Many buildings and pavements of Amsterdam are covered with secret and colourful pieces of street art, from little surprises to grand artistic visions.

Check out some great works we spotted, and find out a few things about the practice of creating art on the streets!

Who are the artists?

You can find art work by both local and international artists who come to Amsterdam to experience the atmosphere and enlarge their canvas.

Some artists have the same works pop up in multiple countries. These are usually made using stencils, which are applied multiple times in various locations.

Walking Alone (Icy&Sot, Iran)

The larger works on tall buildings are often done by collectives of two or more artists. They can use as much as lifts and projectors to as little as a rope and a brush or spray can.

Not just graffiti

Street artists don’t limit themselves to graffiti and stencils. Anything durable is used, such as shoe polish, wood glue and glitter, and tiles. They also use any public place as a surface, from regular walls to trains and bridges.

Sometimes street art says something about the area where it's based. This Delft Blue-style tile by an anonymous artist, for instance, shows a scene of people drinking. It is located around the corner from a bar, in an area where locals often meet for drinks.

Not all illegal

Not all street art is made on the sly. Governments and organisations often go through producers like the Amsterdam Street Art Museum to hire artists who are known for their illegal works, to create big legal pieces.

Glory (El Pez, Spain & RECAL, Netherlands)

That way, artists have more time to create intricate works in the open, and otherwise dull areas are embellished and become hotspots of admiration.

Not vandalism anymore

Street art has long ago shaken the reputation as being nothing more than vandalism. The skilful and admirable surprises you can find in the corners of streets in Amsterdam enrich neighbourhoods that are otherwise forgotten, forming a creative outlet for expression and protest.

Famous street artists in Amsterdam

Here are some street artists who are well known for their works that pop up all around Amsterdam:

› Ox-Alien (and the Lastplak Collective)

› Zaira

By Zaira, Otto Schade and Art of Bust

› Art of Bust

› Laser 3.14

› Ottograph

Temporary art

As street art often gets removed, or the buildings you find them on get demolished, you won't be able to find some of the art works in these images anymore.
 

Take a walk around Amsterdam yourself, and let us know what street art you can find today!

YouTube video by Anna Stolyarova

Smile (Stinfish, Colombia)

Courtesy of AllTourNative

YouTube video by Anna Stolyarova

Images provided by: Amsterdam Street Art Museum, Laser 3.14, Lastplak, The London Police, AllTourNative Amsterdam, The Music Portrait and Billy Shakes.