk by everyday or drive past in a hurry, because there's an undoubtedly impressive big-picture to glance at, but that big picture is made up of hundreds or even thousands of little details that you'll never catch in one viewing.
Photo courtesy of How and Nosm
Tankman
17. Tankman
Artist: A.Signl of the Captain Borderline Crew
Location: Cologne, Germany
Month Completed: July
This mural, organized by Amnesty International and Color Revolution e.V., seems to be the perfect reminder of the way that politics and our everyday consumption are heavily intertwined.
Photo by A. Signl
Inside Out - Lakota Project
16. Inside Out - Lakota Project
Artist: JR
Location: New York
Month Completed: April
Talk about activating a space, this mural adds a truckload of energy to the street just by being such a powerful portrait of an energetic subject.
Photo courtesy of JR
Untitled by Horfe and Cony aka Ken Sortais
15. Untitled
Artists: Horfe and Cony aka Ken Sortais
Location: Vardo, Norway
Month Completed: July
Often, murals are put up to cover graffiti and writers who transition to murals set aside graffiti conventions. In this case, Horfe and Cony turned up their usual graffiti antics to 11.
Photo by Ian Cox
I Am a Man
14. I Am a Man
Artist: JR
Location: Washington, D.C.
Month Completed: October
With murals like these, JR's art shifts from photography to creating context. It's conceptual street art that doesn't fall flat for the vast majority of us without art history degrees.
Photo courtesy of JR
Untitled by Sten and Lex
13. Untitled
Artists: Sten and Lex
Location: Atlanta
Month Completed: August
While Sten and Lex's unique style of combining wheatpastes and stenciling is not the most environmentally friendly technique out there, I think this mural ends up doing much more good for the local environment than it does harm to the forests.
Photo by Dustin Chambers
Sunrise of Edgewood Avenue
12. Sunrise of Edgewood Avenue
Artists: Gaia and Nanook
Location: Atlanta
Month Completed: March
Mixing street art styles with more traditional muralism, Nanook and Gaia's portrait captures a neighborhood mid-gentrification.
Photo by RJ Rushmore
The heart's lonely thunder
11. The heart's lonely thunder
Artist: Faith47
Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Month Completed: May
Sometimes it's the simple touches that can take a mural from good to great. In this case, it's the combination of site-specific 3D elements. Look closely at those cables tying down the horse. They aren't all painted.
Photo courtesy of Faith47
Untitled by Erica il Cane
10. Untitled
Artist: Erica il Cane
Location: Grottaglie, Italy
Month Completed: September
Peter Rabbit's all grown up and staring right at you.
Photo by Henrik Haven
Temper Tot
9. Temper Tot
Artist: Ron English
Location: New York
Month Completed: October
I played a role in arranging this mural as part of The New York Comedy Festival, so I have a personal bias, but I've also seen dozens of people stop in their tracks to wonder at what the hell it is and how it got there. I've heard from people who think it's the coolest thing they've seen all year, and others who think it's creepy. Either way, it's a mural that is going to stand out as you walk by and stay in your mind for weeks to come.
Photos by Lois Stavsky and Wayne Rada
The body is only a dress for use on the earth
8. The body is only a dress for use on the earth
Artist: Ever
Location: Baltimore
Month Completed: May
This is one of those rare murals that really invites people in to draw their own ideas about what is going on, without coming across as corny. Of course, it's also very well-painted.
Photo courtesy of Ever
Untitled by Blu
7. Untitled
Artist: Blu
Location: Morocco
Month Completed: April
Another classic wall from Blu. This time, he has tackled the issue of people's freedom of movement on a wall built by Spain to keep Moroccans out of the Spanish city of Melilla, which is actually located in Morocco.
Photo courtesy of Blu
Ne travaillez jamais
6. Ne travaillez jamais
Artist: Escif
Location: Besancon, France
Month Completed: September
For this mural, Escif took a quote from Guy Debord (in English: "Never work") and put it next to a giant worker ant. If you don't get the reference, the piece still works perfectly. If you get the reference, you know that Escif has just improved on a classic.
Photo courtesy of Escif
Untitled by Os Gemeos and Aryz
5. Untitled
Artists: Os Gemeos and Aryz
Location: Lodz, Poland
Month Completed: September
This wall was an unexpected but certainly cohesive collaboration between Aryz, one of muralism's youngest and strongest talents, and Os Gemeos, two masters who have been blazing trails for decades.
Photo courtesy of Aryz
Unitled by Roa
4. Untitled
Artist: Roa
Location: Chicago
Month Completed: August
Most artists wouldn't paint this wall, or they wouldn't treat it differently from a flat wall, but Roa used the space perfectly.
Photos by Brock Brake
Untitled by Hyuro
3. Untitled
Artist: Hyuro
Location: Atlanta
Month Completed: August
Local residents who objected to the nudity eventually vandalized this mural, which had been the definite highlight of this year's Living Walls Conference for its quiet power.
Photos by Dustin Chambers
The Giant of Boston
2. The Giant of Boston
Artist: Os Gemeos
Location: Boston
Month Completed: August
Despite a few Bostonians getting upset about this mural because they thought it depicted a "terrorist" (their word), it's become a temporary landmark in the city. Oftentimes, Os Gemeos' smaller works are more interesting than their Giant series, but this one just fits the space so perfectly.
Photo by Weekly Dig
Sheikh Rihan Street Mural
1. Sheikh Rihan Street Mural
Artists: Ammar Abo-Bakr, Mohamed al-Moshir, Laila Maged, Mohamed "El Moshir" Gad, and others
Location: Tahrir Square in Cairo
Month Completed: March
This trompe-l'œil mural in Tahrir Square immediately conveys a powerful message about hope and Egypt's slow post-revolution transition, without being simply another piece of political propaganda or stencil art.
Photo by Natalie Eiselstein