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The 10 Most Iconic Street Artworks Worldwide

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The 10 Most Iconic Street Artworks Worldwide

Street art emerged in Philadelphia, USA, during the 1960s, fueled by the creative drive of artists like Cornbread and Cool Earl. Long dismissed as a lesser art form, it involves tagging walls, public transport, and buildings. Though illegal and transient—easy to cover up—street art has nonetheless captured the hearts of countless creators. Its goal is to make art accessible and visible to the masses, serving as a medium to convey deeper meanings and provoke thought. Today, some street art pieces command millions of dollars and are recognized as renowned works of art. Artsper presents the 10 most famous street artworks in the world!

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Street art emerged in Philadelphia, USA, during the 1960s, fueled by the creative drive of artists like Cornbread and Cool Earl. Long dismissed as a lesser art form, it involves tagging walls, public transport, and buildings. Though illegal and transient—easy to cover up—street art has nonetheless captured the hearts of countless creators. Its goal is to make art accessible and visible to the masses, serving as a medium to convey deeper meanings and provoke thought. Today, some street art pieces command millions of dollars and are recognized as renowned works of art. Artsper presents the 10 most famous street artworks in the world!

1. Banksy, The Little Girl with the Balloon

Banksy is the world’s most famous street artist. The anonymous creator has produced artworks across the globe for over 23 years. What defines his work? Its ability to provoke. The British artist primarily uses spray cans and pre-prepared stencils. In 2002, he crafted one of his most recognizable pieces, The Little Girl with the Balloon, in London. Depicting a small girl in a black dress letting go of a balloon, Banksy added the phrase “There is always hope” nearby—a message that we should never surrender, even in our darkest moments. In 2018, during an auction for the silkscreen version, the work self-destructed seconds after the auctioneer’s hammer fell, sparking one of the biggest artistic controversies in recent history.

2. Keith Haring, We the Youth

This American pop artist is celebrated for his vibrant, stylized character drawings. Keith Haring launched his career alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat. Diagnosed with HIV in 1988, he chose to channel his battle into art, addressing issues like drug abuse, AIDS, and other societal hardships. In 1987, he painted the mural We the Youth in Philadelphia—one of the earliest examples of large-scale street murals. After months of searching for the perfect spot, he created the world-famous work with 14 high school students. Located in an underserved neighborhood, the mural aims to inspire community development.

3. Combo, Coexist

Born to a Lebanese Christian father and Moroccan Muslim mother, Combo officially launched his art career in 2012. The socially engaged artist once snuck into the Chernobyl exclusion zone to paste his posters. In 2015, he drew inspiration from a Polish logo by designer Piotr Mlodozeniec: Coexist.
The piece incorporates religious symbols—the crescent moon, Star of David, and Christian cross—to call for tolerance and respect for all faiths. Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks, Combo displayed his art on the streets of Paris. Tragically, he has faced assault while creating his work.

4. Shepard Fairey (Obey), Marianne

A committed artist since 1993, American Shepard Fairey developed an early interest in street art. As a teen, he designed graphics for T-shirts and skateboards. Influenced by artists like Andy Warhol and Diego Rivera, he began creating stickers to post around his city—most notably the face of wrestler André the Giant, which appeared over a million times. This tactic helped him gain recognition in the street art scene. One of his globally famous works is a mural in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. Painted in the colors of France, it depicts Marianne (the personification of the French Republic) and was created in the aftermath of the 2015 attacks. Its motto: “Action is worth more than words.”

5. D*Face, Love Won’t Tear Us Apart

Dean Stockton, known professionally as D*Face, is an English pop artist born in the early 1980s. He first started drawing characters on paper to combat boredom, and over time, this hobby evolved into a passion. He expanded to different mediums, creating stickers that later became posters and eventually large-scale wall murals in Paris. In 2017, he painted the street art fresco Love Won’t Tear Us Apart in Paris’s 13th arrondissement. The piece features a couple to evoke love, with the man depicted with a skull face—symbolizing past relationships that linger in our thoughts despite no longer being part of our lives.
 

6. Bradley Theodore, Karl Lagerfeld & Anna Wintour

Hailing from the Caribbean, Bradley Theodore paints fashion industry celebrities as colorful skeletons. He began his career creating street art on the streets of London before transitioning to canvas to share his work more widely, securing numerous collaborations. One of his most famous works, created in New York in 2017, shows two fashion icons facing off: Karl Lagerfeld on the right and Anna Wintour on the left. Both are instantly recognizable thanks to their iconic hairstyles.

7. Banksy, The Flower Thrower

A year after The Little Girl with the Balloon, Banksy created another stencil work in 2003 on a Jerusalem wall: The Flower Thrower, his second标志性 piece. To oppose war, condemn its horrors, and advocate for peace, the artist painted an unidentified man throwing a bouquet of colored flowers like a Molotov cocktail. During its creation, a local resident told him, “We do not want this wall to be beautiful, we do not want this wall—go home.”

8. Pichi and Avo, NorthWest Walls Festival Installation

These two Spanish artists stand out from the crowd! Pichi and Avo have pioneered a new form of street art that blends classical sculpture, modern painting, and urban art. They work across various mediums, both indoors and outdoors, and have collaborated with international artists like Portugal’s Vhils. Their career took off in 2015 with an impressive street art installation on seven shipping containers at the NorthWest Walls Festival, featuring ancient Greek-style sculptures fused with graffiti aesthetics.

9. Eduardo Kobra, Etnias

Kobra is one of the world’s most renowned mural artists. Originally from São Paulo, he has created street art on walls in Spain, France, India, and beyond. In 2016, for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Kobra broke the record for the largest mural with Etnias. Measuring 190 meters long and 15 meters high (totaling 3,000 square meters), the project required 1,000 pots of white paint, 1,500 liters of colored paint, 3,500 aerosol cans, and 40 days of work. The mural features five faces of different ethnicities, representing the five Olympic rings and five continents. Through this work, Kobra aimed to convey: “We are all One: the human race.”

10. Bambi, Don’t Shoot

Closing our list is a work by British artist Bambi, known as the “female Banksy.” Born in the 1980s, she began creating graffiti on London’s streets and remains anonymous. Equally provocative, her stencils denounce various injustices and feature contemporary figures like Donald Trump and Amy Winehouse. Her most famous piece shows five identical boys standing side by side with raised hands. Instead of balloons under their feet, there are skulls, and Bambi added the red text “Don’t Shoot.” The boys wear T-shirts with a twisted Nike slogan: “Don’t Do It.” Though the work displeased Nike, it was intended to protest police violence.
 

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