Grafitti Spotlight: Subcategories

Graffiti has accumulated a large number of devoted followers since its conception, but it's not all spray painted walls and subway cars. Multiple subcategories of graffiti have evolved and are growing in popularity among people who want to express themselves in other ways.

Street Poster Art

Street poster art is a form of graffiti in which artists post either handmade or printed out graphics on walls around the city ("Street poster art", 2012). Usually the graphics are on very thin paper that is easy to remove and the posters are kept in place using wheatpaste, a homemade adhesive made from a mixture of water and flour ("Wheatpaste", 2012).

Sticker Art

Sticker art is similar to poster art, in that the artists use printed graphics to spread their message. The graphics in sticker art are printed onto small stickers and placed by artists in as many areas around their respective cities as possible. To spread their art even further, sticker artists developed communities (mostly online communities) in which they trade stickers with people in other cities around the world. It would not be uncommon to see stickers in New York that were made by a person from Germany or London ("Sticker art", 2012).

Stencil Graffiti

Stencil graffiti is the closest subcategory on this list to original spray paint graffiti, and is sometimes used in combination with other spray paint techniques. Stencil graffiti, as the name implies, utilizes a stencil made out of paper, cardboard, or some other media to display a pre-made image or message. Artists can spray paint through the stencil (sometimes they use roll-on paint) to quickly and easily create their art, and the stencil allows for them to reproduce it anywhere with the same consistent design ("Stencil graffiti", 2012).

Yarn Bombing 

 Yarn bombing is a type of graffiti that uses knitted or crocheted yarn in place of paint or chalk. Originally used as a way to beautify public areas that seemed dull, yarn bombing is done by collectives of knitters who work together to cover their targets in colorful yarn ("Yarn bombing", 2012).