Spray Can - When the symbol of Street Art becomes a Work of Art

That Spray Cans are the symbol par excellence of Street Art is beyond doubt. Spray cans have always been used by street artists precisely because of their ability to create surprising shades and chiaroscuro effects. Practical and fast, they allow works to be realised quickly, a quality that is essential for street art.

Over the years, some of the greatest Street Art artists have decided to pay homage to this tool by elevating it to a true work of art. These include none other than Banksy, Mr. Brainwash and the Italians Tvboy and Mr. Savethewall.

Discover the Street Artists who made the Spray Can Work of Art

From Banksy to Tvboy discover all the most irreverent street artists on the scene who have turned the most iconic symbol of street art into a work of art.

• Banksy
• Mr. Brainwash
• Tvboy
• Mr. Savethewall

Banksy

Among the various provocative and irreverent tricks of the Bristol street artist, there has been no absence of spray cans produced under the Banksy label.

Posted for sale on his official website, they were accompanied by the unmistakable irony of the artist, who writes:

It might look like Banksy ripped the label off an old spray can, wrote his name on it and is trying to market it as a brand new product (just to avoid a paint company getting there first), but that's certainly not what happened, no. This is Banksy-branded colour, an exciting new development in the world of branded wall coverings. - Banksy

Mr. Brainwash

From superheroes to his most iconic subjects, Mr. Brainwash has created several series of artworks starring the spray can. Personalised with the artist's unmistakable style, Mr. Brainwash's spray cans are now a must-have for a street art collection.

These include:

• The Classic Spray Can series, featuring his most iconic characters such as the Einstein of Love is the Answer, the children of Work Well Together and Smile.
• The City-Collection Spray Can, exclusive to Deodato Arte, which pays homage to various Italian cities and regions such as Rome, Milan, Naples, Porto Cervo and many others. In the design of the spray can there is a clear reference to Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup: instead of Warhol's "Tomato Soup" the word "Tomato Spray" appears.
• The Marvel Spray Can series, featuring Marvel superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America and Spiderman.

In addition to the series of real spray cans, there are many other silkscreen or painted artworks that pay homage to spraycan and street art itself.

Again the reference to Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup, king of Pop Art and the first to elevate a common object to a work of art, returns. In the triptych of silkscreens in Torn Spraycan (2020), for example, Warhol's soup becomes a spray can with a different tear in the middle in each of the three components of the series. In Max Spray Can (2019), a one-off piece on paper, an enormous spray can sprays red paint on a seated man who is holding on tightly to avoid being blown away.

Tvboy

For the artist, the spray can represents an eternal symbol of rebellion and freedom. This is precisely why Tvboy decided to create a series of spray cans in the style of Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup.

In addition, the spray can also appears in several works created by the artist in acrylic on canvas as in The Boy with a Basket of Spray Cans. In this canvas, the artist decides to pay homage to classical art by transforming Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit into a hymn to Street Art. The protagonist of the work becomes a graffiti writer who carries his coloured spray cans in a basket against a background of graffiti.

Mr. Savethewall

The street artist Mr. Savethewall has always expressed his desire to protect urban decorum and has always spoken out against the defacement of walls.

Even in his spraycan project, attention to environmental impact and recycling are at the heart of his creation. New for 2022 exclusively by Deodato Arte, the Spray Cans made by Mr. Savethewall are in fact the spray cans that the artist uses to create his works and, once finished, he signs and personalises them with stickers featuring his famous frog.

The iconic Kiss Me, Mr. Savethewall's frog, is transformed every time. Starting with the classic businessman in suits, the frog becomes a representation of famous people from mass culture. From Maradona to Michael Jordan, from Totò to Raffaella Carrà, from Freddie Mercury to Queen Elizabeth - Mr. Savethewall's characters have no limits.

As I presented them on my return from Los Angeles, there was an immediate buzz on social media from my followers who started asking me for customised subjects. Among the stars of the competition was the classic frog prince dressed as a dandy, beaten by Queen Elizabeth who remained at the top of the ratings until the frog dressed as Banksy, or rather, RANsky, as my followers themselves suggested, who also started suggesting nicknames for each icon depicted... such as Michael JordRAN, FROGgie Mercury, RANAdona, BatRAN, IndRANA Jones. - Mr. Savethewall