Ruth Feeney Reverse Graffiti | Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building

Reverse Graffiti: Street Artists Tag Images on Walls by Scrubbing Them Clean

09/08/2014

Reverse-Graffiti-Sandblasted-Eye

If you visit most cities around the world, you're bound to see graffiti of some sort. San Francisco and Montreal are full of colorful murals, and you'll find similar art from Moscow to Buenos Aires. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/reverse-graffiti/" target="_blank">Reverse graffiti </a>works a bit differently: much like the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/ben-long-etches-beautiful-reverse-graffiti-drawings-in-exhaust-grime-on-commercial-trucks/" target="_blank">"wash me" notes </a>that kids will swipe on the sides of dirty cars, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/strooks-reverse-moss-graffiti-mural-emerges-from-a-wall-of-the-stuk-arts-centre-in-belgium/" target="_blank">artists create these images</a> on soot- and dirt-covered surfaces by cleaning areas with scrapers and scrub brushes. The effects can be startlingly beautiful, as you can see in the images below:

1
Reverse-Graffiti-Moose-Skulls

[gallery_extend].... <a href='https://inhabitat.com/reverse-graffiti-street-artists-paint-images-on-walls-by-scrubbing-them-clean/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

2
Reverse-Graffiti-Vermeer-Girl-Car

[gallery_extend].... <a href='https://inhabitat.com/reverse-graffiti-street-artists-paint-images-on-walls-by-scrubbing-them-clean/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

3
Reverse Graffiti Wall

[gallery_extend].... <a href='https://inhabitat.com/reverse-graffiti-street-artists-paint-images-on-walls-by-scrubbing-them-clean/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

4
Moose-Canal

Even a canal can be prettied up when blasted with a power hose.

5
Drin Cortes - Maya Reverse Graffiti

Brazilian artist Drin Cortes creates haunting images on city walls.

6
Ruth Feeney Reverse Graffiti

Ruth Feeney's birds, flying along a soot-blackened wall.

7
Tesla Roadster Graffiti - Moose

Tesla roadster in Munich created by Moose.

8
Reverse-Graffiti by Moose

Another reverse graffiti piece by Moose.

9
Reverse Graffiti Chairs

Montage of chairs by artists Ruth Feeney and Tarryn Raffan.

10
Reverse-Graffiti-Moose

Moose's reverse graffiti trees stand tall in an urban landscape.

11
Moose-flower

Moose's pressure-etched flowers stand out against a blackened background.

12
Moose - Mosaic

Intricate reverse graffiti etchings on a wall

13
Moose - laundry

An echo of laundry lines from long ago?

14

Reverse-Graffiti-Sandblasted-Eye

If you visit most cities around the world, you're bound to see graffiti of some sort. San Francisco and Montreal are full of colorful murals, and you'll find similar art from Moscow to Buenos Aires. Reverse graffiti works a bit differently: much like the "wash me" notes that kids will swipe on the sides of dirty cars, artists create these images on soot- and dirt-covered surfaces by cleaning areas with scrapers and scrub brushes. The effects can be startlingly beautiful, as you can see in the images below:

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Reverse-Graffiti-Sandblasted-Eye