Top 10 best graffiti and street art books of all time

Reading becomes really fun when you have a book in which you can dream away. We have composed this graffiti and street art top 10 book list to tell you everything about the tale of the street and graffiti! Maybe you want your kid to learn more about graffiti art for kids, or if you want to read more about the best Banksy book out there. We’ve got you covered.

Below we composed a list of the best street art and graffiti books for you to read in 2023. Here you can find amazing examples of street and graffiti artists around the world who radically changed their environment.

In short the top 10 graffiti and street art books features:

1. Subway Art (1984) – Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant

Although thousands of writers write their names on any available surface in New York City, there are fairly few masterpieces such as those on the pages of this book. And they have got it right. They help you dive into the authors, finding the best place to light up the city. If you want to get a taste of illegal spraying on trains and subways this book will unveil the many challenges that artists need to overcome in order to achieve the goal of being visible on the toughest imaginable surface around the world.

2. The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti – Rafael Schacter

So literally Rafael Schachter lived the life as he traveled to find the most important street artists, murals, schools and style writers of urban street art. Grouped in geographical order, you can find 100 of today’s greatest street artists from all over the world. Rafael Schacter has done excellent research with key examples and profiles of the artists to showcase graffiti in the bigger picture of street art.

3. Graffiti World – Nicholas Ganz

If you’re searching for the ultimate book of graffiti, Graffiti World will be right in your path. It provides fascinating insights into the artistic revolution of the past 35 years but be aware: it’s perfect for art enthusiasts but it doesn’t provide enough specifics about the artists, sadly. It is a wonderful perusal of art around the world! A treat for those inclined towards aesthetics with a sense of adventure and rebelliousness.

4. Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art – Ethel Seno

A must-have for lovers of urban art, enriched by strong texts and stunning images. The collection of artworks offers us a great panorama of contemporary art, which fills the world’s streets. It tracks the development of guerrilla art from its origins to its recent evolution. How key ideas, concepts and themes about urban art developed in a well documented way.

5. The Birth of Graffiti – Jon Naar

Like no other book on Graffiti, this magnificent book speaks to us and we have read many. Apart from a nice introduction, there is no description of the images, nor interviews with the authors, and there is no need for either. Those photos have such profound simplicity. They in a sad and fragile light show the glorious ugliness of urban blight.

6. Wall and Piece – Banksy (best Banksy book)

Want to read more about the best Banksy book? We got you covered! This is the first major overview of the work of the notorious Bristol English graffiti artist, Banksy. His true identity is still unknown but internationally, Banksy has become a household name. His work, turning toward capitalism, advertising, war and monarchy, can be found in the English street scene, on the Palestinian wall and in Paris and New York museums. Banksy entered the graffiti essentially using a traditional stencil technique. Walls and street furniture including custom pets, zoos and paintings indoors. His slogans and visual statements are sharp, catchy and humourous. His numerous works (monkeys, police officers, rats, cows, sculpture, street furniture) are seen in this summary, entirely in the style of Banksy. The full-page, full-color photos, here and there with comments and comments from Banksy himself, provide a lot of browsing pleasure. Banksy’s interventions are loved or reviled, but when looking at this collection of his work, a smile is never far away.

7. Graffiti Woman: Graffiti and Street Art from Five Continents – Nicholas Ganz

8. Obey: Supply & Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey – Shepard Fairey

We decided to write this without mentioning Banksy simply because Fairey’s work can stand alone without Banksy being compared to it. However, having said that, anyone without you-know-who would probably not be aware of Fairey. Where Banksy adds humor, Fairey adds a totalitarian state sentiment. The book is a generous size anyway, with all pictures printed to a high standard. The minimal color palette he uses works well to emphasize the impression that the photos come from a “knowing best” system for the population.

9. Graffiti Alphabets: Street Fonts from Around the World – Claudia Walde

This book is a fantastic guide for those interested in different types of graffiti / fonts. There are handwritten types (tags), bubble letters (throw ups), basic letters, 3D letters, letters w / characters, human-made letters, semi-wild type pieces, and wild-style pieces to name only a few. As shown in the product description, some familiar faces to the graffiti scene are taking part in this project: Askew, Persue, Wane, 123 Klan, Ces, and Rime. With regard to artists with whom we were unfamiliar, this book helped us realize what we were missing, and with the help of websites provided throughout the book, we were able to pull out more art from those artists new to us. There is information about the crews they are part of, mention of their favorite text, and an info paragraph along with a website mentioned for each artist. The article the contain details about the artist, what graffiti means to them, or what they really love about graffiti, and how they made their alphabets.We liked how it was reported that one writer woke up at 5 AM and went around the city to paint his alphabet before clocking in for work that day.

10. Graffiti School: A Student Guide with Teacher’s Manual – Christoph Ganter

This is the last of our top ten titles. Graffiti School is the world’s first completely illustrated College graffiti coursebook. It begins with an exploration of the past and tradition of graffiti, from Pompeii to the Hip Hop movement to the present day, and how to remain on the right side of the law. If you want to start in graffiti and you want to know how to become a graffiti artist in a structured way, we can not highly recommend this book. Working from this book, and learning from it, was fantastic.

Jeroen van der Bos

I'm Jeroen, a lifelong graffiti enthusiast. I've been captivated by urban street art since my youth in Amsterdam. I loved photographing and studying the graffiti styles and artists that made the city their canvas. Decades later, this art form still inspires me. I met David through our shared passion for graffiti. Together, we created Graffid to connect with graffiti artists and fans worldwide. As veteran graffiti heads, we want to showcase brilliant artists, swap pics, and spread the word on what's happening in the global urban art scene. Let's talk shop and share our enthusiasm for this creative, vibrant art form!

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