The following ladies are not your average taggers. Because of their political messages, advocacy and partnership with other lady artists, and their mind blowing creativity, these ladies are way cooler than Banksy. That’s right, they are cooler than Banksy and all the other overrated famous dudes! Find your favorites, get inspired, and see if you can find some of their art in your neighborhood.
Bastardilla, a Colombian street artist, who chooses to remain anonymous in a world of self-promotion. In a documentary by Défense d’Afficher she says “I cannot stay indifferent to what happens in the world still today, towards women. I enjoy working on topics that we are not used to seeing and particularly on this strength that the woman represents…”
Magda Sayeg, is the mother of yarn bombing and founder of Knitta Please, from Austin Texas. She travels the world creating this cool knit art, and sometimes with collaboration!
Molly Evans + Lionel Stitchie Project, a 2013 adventure to get rid of old furniture and cheer up a grouchy neighbor turned into an experiment of getting attention through Lionel Richie lyrics! Although Evans may have just been looking to cheer up a grumpy neighbor, she cheered up many more with this project. Evans is also a fiber artist and costume designer and has many talents beyond these pieces.
Chinagirl Tile posts her political and socially engaging title pieces all over the world. Her work with ceramics often looks cute or friendly from a far, but has a deeper message confronting the government or culture at large. She started this project in 2010, and I hope it continues forever and ever!
Jilly Ballistic is an artist from Brooklyn who regularly posts her paste-ups in NYC and the subway system. Through messages about pollution, war, the police, and societies’ general ills, she grabs the attention of the curious, in-tune, and aware.
Boxhead is a Spanish born and internationally grown artists and designer who started in 2009. She experiments with different techniques such as drawing, painting, screen printing, spray painting, and wheat pasting, and toys. The concept of the box is an interesting exploration of society, and self, that can speak to a number of different cultural and political issues.
CAKE is one artist who I absolutely love for her cool and beautiful portraits of women. These walls of women coupled with anatomy nerd awesomeness are unbelievably striking. She is known to paint the women in her life and family. It took her a long time to get where she is in the art world, and I feel very grateful for her creating and sharing her work so publicly.
Amara Por Dios is from Sweden and started painting in Stockholm. While her passion for street art started at the age of twelve, she didn’t start to gain recognition until 2011 for her unique style and bright color patterns. Although she is newer than most of these artists to the street art world, she has a great following for her powerful and funky portraits. Keep an eye on this one.
For more information on female street artists visit muralsandgirls, and womenstreetartists.
Artwork c/o StreetUtopia, FatCap, Magda Sayeg, LionelStitchie, China Girl Tile, Women Street Artists, Boxhead, Jilly Ballistic, CAKE, and Amara Por Dios.
