Tom Bob: The Street Artist Who Hijacks Street Furniture
Have you heard of New York street artist Tom Bob? If you find our cities lacking in color, humor and fun, you'll love the work of this artist who hijacks street furniture to create playful and accessible works.
Color in the Big Apple
In New york City, street artist Tom Bob hijacks even the smallest piece of street furniture to make passersby smile and beautify their daily lives.
With a good dose of humor and an overflowing creativity, this new street artist in vogue always finds a way to transform the smallest electric meter, the most banal pipe or the simplest manhole cover into a work of art.
And it works! Not only are this street artist's humorous works bringing joy to the streets of New York, but his stock as an artist is skyrocketing.
Playful, humorous and sometimes ephemeral, his paintings are increasingly appealing to city dwellers and internet users alike, as they transform banal elements of our cities into extraordinary paintings that take on the codes of pop culture.
With their bright colors and funny characters, his creations are accessible to the widest audience, from 7 to 107 years old.
The art of diversion
In New York City, which is the street art capital of the world, this painter stands out for his talent for hijacking street furniture.
Tom Bob has no equal when it comes to transforming simple pipes into a trombone or a city bench into a xylophone!
He also uses garbage cans and sewer or air vents to create some very cartoony works.
About his way of hijacking the elements he spots on the streets, the artist explains, 'I've walked past these kinds of places thousands of times without realizing their artistic potential, but since I've been painting, I've been seeing objects of art so the idea comes spontaneously. Sometimes I have to think.'
With his singular way of redrawing the urban landscape, this artist invites us to open our eyes wide and take a new look at the city and the elements we don't even see anymore.
Bluffing before and after
Tom Bob has several hundred thousand followers on social media where he shares images of his work in the form of funny before/after.
Comparing the before and after locations allows us to measure all the creative genius of the artist, who has no Shortage of ideas for making very playful diversions and integrating his works into the landscape.
In the eight years since he began hijacking street furniture in this way in New York and other cities around the world, the artist has painted over 300 colorful works.
While the majority of his creations can be found in New York, they can also be seen in a few American cities and even abroad.
While you wait to visit the Big Apple, you can check out his creations on the artist's Instagram account @tombobnyc (see link below).
Maybe we'll soon have the chance to discover one of his bluffing hijackings in the streets of Paris. Curious city dwellers, keep your eyes open!
