7 Street Art Stencils That Interact With Their Surroundings

Paris-based street artist ABOVE is known for weaving stencil paintings into the surrounding streetscape to create images that border on optical illusions. Traveling the world to make art that comments on social and political issues, ABOVE keeps an eye out for situations where real world and painted image can interact, with results that are playful, head-scratching and haunting.

Using stationary shadows, dangling wires, a hole in the Berlin Wall, a panhandler's spot next to an ATM, or the ornate frame of a boarded-up window, ABOVE's work plays with perception and perspective to elevate street art to a field far beyond the common tag. Check out some of our favorites, and be sure to cruise the whole online gallery for even more.

London, England.

Zaragoza, Spain.

"24 percent desempleados translates into english 24 percent unemployed," ABOVE explains. "Spain is the eurozone's 4th largest economy, however one in four people in spain are unemployed."

Madrid, Spain.

Berlin Wall, Germany.

Lisbon, Portugal.

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Paris, France.

In this piece, ABOVE changed a pre-existing Banksy stencil (seen in the video above) into a commentary on Banksy's increasing commercial success.

Images by ABOVE