French street artist OakOak creates clever graffiti with a twist. He incorporates his cartoon street art into the natural surroundings of his hometown of Saint-Étienne to create guerilla art. Anything in the urban environment can be used — a bollard can be used to make a face, or the road can become a blank canvas for his crosswalk art.

His works are created without authorization from higher-ups in the city, so the identity of this amateur artist remains a mystery for now. However, OakOak explained how he got started making this funny graffiti, and it was all because of his love for Saint-Étienne. “I like this city, her atmosphere, and I wanted it to look nicer,” he said. “It was an industrial city with many coal mines; now it’s in regeneration and still quite poor. But it’s easily traveled by foot with awkward aspects ideal for urban art. I saw shapes everywhere, and wanted to realize them.”

Check out this cool collection of creative street art examples from the man himself. His work can be seen as ‘urban intervention’ — a way of reclaiming disused space for public art to be enjoyed by everyone. Although, some disagree with his work and call it simple vandalism — a stigma that’s unfortunately attached to a lot of street art. So before you start scrolling down the list, I’m going to take the liberty of reposting here a comment made on our Facebook page by Mike Aftanake: “This is today’s art, not the phony abstract ugly pieces they gather in modern art museums. This is alive…”

And what about you? Do you think this street art is a crime, or is it art?

30 More Street Art Works by OakoAk (Part II)

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