Big Personalities (10 Photos)

Street art with a face of its own

A bollard grins, two cabinets argue, and a hose becomes a pirate’s beard. Elsewhere, a giant child’s face fills a ruined wall and a broken sidewalk post appears to scream. These ten artworks give everyday objects and buildings expressions that are hard to walk past.

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🛞 A Trash Bin on Patrol — By JPS

The bin already had two wheels. JPS adds a helmeted officer and the handlebar of a personal transporter, making the whole thing look ready to patrol the pavement.

💡 Artist Fact: JPS is Jamie Paul Scanlon, born in 1977 in Weston-super-Mare near Bristol. He took up stencils after a friend took him to Banksy’s 2009 show at Bristol Museum, which he has called a life-changing day.

More: More street art by JPS

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🗯️ Two Cabinets Having an Argument — By Oakoak

One cabinet seems to be shouting; its smaller neighbor can only grit its teeth. Oakoak, an artist from Saint-Étienne known for small interventions on street furniture, gives two plain metal doors a whole argument with a few painted features.

More: More street art by Oakoak

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🏴‍☠️ A Pirate with a Hose Beard — By Tom Bob

The hose stays on its hook. Tom Bob paints a pirate around it, turning the loops into a dangling tentacle beard. The huge eyes make the whole thing look a bit nervous.

💡 Technique Fact: Tom Bob, who was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and later moved to New York City, starts each piece as a sketch. He then cuts stencils from it and applies the image with spray paint.

More: More street art by Tom Bob

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🗼 The Tower Man — By Nikita Nomerz in Perm, Russia 🇷🇺

A long white beard follows the tower’s brick cylinder, and the metal roof reads like a hat. Nomerz makes the whole structure into one elderly character, gazing out over the surrounding trees.

💡 Nerd Fact: The Tower Man dates to 2011. It appeared in early coverage of Nomerz’s Living Walls series, which turned existing buildings into characters.

More: More street art by Nikita Nomerz

🔗 Visit Nikita Nomerz’s website

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👀 A Bollard with a Huge Smile — By Vanyu Krastev in Bulgaria 🇧🇬

The split metal cap supplies the mouth. Vanyu Krastev adds two googly eyes, and a damaged street post looks delighted to see you. It belongs to his eyebombing series in Bulgaria, which puts googly eyes on worn-out street objects.

More: More street art by Vanyu Krastev

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😱 The Sidewalk Is Having a Moment — By Vanyu Krastev in Bulgaria 🇧🇬

The jagged hole was already there. Two googly eyes turn it into a scream, and the striped post suddenly looks as if it has strong opinions about its day. Krastev needs very little to give an ordinary sidewalk object this much expression.

More: More googly-eye street art by Vanyu Krastev

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💕 Two Pipes in Love — By Oakoak

Painted eyes, arms and two red hearts turn two fire-safety pipes into a couple, chains and scuffs included. Even the plumbing has a love life.

More: More playful interventions by Oakoak

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👹 A Mouth Under the Brick Arch — By Mone in Hamburg, Germany 🇩🇪

A pair of eyes glares down over a garage door filled with a red mouth and pointed teeth. Mone uses the opening under the brick arch to give this face its size. Parking here would feel like feeding it.

🔗 Follow Mone on Instagram

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👶 A Very Big Grin — By Nikita Nomerz

The face is bigger than the person standing beside it. Painted ears stretch onto the surrounding walls, while the old arch above the head opens onto the sky. Nomerz turns the ruin into a character with a grin that fills the room.

More: More street art by Nikita Nomerz

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🏠 A Building That Stares Back — By Mica One in Ravensburg, Germany 🇩🇪

The tiled roof sits above two watchful eyes, while a real door cuts into the painted nose. Mica One, who has lived and worked in Ravensburg for more than a decade, stretches an old face across the whole facade.

🔗 Follow Mica One on Instagram