David Bowie lives on in many ways and in many places, but at the moment, his presence feels particularly acute while passing through the Broadway-Lafayette Station of New York City’s subway system. The music legend has completely taken over, from lenticular portraits looming over the heads of commuters to posters replacing the typical advertisements and even keepsake Bowie-themed MetroCards. He might have been from London, but Manhattan was Bowie’s home, and Spotify is celebrating that fact with an immersive exhibition acting as an extension of the ‘David Bowie is’ show over at the Brooklyn Museum.

Much of the work seen in the station is Bowie-inspired art, including fan art and reproductions of the pieces on display at the museum. Each piece is paired with a statement of Bowie’s that reflects his love for New York City and how it affected his work.

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“The intricate details that make up the subway takeover speak to key moments in Bowie’s New York City history, many of which were in the neighborhood surrounding Broadway-Lafayette, where he spent over two decades,” says Spotify of the project. “From legendary concerts at Carnegie Hall to recording sessions at studios like Electric Lady and the Magic Shop, the takeover beautifully explores how the City impacted the artist, and speaks to visitors about the truly unforgettable mark of New Yorker David Bowie.”

The David Bowie Subway Takeover went up in April and will be in place through this weekend, so if you’re in the area and haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out. If you can’t see it in person, experience it vicariously through the social media hashtag #davidbowieishere.

Just knowing that these tiny urban art installations exist – ranging from tiny figures dangling from ATM machines to utility boxes painted to look like miniature skyscrapers – might just inspire you to look at the city around you in a new, more observant way. That’s the hope of the artists behind these 27 subtle works of street art, which are often so small and simple that they’re typically overlooked.

Beautiful Trompe L’oeil Windows in Istanbul

A tiny intriguing window framed by oversized shutters draws you in for a closer look, until you realize that what you’re seeing isn’t in three dimensions at all – it’s an expertly painted illusion on a wall. Spanish artist Pejac brightened up blank surfaces throughout Instanbul with a series entitled ‘Lock, Poster and Shutters,‘ representing the “perception and illusion of freedom.”

The Little People Project

Only the most observant passersby take notice of the miniature figures living out their lives in the big city, meticulously created and arranged by a street artist calling himself ‘Slinkachu.’ The Little People Project is an ongoing series of incredibly small installations placing human figures in humorous contexts, interacting with real-world objects like trash, dead insects and sidewalk weeds. The figures are left there to be observed or ignored, with the vast majority of people never even realizing they’re there.

Miniature Cities Within Cities by EVOL

What looks like an image of a gritty, run-down urban neighborhood is actually a collection of electric power boxes on an urban rooftop. Berlin-based artist EVOL creates cities within cities, typically transforming urban surfaces with stencils. Any rectangular or square object can become a miniature skyscraper. But when the artist has a little more time and privacy to work, the illusion is uncanny.

Yarn-Bombing Sidewalk Cracks

‘Project Pothole’ by artist Juliana Santacruz Herrera called attention to potholes in the streets of Paris, softening these trouble spots with installations of yarn. Filling the cracks with color, Herrera engages in a passive sort of protest while simultaneously brightening the urban landscape.

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Subtle Street Art 27 Easy To Overlook Urban Enhancements

You know what a lenticular image is, even if you’ve never heard the word. Applied to a rippled surface in a certain way, a lenticular image shifts in and out of focus depending on the angle you view it from, sometimes producing an animated effect. It’s seen on billboards, children’s toys, and even on the streets. Check out these 18 works of lenticular graffiti, murals and other forms of urban art.

ROA in London

(images via: grievousbodilycharm)

A latticed warehouse door at Corby House on Curtain Road in London provides the ideal setting for lenticular graffiti, and by far the best use of it (so far) was this rabbit by artist ROA. From one angle, you can see a fairly realistic rendering of a furry rabbit, and from the other you get a black silhouette with the rabbit’s veins and arteries showing in bright red.

