Genius Graffiti Art That Will Make You Smile

Graffiti drawings may seem like vandalism, but lots of art on the street is actually pure genius. Let's explore some amazing pieces of street art.

June 7, 2023・

11 min read

Street art has been viewed with a new-found appreciation in recent years and when it’s done right it can range from beautiful to downright hilarious. From awesome artwork to small but clever urban changes, here’s some genius graffiti art that will make you smile!

Spongebob Splatter

Poor SpongeBob clearly didn’t learn the basic safety rules before crossing the street during his short-lived life on land. Here lies his final resting place; everyone’s favorite yellow goofball reduced to a brightly-colored splatter.

Alexey Menschikov

The art below is so intricate it’s a shame the effect will be lost when nature takes hold and the real-life branch above no longer matches up perfectly with its painted counterpart. Russian artist Alexey Menschikov was certainly committed to making this work though, and at least there’s a photo to prove it!

David Zinn's 3D Street Art

Imagine taking a walk and coming across this little guy so kindly sweeping the autumn leaves out of your path. David Zinn is a 3D street artist who illustrates his recognizable little green alien getting up to all sorts of mischief around the city, and undoubtedly brightening the day of anyone who comes across him.

Bollard Art

It takes a keen eye to turn something totally ordinary into a fantastical piece of art, and this bollard has definitely been transformed for the better. It’s not every day you see a cow being abducted by a UFO, so it’s surely worth stopping in the street to appreciate this hilarious street art.

Dirty Car Art By Nikita Golubev

There’s no actual paint involved in the following street art, but that doesn’t make it any less brilliant. All Nikita Golubev needed for this scarily lifelike alligator drawing was a dirty van and their own fingertips. The owner was probably thrilled too, it beats ‘clean me’ any day!

Barrier Bar Art

The parking barrier below now looks like something from a cartoon thanks to one smart street artist. All it takes is a few streaks of brightly colored paint to transform this plain old metal pipe into a flowing faucet of magical goo.

Check out this old pipe which is also spewing a vibrant rainbow onto the street thanks to some serious crochet skills. Who knew creative solutions to a dull cityscape could be so simple?

Wheelie Bin Art

Adding a bit of character to an urban environment doesn’t require a full-scale transformation; just look at these circuit boxes which have been brought to life with cartoon-like expressions. It's unclear if the bottles were added for effect afterwards or whether they’re the reason the dude on the left ended up in such a sorry state to begin with.

If taking out the bins seems like a chore, why not enlist a talented street artist to transform your boring old receptacles into trash-eating monsters? This clever and creative work of art is certainly eye-catching, and anyone would be a fool not to pay these quirky characters a visit, although maybe not in the dead of night.

Street Art By Oakoak

Context is everything and the street art below definitely helped put this scene into perspective. A burnt-out building has been brought back to life with one small unique addition: a miniature red dragon who so clearly caused the blaze with one mighty puff.

No one really knows what those patterns in concrete walls are for besides a bit of decoration, but this creative genius in Osaka, Japan took things to the next level by transforming one into an appetizing soft serve ice cream. They even added a shadow behind the cone to really trick those taste buds.

Unexpected humor goes a long way, and there’s no doubt this ingenious piece of art put a smile on the face of anyone passing by. This concrete breezeblock clearly spent a lifetime practicing for the starring role in this recreation of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ and the resemblance is uncanny.

The versatile brick also appears in this simple but hilariously effective street art which really captures the pain of a fence pole through the eye. Examples like this one play on our human tendency to see faces in everyday objects known as ‘Pareidolia’ – the psychological phenomenon which launched a thousand street art pieces!

If you’ve seen Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining then the detailed graffiti work below would be enough to have you running in the opposite direction. It’s almost as if Jack Nicholson himself is hiding in the shadows behind this old farmhouse door, and it’s certainly enough to shock any unsuspecting passers-by.

Thie graffiti art below is so simple but so satisfying at the same time. Even the untouched stone blocks beside it couldn’t stop the desire to run up and try to activate this giant switch; but anyone who tries is going to get a very sore hand.

Street art which interacts with its surroundings instead of simply defacing it is all the more interesting. This graffiti Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland has been perfectly placed so that it looks like he’s sitting on a shadowy branch.

Here’s another example of graffiti which tells a story as this clever artist decided to provide an explanation for this dilapidated circuit box. Of course, the box was raided by a pesky cartoon burglar who is now walking off with a fistful of electrical wires.

Morfai Street Art

At first, it seems like there’s nothing so remarkable about this statue of a peasant grain-sower in Lithuania but take another look once the sun goes down and the scene comes to life. The street artist Morfai carefully positioned a series of stars on the wall which appear to come from the man’s shadow in the evening floodlight, making this one magical must-see.

Sandrine aka Sand

This charming pavement art is the product of Sandrine's imagination to envision two tufts of unwanted grass as cheerleaders’ pom-poms. Happening across this spritely cartoon girl would definitely brighten someone’s day, but just imagine if the grass was spray-painted pink, too.

Pejac Street Art

This simple street art by Spanish artist Pejac is definitely a strong political statement as it shows the world literally going down the drain. A day of heavy rain could turn that statement into a reality.

Miha Artnak

Paying a little more attention to your everyday surroundings might just reveal something as surprising as this. This cleverly-placed street decal makes it seem like the urban environment is being peeled back to reveal a portal to a lush green meadow, if only it were that easy.

