Welcome to the new/updated site, with revisions happening daily! Since 2002, your old-school website for all things stencils. Please consider donating what you can to support the much-needed upgrade. Photo, video, links, and exhibit info submissions always welcome. Enjoy and stay curious.

Donate any amount.

Other ways to support this site:

Banksy Loses More Copyrights to His Art

Banksy Radar Rat
Banksy's "Radar Rat"

World Trademark Review (LINK)

“This is a case about intention”: Banksy’s trademark troubles continue as EUIPO invalidates four more marks

  • The EUIPO Cancellation Division upholds four invalidation applications
  • Hits out at artist’s efforts “to circumvent the law” through evidence of use
  • Dispute with Full Colour Black has resulted in six cancellations, one case pending

The EUIPO Cancellation Division has declared four of street artist Banksy’s trademarks invalid, hitting out at his efforts “to circumvent the law”. The decisions mean that six Banksy marks have now been invalidated in a series of cases brought by Full Colour Black. The lawyer representing the company has welcomed the latest decisions but adds: “The only concerns are that, to date, Banksy has not paid any costs. One hopes that a winding-up order won’t be necessary.”

KAVES Sues NYPD for Buffing His Wall

Renowned graffiti artist sues NYPD for painting over his street art

By NOAH GOLDBERG

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (LINK)

JUN 01, 2021 AT 5:11 PM

A well-known graffiti artist is suing the NYPD for painting over his street mural, arguing that the police department’s recent citywide clean-up mission “endangers hundreds of valuable, recognized, and permitted artworks.”

Michael McLeer, 51, who also goes by Michael Kaves, filed his lawsuit as a class action, asking that other street artists join him in his battle against the paint police.

Discussing Street Art, Ownership of Public Space in India

How unsanctioned street art complicates idea of 'ownership' of public space, and the inherent politics of art

Unsanctioned, therefore, uncensored street art makes for a viable platform for social commentary and political critique, giving space and form to public opinion.

Tanishka DLyma
May 12, 2021 11:04:17 IST
ORIGINAL LINK

This is the second part of a series on street art in India, and the issue of its ownership. Read the first part here.

In the month preceding India's fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a 40-foot mural was painted at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, reflecting the perseverance of the women leading protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) at the site. It was painted by the Fearless Collective, founded by artist Shilo Shiv Suleman, along with protestors.

Artworks by the anonymous Kochi-based artist, Guess Who, are seen on the walls at Kochi, Bengaluru and Delhi, among other places. His works comprise art with cheeky taglines, criticising the government and media. There’s one of a dog barking from within a television screen, with ‘Barking News’ written above it. The artist often uses humour, which helps disrupt set narratives by presenting new perspectives to the public.

Vatican Sued for Stealing Street Art

Street artist sues Vatican for using Christ image on Easter stamp: 'I couldn’t believe it'

Nicole Winfield
Associated Press (LINK, with photos)

ROME – One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of the image, which featured Babrow’s hallmark heart emblazoned across Christ’s chest, as its 2020 Easter postage stamp.

Stencil Archive - New! Improved!

An early-2000s stencil in the Mission Dist., SF
An early 2000s stencil in SF's Mission District

An Enhanced Summer Diversion

Since 2002, Stencil Archive has held down a well-painted corner of the World Wide Web. Our last upgrade was back in 2014, so welcome to today's newest upgrades!

The site may look a little different, but all the content is still a few clicks away. And, like the 2014 revision, Stencil Archive is responsive to all the devices that you surf the net with. As always, this is a no-profit project, with no advertising and no monetizing of your art, photographs, and data. 

A few small tweaks may happen in the coming days, and then expect an overhaul of the deep and awesome Archive itself. 

Keep checking in for new content. Enjoy the new look. And thanks as always for being part of Stencil Nation.

Climate Chaos Causing Deterioration of Ancient Cave Art

The World’s Oldest Cave Art Is Being Destroyed By Climate Crisis, A New Study Finds

BY JESSE HOLTH
ArtNews (Original Link)
May 14, 2021 6:02pm

Some of the world’s oldest cave art is being lost due to the detrimental effects of climate change, according to a new study on the effects of climate change on Sulawesi’s Pleistocene rock art conducted by Jill Huntley and others from the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit at Griffith University in Australia. In southern Sulawesi, Indonesia, more than 300 cave sites are at risk of deterioration—this notably includes some of the earliest cave art ever created, even older than some better-known sites in Europe such as Lascaux and Chauvet.

The art was created using red and mulberry pigments, and includes hand stencils, animal depictions, and images of human-animal hybrids. The Sulawesi caves are home to the oldest animal depiction—a warty pig that is at least 45,500 years old—as well as the oldest hand stencil in the world, made more than 39,900 years ago. One cave even contains what researchers describe as “possibly the earliest known narrative scene in prehistoric art” depicting a hunting scene.