Alessandra Mattanza
Women Street Artists
24 Contemporary Graffiti and Mural Artists from Around the World
The power, glory, diversity, and talent of
women street artists finally gets the attention it deserves in the first book to focus solely on the female gaze writ large on urban walls and sidewalks across five continents.
If street art is, in itself, an act of rebellion, it is tragically ironic that the genre seems dominated by men. This exciting book is an important first step in shedding light on the substantial number of women who are gaining fame in the street art world. It brings together the work of 24 artists, through dazzling photographs of their work and intimate portraits of their lives based on interviews collected by award-winning journalist Alessandra Mattanza. On walls, sidewalks, prison cells, grain silos and other nontraditional canvases, these artists tackle ideas around empowerment, feminism, the pink revolution, body shaming and body imagery, racism, and the climate crisis. From Oklahoma City and Brooklyn, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh makes site specific work that considers how people experience race and gender within their surrounding environments. South African multidisciplinary artist Faith XLVII imbues her narratives with a longing for a deeper connection to nature, and a resurrection of the divine feminine. Italy’s Camilla Falsini incorporates joyful, bold colors and simple shapes to deliver serious messages about the environment. Shamsia Hassani, one of Afghanistan’s first female street artists, makes vibrant murals and paintings in which women play musical instruments as a vehicle for self-expression. Bursting with colorful photographs of works in situ as well as in detail, this thrilling and incisive book proves that street art is not only female—it’s the essence of conceptual rebellion itself.
Biography
Alessandra Mattanza
Alessandra Mattanza is a foreign correspondent, contributor, and editor for several publishers in Italy and Germany. Her previous books are Street Art: Famous Artists Talk About Their Vision, Women Street Artists, and Banksy. She lives in New York.
Stephanie Utz
Stephanie Utz is founder of the Munich based Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art (MUCA).