Mentalgassi for Amnesty International

(images via: design boom, unurth)

Street art collective Mentalgassi, along with UK-based Brothers and Sisters, teamed up with Amnesty International in honor of Troy Davis, a man who was convicted of murder and put to death in Atlanta despite doubts about his innocence. The initial work of lenticular graffiti, depicting Davis’ face, was placed on wrought iron bars in London to call attention to his cause. The artists have since completed many similar projects for Amnesty involving other cases including Fatima Hussein Badi and Jabbar Savalan.. The series is called, appropriately enough, ‘Making the Invisible Visible.’

ROA Lenticular on a Smaller Scale

(images via: unurth)

ROA took his lenticular works indoors with a showing at Brooklyn’s Factory Fresh. The works displayed included a rat painted on an arrangement of wooden posts as well as a small rabbit on black doors.

Jokers and Clowns by Chu

(images via: @bosh)

“Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am – Stuck in the middle with you.” These lyrics apparently inspired a dual-perspective work by street artist Chu, gracing the same shutters as ROA’s rabbit, above. See a video of the finished work at Chu’s blog.

London Street Art by Dr. D

(images via: mermaid99)

Yes, those Cordy House shutters are very popular. They also played host to this work by Dr. D in 2009. Here’s a bit about this artist, from his website: “It was about 1999, after reading No Logo by Naomi Klein, in particular the bit about Ron English changing billboards with paint alterations, it occurred to me that I could do something similar. I cut the letters “Su” from one billboard and placed them over another. The ad that had read “Suddenly everything clicks” had been subverted to say “Suddenly everything Sucks”. Just for the record some boards are anagrams of the available letters, some are just stupid, some are trying to draw your attention to an issue, hopefully they’re all more amusing and less mind numbing than being constantly sold crap that you don’t really need. The billboards are usually real cut n paste not Photoshop as has been the understandable accusation of those who haven’t seen them in the flesh. Obviously if you’re making posters from scratch, as some are here too, then you’re going to use a stencil or turn to your computer, but you still have to get them up and I’ve yet to find the ‘Control Alt Complete’ command on mine…”

Ludo Shutter Art

(images via: vandalog)

Another artist, Ludo, put his own spin on the spot in 2010. The Paris-based artist creates works in gray and white with splashes of bright acid green, making his work highly recognizable.

ROA’s Lenticular Room Divider

(image via: artsmeme)

ROA, who is from Ghent, Belgium, might just be the king of lenticular street art. In 2010, he applied his signature animal x-ray style to a hinged room divider at the New Puppy Gallery in Los Angeles.

Mentalgassi in Berlin

(images via: unurth)

Pictured Fences 1 from Mntl Gassi on Vimeo.

Mentalgassi lightens the mood a little bit from their super-serious Amnesty International project by bringing some funny faces into their lenticular works in Berlin.

Transforming Beauty by David Ellis, Maya Hayuk, SASU & Yuri Shimojo

(images via: arrested motion)

Artists David Ellis, Maya Hayuk, Yuri Shimojo and SASU used a giant custom-made lenticular lens for a ‘live motion’ mural entitled Transforming Beauty. Installed during the construction phase of a new Sephora retail store in Manhattan, the mural is comprised of holographic images that change through the lens as you walk.

University of Naples Metro Station

(images via: dezeen)

The entire University of Naples metro station in Italy is one big lenticular showcase.  Not only are the walls covered in holographic images seen through lenticular lenses, but the stairs feature images of one of Italy’s most famous historic figures, Dante Aligheri, and his love Beatrice. The effects, which were designed by New York-based Karim Rashid, are colorful and triply.

Unidentified Lenticular in Miami

(image via: mlpa)

This lenticular street mural was spotted by a photographer in Miami. Got the artist ID? Let us know.

Medusa Anamorph

(images via: truly-design)

This one isn’t lenticular, but it is an incredible optical illusion. Artists Ninja1 and Mach505 create a terrifying – and awesome – 3D vision of Medusa using various surfaces in a factory/urban lab. Check out more optical illusion graffiti.