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Items tagged with: contemporaryAustralianArt
9 Unmissable Street Art Gems from Australia
Content warning: Which one is your favorite?
From massive silo murals in South Australia to playful sidewalk installations in Sydney, this selection highlights the diversity and imagination of street art across Australia. Featured works include a platypus painted across a grain silo, a sculpture made entirely from salvaged metal, and a joyful twist on museum etiquette involving a dandelion. Scroll on to explore striking visuals from Melbourne, Perth, Tasmania, and beyond.
More: When Street Art Meets Nature (40 Photos)
1. Please Do Not Touch — By Michael Pederson Sydney, Australia
A single dandelion stands between miniature gallery stanchions, framed by a tiny plaque reading “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH.” This urban installation cleverly elevates a common weed into a precious exhibit.
More!: 16 Photos – Street Art by Michael Pederson in Sydney, Australia
2. Blue Wren and Blossoms — By Geoffrey Carran in Melbourne, Australia
Painted on a wall in Carlton North, this mural shows a superb fairywren perched on a blooming pink branch. The details of the feathers and petals are crisp against the matte black background.
More birds!: 12 Brilliant Bird Murals That Bring Nature to the Streets
3. Viewing Double — By Jackson Harvey in Perth, Australia
A large butterfly with eye motifs on its wings dominates this mural, blending natural realism with surreal elements and pixelated color blocks. A figure walking past adds a sense of scale and interaction.
4. Silo Sunset and Portrait — By SMUG in Lameroo, South Australia
Painted on a row of silos, this expansive mural features a sunset over a rural landscape and a man deep in thought, portrayed with remarkable realism. The soft golden glow contrasts with the stormy blue tones.
More by SMUG!: 24 Times SMUG Made Walls Look More Real Than Life
5. Metal Merino — By Matt Sloane in Tasmania, Australia
This full-sized ram sculpture was built from salvaged automotive and industrial metal parts. Detailed textures recreate the wool’s curl and heft while maintaining a mechanical, futuristic edge.
6. Platypus on Silo — By Jimmy Dvate in Rochester, Victoria
A platypus bursts from the surface of this painted silo, with dramatic reflections on the water rippling around its bill. The depth and realism are astonishing at this scale.
7. Portrait in Exile — By Adnate in Melbourne, Australia
This towering portrait of a Tibetan elderly captures decades of resilience in each wrinkle. Her eyes are focused and distant, and the red in her scarf adds a vivid pop against a weathered backdrop.
8. ANZAC and Brumby — By ANZAC and Brumby in Walpeup, Australia
Three silos form the canvas for a striking mural showing a WWI soldier, a galah in flight, and a galloping brumby. The dusk-toned gradient links the elements in tribute to Australian identity.
9. Skeleton Selfie — By Kitt Benett in Melbourne, Australia
Painted across an entire empty lot, this giant skeleton lies on its side taking a selfie, with cartoon bones, a pink brain, and oversized sneakers. Best viewed from above, it comments playfully on modern vanity.
More photos!: Skeleton Selfie by Kitt Benett in Melbourne, Australia
Whether it’s pixelated butterflies, platypuses on silos, or a dandelion turned museum piece, Australia’s public art brings its cities and rural spaces to life. These works remind us how humor, history, and nature shape the country’s unique street art scene.
More: Street Art Utopia: Why People Fall In Love With Outdoor Art (25 Photos)
Which one is your favorite?
Buildings That Look Like They’re From a Dream (8 Photos)
From a church in Iceland that looks like a spaceship preparing for launch, to a house zipped open on a street in Milan — this collection showcases architecture at its most imaginative. Included are cliffside wartime refuges, storybook cottages, optical illusions, and centuries-old constructions that defy gravity or blend perfectly into mountains. These aren’t digital renderings — they’re real places from around the world.
More: 8 Beautiful Artworks That Seem to Grow From Nature
1. Unzipped Building — Alex Chinneck in Milan, Italy
A building facade appears to peel open like a jacket, with an oversized zipper curling away the wall to reveal its inner structure. This public installation by Alex Chinneck uses stone, concrete, and illusion to challenge how we perceive architecture.
2. King Alfred’s Tower — England
This red-brick triangular tower rises dramatically from the fog in Somerset, England. Built in 1772, it commemorates Alfred the Great and reaches over 49 meters high with a narrow footprint that adds to its illusion of impossibility.
3. Alpine Refuge — Monte Cristallo, Italy
Located at 2,760 meters in the Dolomites, this hidden wooden shelter from World War I is embedded directly into the rockface. Built for survival, it now appears like a dreamlike relic barely distinguishable from the mountain.
4. Hallgrímskirkja Church — Reykjavík, Iceland
This iconic Lutheran church, inspired by basalt columns and volcanic formations, dominates the Reykjavík skyline. Designed in 1937 and completed in 1986, its symmetry and scale evoke science fiction architecture.
5. The House That Sank — The Crooked House, UK
Built in 1765 on top of a mine shaft, this British pub developed a pronounced tilt as the ground beneath it slowly gave way. Despite its slanting angles, it remained a local favorite for centuries.
6. Organic Slate Roof House — Germany
This home with flowing lines and a wave-shaped slate roof blurs the line between fairy tale and high-end eco-architecture. Natural stone and soft curves give it a whimsical yet grounded appearance.
7. Cliff House — France (Built 1347)
Balanced between eras and gravity, this timber-framed upper house sits atop massive medieval stonework. Located in France and completed in 1347, it seems to hover above the road with support beams stretching underneath.
8. Rock-Built Homes — Sanaa, Yemen
Traditional Yemeni tower houses in Sanaa rise directly from the rock, combining ancient stone masonry with ornate white geometric window frames. The buildings appear both sculpted by nature and intricately human-made.These buildings bend our expectations of what architecture can be — not just structures, but expressions of ingenuity, adaptation, and creativity. Whether carved into mountains or dressed like zippers, they show that the line between surreal and real is thinner than it seems.
More: 30 Sculptures You (probably) Didn’t Know Existed
Which one is your favorite?