Roadsworth

This ingenious transformation of an ordinary parking lot into a bay of oversized dandelions is the work of street artist ‘Roadsworth’ who turns the streets of Montreal into his own personal canvas.

From fishy zebra crossings to larger-than-life insects, Roadsworth is responsible for his own brand of creative road markings. If you’ve ever wanted more inventive zebra crossings or wondered what’s at the end of double-yellow lines, he’s your guy.

Skeleton Drain Graffiti

Graffiti artists possess the ability to transform even the most mundane urban environments into works of art, and this ordinary drain became the inspiration for an anatomical art installation.

Pac-Man Graffiti

Sometimes a bit of clever thinking is all that’s needed to bring something back from ruin, as proven by this chipped paintwork which has been reimagined as the lunch of some hungry Pac-men. The owner of this house definitely won’t have problems directing guests from now on; “it’s bright orange, oh and it’s got Pacman all over it”

Stair Mural

Check out this astonishing staircase mural in the city of Valparaiso in Chile. Hours of painstaking work must have gone into each hand-painted scene which comes together to turn this steep incline into a total ‘walk of art’.

Pavel 183, The Russian Bansky

Some careful planning must have gone into this huge drawing in the snow by Pavel Pukhov, which incorporates a nearby lamp post to create a 3D artwork. The impressive finished product when viewed from above totally looks like a giant dropped their glasses out of the sky.

Pie Graffiti

The hilarious graffiti below is one way to approach an anti-smoking campaign, and whoever created it must’ve had a pretty big appetite. Who knew all it took is one straight line to turn the universal smoking symbol into a slice of delicious pie? Besides, the ‘pie area’ sounds like the place to be.

Braille Art

If you live in a large town or city, you’ve probably noticed those raised, bumpy patterns dotted around. These tiles are sometimes known as ‘braille paving’ as they help the visually impaired detect a change or obstacle in the sidewalk, and the Matrix street art below takes things to the next level.

Mathematical Street Art

Here’s some quick maths for you in case you forgot the rules of basic multiplication. These boarded-up windows would still be an unpleasant sight if it weren’t for the eagle-eyed artist Aakash Nihalani who decided to turn them into a 3D mathematical equation.

Golden Halo

The most genius art in this photograph isn’t the graffiti on the back wall, but a far more subtle addition which you might not spot at first. Street artist Gogelmogel added a perfectly placed golden halo to this ordinary bus stop which interacts with anyone lucky enough to sit beneath it. Maybe angels do walk among us!

Mini Kong

Even the smallest touches can make the biggest difference, just look at this miniature version of the infamous Empire State Building scene from King Kong. It takes one smart cookie to envision this tiny exposed structure as a Manhattan skyscraper, but it’s definitely a match made in movie heaven.

You're Offline Graffiti

The street art below takes a truly terrifying sight and turns it around with some old-fashioned humor. This blank canvas provided the perfect opportunity for a recreation of the classic no-Wi-Fi warning, and the message ‘don’t panic, look around, interact with reality’ is the perfect punchline to brighten your day.

It's A Tiny Forest

On a regular day, a moss-filled missing paving tile wouldn’t attract much attention, but a bit of imagination and a white marker pen has turned this sidewalk into something worth stopping for. Just imagine a whole ecosystem existing down there, it’s certainly enough to make you feel less significant.

Marge Simpson

Street artists need a keen eye to spot the potential in ordinary urban life, and this unsuspecting bush provided the perfect opportunity for some hilarious graffiti. Marge Simpson herself would be proud of this up-do, and maybe she should give green a try for a change.

Have you ever noticed that concrete street bollards are the perfect shape for a street art replica of Marge Simpson’s towering blue hair? This excellent design really does look like cartoon Marge is popping up from the street.

Toilet Humor

Some say toilet humor isn’t funny, but this cheeky graffiti would surely be enough to get a smile out of any passer-by. What probably didn’t take long to make could provide a lifetime of laughs, and the tiny denim jeans are a genius touch.

Pipe Graffiti

You can slap eyes and a mouth on most inanimate objects and call it a face, but rarely does it work quite as well as the street art below. Suddenly this regular water pipe looks like a lovable cartoon character with one seriously bad cold.

Wang Yue Street Art

This hidden work of art is a little slice of mother nature concealed in an urban environment. Chinese art student Wang Yue has created a beautiful sunset scene inside a tree trunk which will definitely add intrigue to the polluted streets of Shijiazhuang by turning them into a public art gallery.

Fishing for Advert

It takes some real quick thinking to turn a sight for sore eyes into an amazing work of art like the following. This T-Mobile advert tragically slid out of its frame at the bus stop, but not before one clever artist could transform it into a magical fishing scene, and the silhouette looks a lot like Peter Pan.

Tom Bob's NY Street Art

Street artist Tom Bob has been slowly turning the streets of New York City into a colorful playground with ingenious graffiti transformations like the flamingo below.

Forgotten electrical boxes and rusted pipes become the foundations for whimsical and vibrant cartoon characters that are sure to jazz up anyone’s morning. Take a look at this impressive shifty-looking watch seller.

And what about this interactive giant-fly swat which began life as a drain covering?

I hope you were amazed at these genius works of street art and graffiti artists that are sure to make you smile. Thanks for reading!