Greece, the mecca for street art in Europe, has seen graffiti art flourish as the economic crisis worsens. No sooner does one business shut down that graffiti art takes over the empty store, covering up the misery and unemployment with a frenzy of messy colors. One could say that the colored walls are a cover for young people’s perceptions of a bleak future. Here’s what the artists who rule the walls are saying…

Alex Kataras

Alex Kataras is a young artist in Exarheia who doesn’t believe that graffiti is vandalism, but meaningful art. He even did a dissertation on it in a thesis titled “Advertising, Propaganda, and Graffiti Art” at Saint Martin’s in London.

Sonke

Sonke first got involved in street art when he was a student. He states that the characters he draws seem to draw themselves. His greatest influence is the city of Athens itself and its cityscape. His characters look sad because that is how Sonke sees the people in the streets around him.

Argiris SER Saraslanidis 

The Thessaloniki-based artist first started in 1993, making him a pioneer in Greek graffiti art. He is still an active artist on the Greek scene.

This is Opium

This is opium is the tag of an Athens-based street artist who believes that football and religion are the opium of the masses. Much of the inspiration comes from the artist’s travels to India with symbols of mysticism and paganism slipped into his art.

ApSET

The Thessaloniki-born artist first entered the graffiti world in 1998 and has been active in a number of local and international events over the last few years from huge murals to sculptures to graphic design.

iNO 

iNO’s graffiti art aims to draw attention to the social situation in crisis-hit Greece. This work, “Access Control”, on Pireos street.

Yiakou

A physiotherapist, whose hobby is art, began doing street art in 2008. He is inspired by dreamy images and poetry.

SMTS

The work ‘Sleep’ by urban artist SMTS is in Exarcheia, central Athens.

Fikos

Can you tell that Fikos studied Byzantine art? Here is his work on a wall in the working-class Kolonos district of Athens.

DAL (China) and Faith47 (South Africa)

It’s not just Greek artists at work around the country. Globetrotters DAL and Faith47 were in Greece for the 15th Biennial of Young Artists. They left behind their calling card on the streets of Thessaloniki.

WD

Indonesian-born WD has taken advantage of the relatively lax anti-graffiti law with this work at Exarcheia, central Athens.