Who Lives Under the Bridge? (8 Photos)

Look under a bridge and something is usually living there.

Artists have moved foxes, a sleeping child and one car-clutching troll into these eight bridges and underpasses. There is more going on down here than traffic overhead.

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💪 Man Under the Bridge — By Cosimo CHEONE Caiffa and Mor Pavone in Nerviano, Italy 🇮🇹

Someone is wedged in the gap under this road bridge, gripping both pillars and looking straight at you. CHEONE painted it with Mor Pavone. Look at how the fingers curl around the real pillar edges: the concrete becomes something the giant can grab. The low ceiling presses down over his head, while the real person crouching at the right gives you the scale.

💡 Nerd Fact: Nerviano is his home turf. Oddity Central says CHEONE grew up in Gallipoli but paints mostly in Nerviano.

More: Amazing 3D Murals by CHEONE

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🧸 “Sleeping Girl” — By Tom Wild Sketch in Lausanne, Switzerland 🇨🇭

A kid is curled up with a teddy bear across the back wall of an underpass. Her tucked-up legs fit the long, low space, with the real strip lights overhead. Tom Wild Sketch paints the denim, boots and worn bear so carefully that you almost want to lower your voice.

More: Sleeping Girl by Tom Wild Sketch (6 Photos)

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🦊 “Longbridge Foxes” — By Annatomix in Birmingham, England 🇬🇧

Two low-poly foxes have taken over the piers under this railway bridge, with a daffodil growing between them. Street Art Cities lists the set as “Longbridge Foxes”, painted in 2023 along the River Rea trail.

💡 Nerd Fact: The sharp shapes aren’t really about origami. Annatomix says on her own site that her animals come from geometry, low-poly modeling, crystal structures and architecture.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLongbridge FoxesAnnatomix · 2023 · Longbridge, BirminghamThree foxesFor St Modwen (local paper)About 15ft tall (artist)1The Bromsgrove Standard reported three murals of her orange geometric fox on the brick walls of an old railway bridge.Bromsgrove Standard2In December 2023 one of the foxes was reportedly tagged with white spray paint, according to the Bromsgrove Standard.Bromsgrove Standard20231 MayCreated, per Street Art Cities20239 AugFinished, says local paper202313 DecOne fox tagged by vandals202625 JulMarked seen on Street Art Cities202614 AugColossal featureRead the full file →

More: Origami Fox by Annatomix in Longbridge, Birmingham

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🤳 “The Selfie” — By Kerry Wilson in Glenrothes, Scotland 🇬🇧

Here the resident is a giant, and it’s taking a picture of the tunnel. Kerry Wilson calls the work “The Selfie” in her portfolio. Two painted hands hold a phone around the real opening. The path through the underpass becomes the view on its screen, and anyone walking through becomes part of the picture.

💡 Nerd Fact: Glenrothes takes this seriously. Fife Art Trail says the new town appointed a “Town Artist” back in 1968.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMaci-MobileKerry Wilson · Macedonia, GlenrothesFife Council commissionUnderpass muralReport cover, June 20181Fife Council commissioned the mural after the Golden Glenrothes Charrette, a 2017 community planning process for west Glenrothes.PAS charrette report, June 20182According to Two Scots Abroad, Wilson painted it over two days with a teenage local apprentice.Two Scots Abroad, 17 Aug 20182018JunCover of the charrette report201817 AugDescribed by Two Scots AbroadRead the full file →

More: Photo Tunnel by Kerry Wilson in Glenrothes

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🧌 Fremont Troll — By Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead in Seattle, USA 🇺🇸

The fairy tale, taken literally. The troll crouches under the north end of the Aurora Bridge with a hubcap for an eye and a real Volkswagen Beetle crushed in his hand.

💡 Troll Fact: The troll replaced a much less welcome collection: garbage and old mattresses. Seattle Municipal Archives records the Fremont Arts Council’s plan to clean up the space. Residents voted on four designs in June and July 1990. The troll won, and community volunteers helped finish it later that year.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsFremont TrollSteve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter and Ross Whitehead · 1990 · SeattleReal Volkswagen BeetleChosen by neighborhood voteUnder the Aurora Bridge1Fremont residents chose the troll in a neighborhood vote; it was announced as the winning design on 19 July 1990.Seattle Municipal Archives, 2 Feb 20262The troll’s left hand clutches a real Volkswagen Beetle, whose inside became a time capsule, according to Badanes.The Seattle Times, 30 May 2004199019 JulAnnounced as the winning design199029 SepTroll Day dedication200423 SepPhoto: the hand and the Beetle2021JulStreet View: face and hubcap eye202326 SepNew steps to the top2024OctStreet View: arm and back202525 MarAxios: “still draws admirers”202626 AugPhoto: troll and new steps202631 OctTrolloween birthday party listedMore photos2004 The hand and the Beetle, close upPhoto: Eli Duke / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)2026 With the new steps beside itPhoto: Sambusak74 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress (public domain)

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🎒 Child Behind Bars — By Chemis in Jihlava, Czech Republic 🇨🇿

A boy with a school backpack, stuck behind a real metal cage at the Brněnský bridge. The bars are real; the kid is paint. Chemis wrote that it is about inclusion in schools and “the barriers that these children have to overcome.”

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsCesta do školyChemis · 2021 · Brněnský most, JihlavaSocial inclusion projectWater reservoir wallChildren painted part too1Czech Radio says the painting is on the wall of the water reservoir under Brněnský most, and local children helped with the work.Czech Radio (iRozhlas)2Chemis made it for STAR, a street-art project for social inclusion that EPMA runs with the city of Jihlava.EPMA, 27 Oct 2021202127 OctPresented by EPMA202129 OctUnveiling set for 1 Nov202121 DecDeník report with photos202627 AugMarked seen on Street Art CitiesRead the full file →

More: The Barriers Children Have to Overcome by Chemis

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🐶 Springer Spaniel — By Spacehop in Exeter, England 🇬🇧

A springer spaniel taller than the man in the photo, staring out from under the Exe Bridges. Spacehop (Jeff Evans) gets the wet nose and the shine in the eyes just right. ITV reported in 2016 that 22 street artists had repainted the riverside underpasses of the Exe Bridges.

More: Springer Spaniel painted on Exe Bridge (5 Photos)

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👸 “Sleeping Beauty under the Bridge” — By Herr Nilsson in Stockholm, Sweden 🇸🇪

And then there’s the one you don’t want to meet. Herr Nilsson’s Sleeping Beauty waits on a bridge pillar by a dark footpath, and she is not asleep. She belongs to his series of Disney princesses gone deadly around Stockholm.

More: Street Art Pop Culture by Herr Nilsson (21 Photos)

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Wilson turns an opening into a phone screen; Chemis puts a painted child behind real bars; CHEONE squeezes a giant beneath a real ceiling. Try picturing those works on flat, open walls. Which one would lose the most without its bridge or underpass?