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Does illegal street art amuse or annoy you? Graffiti on walls is appealing to some and an eyesore to others, but it is hard to find legal art on the street like this to be anything but impressive. Here are three examples of strangely legal urban street art from artistic Japanese manhole covers and creatively painted American circuit boxes to downright bizarre Russian street lamps.
Manhole Cover Art: in most cities you probably don’t notice the presence of manholes in the cacophony of visual noise that surrounds you, making these painted and embossed Japanese versions a vivid exception. However, there are creative manhole covers all around the world, though some are more subtle than others, many of which are collected here.
Circuit Box Art: circuit boxes are ubiquitous in most urban settings, an object in the way and often an eyesore. Instead of leaving them plain and grey, why not paint them with vibrant colors to shock or amuse passers by? From a distance you can be sure that some people are fooled by the clever illusions illustrated in these images.
Lamp Post Art: lamp posts are another inevitability of urban living. In many cities some lights are at least given an elegant flare and some elemental decoration, but these Russian examples take things to another letter. The four shown here are just one part of a larger collection that plays on (though humorously twists) the classic signs of the zodiac. Click here for even more unusually legal street art.
Previously: Unusually Legal Street Art
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32 Comments
November 29th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
These are all so unique and pretty. Love it!
November 30th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Hey. I like your collection of art. I think that pieces like that, being so unique and beautiful, can contribute to a cities atmosphere. I’d love to see more of these in Vienna!
November 30th, 2007 at 6:51 am
http://www.flickr.com/photos/s.....458813225/
in brazil, sao paulo.
November 30th, 2007 at 6:52 am
Wow. Wonder if they are going to paint on post boxes next.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:17 am
Are you sure that those are all “illegal”? I think at least some of them, especially the lamp posts, must have been commissioned.
November 30th, 2007 at 7:22 am
I like turtles
November 30th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Haha, that’s really amusing. I wish Finland would have art like that on the streets!
November 30th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Love the bookshelves!
November 30th, 2007 at 8:21 am
The manhole covers are simply amazing and a good example of modifying utilitarian items into beautiful works.
November 30th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Really good stuff and a big plus for the communities. Wish there was more like it around.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:30 am
Nice stuff. These are all really interesting but my fav is the street lamps. The fish round the table really would be freaky to see come dark.
Cheers
November 30th, 2007 at 9:38 am
ammazing
keep up the great work
in Palestine where i live, it’s mostly political,and the dreams of the
banned refugees and rebels
November 30th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Really awesome work… Love the aquarium and bookshelf; that’s some amazing tallent.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Nice!!! You have given me some ideas.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I really like the fishtank dresser I bet that if i brought something like that home my wife would fall in love with it :) how do you find these fantastic images anyways? I hope it involves traveling around the world looking for them ;)
November 30th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
How is it strange that this is legal? In Japan manhole covers are almost always decorated as a matter of civic pride.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
love the aquarium one
November 30th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
beautiful! The lamp post pictures weren’t exactly less of an eye-sore, but I do like the artwork made on the man-holes and the circuit boxes (maybe because they’re more colorful?).
Nice finds!
November 30th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Beautiful collection of artwork. A fine example of tax dollars well spent.
November 30th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Great art.
I like the funny book-storage that is painted on the access to the electric grid.
Thank you for sharing this great fun with me !
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:23 am
HOW WONDERFUL WOULD IT BE TO SEE ART LIKE THAT ALL AROUND LONDON….WOULD MAKE THIS SHIT-HOLE WELL AMAZING!!
December 17th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Those circuit boxes are actually Israeli, not American. Thought I would clear that up. Represent
September 26th, 2008 at 10:05 am
I think we need more of this in all our cities. I agree with phil, I think it would definitely contribute to the atmosphere of the cities….or at least make them less ugly.
February 22nd, 2009 at 10:24 am
These are brilliant. Wish I’d done the bookshelf…
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