Street art moves indoors as designers, home makers use graffiti and murals to make walls, furniture pop
- Residential street art brings an unexpected edge to a home, as a full wall mural or a small creative statement
- Artists want the flexibility to be creative
Street artists are increasingly moving into homes to paint their sweeping murals: a sprawling statement wall in the living room, a poolside art piece enjoyed from the patio, even furniture emblazoned with graffiti.
Anji Connell is a Hong Kong-based interior designer who was so taken by the murals she commissioned two street artists to create in her South Africa home that she is now including hand-painted graffiti furniture in a residential project for a Hong Kong client.
“Street art, or ‘refined graffiti’, brings something unexpected, an edgy cool, to a home, whether it’s in the form of a full wall mural or a small art statement, tag or graffiti-adorned piece of furniture,” she says. “It’s an excellent conversation starter.”
Connell allowed the artists she picked in South Africa to have complete freedom on her walls.
“I had no brief,” she says. “I wanted the artists to express their own creativity. Even the location was open.”
Visual artist Ana Kuni created a sweeping, wild warrior girl in one of Connell’s bedrooms, while urban artist Wayne Bks painted a graphic, colourful work on an exterior wall near the swimming pool. “Both artists have their own style, and this is the reason I commissioned them,” she says.