Wait, What? (7 Photos)

Wait, that’s not supposed to be there

A concrete wall leaks blue tape onto the sidewalk, and a parked car in New York asks strangers to draw on it. The rest of this set from American artists and places works the same way: it starts with something ordinary and adds one thing nobody expected.

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💧 L.A. Leaker — By Aakash Nihalani

A security guard stands next to a hole that isn’t there. Black lines and flat blue tape turn a stained concrete wall into a blocky opening, and two blue strips run down to the pavement as if the sky were leaking out. Aakash Nihalani lists the piece as L.A. Leaker among his outdoor works.

💡 Nerd Fact: Nihalani was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, and studied art in New York. He told designboom that working with tape sets his work apart from other street art because it “revels in the temporary.”

More: Street Art by Aakash Nihalani

🔗 Visit Aakash Nihalani’s website

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🍾 Bottle Cap Mirage — By Carl Leck in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 🇺🇸

A glass bottle appears to hang from metal supports in front of the brick wall. Painted reflections and a broad shadow give it weight, while an oversized cap sits down by the sidewalk. The real windows are a useful clue to how large the illusion is.

💡 Nerd Fact: The bottle has a local connection: this is the Bottleworks District, a former Coca-Cola bottling plant. The National Park Service records its conversion into a mix of hotel, shops, dining and entertainment.

🔗 Follow Carl Leck on Instagram

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🚗 Draw on Me — By Philip Romano in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

A man leans over the hood with a piece of chalk while a small crowd waits its turn. The whole car is a blackboard, and the orange plate says DRAW ON ME. Philip Romano, then a 20-year-old student, coated his 2004 Hyundai Elantra with four cans of chalkboard paint, parked it around the city and left chalk for strangers, Twisted Sifter reported.

💡 Nerd Fact: The drawings are not permanent. A little rain wipes the board clean, so the car is ready for new artists, as Twisted Sifter notes. Romano said: “It’s kind of like a puppy, you can’t help but smile when you see it.”

More: Philip Romano’s Chalkboard Car

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🛩️ World in Progress II — By Saype in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

Seen from the air, two children kneel side by side, folding paper, while stick figures hold hands around them. Saype painted the 11,000-square-meter image on the North Lawn of the United Nations headquarters in September 2021, using biodegradable paint made from pigments such as coal and chalk.

💡 Nerd Fact: This is the second half of a pair. The first part was painted at the UN’s European headquarters in Geneva in 2020, as Switzerland’s gift for the organization’s 75th anniversary.

More: World in Progress II by Saype

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👀 The Eyes — By Cobre in Great Falls, Montana, USA 🇺🇸

Two eyes stretch across a long, low building, staring over an almost empty patch of asphalt. Two orange cones sit beneath the face. With so little else on the wall, the brows, lashes and reflected light do all the work. The Argentinian muralist painted the wall at 815 1st Avenue North for ArtsFest MONTANA in the summer of 2022, and it was later named among Street Art Cities’ top 100 murals of that year.

More: The eyes – Mural by Cobre in Great Falls, Montana, USA

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🐠 Hagerfest Goldfish — By Christian Stanley in Hagerstown, Maryland, USA 🇺🇸

Three enormous goldfish fill a narrow vertical wall. Orange fins curl into blue and green scales, with the parking decks visible on either side. It looks like a very tall aquarium. Stanley painted it from a forklift during Hagerfest 2026 and told DC News Now that he used the height of the wall to change perspective, so the goldfish change expression depending on how high or low they sit. His mural portfolio lists the piece as Hagerfest Goldfish.

🔗 Follow Christian Stanley on Instagram

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🦝 Aiden Checks the World — By David Zinn in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 🇺🇸

A small creature peers up from a staircase drawn on a flat slab among the leaves. It holds one paw up, as if testing the air before coming outside. A handful of chalk shadows turns the ground into a front door.

More: Silly Art By David Zinn (20 Photos)

🔗 Follow David Zinn on Instagram