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# Street art 1. In the past, murals on public buildings and frescoes in churches were the only way most people ever saw a work of art. Artists are still sometimes sponsored to paint murals, but paintings on modern public buildings are often done by artists who are paid nothing. Street art, also ref...

# Street art 1. In the past, murals on public buildings and frescoes in churches were the only way most people ever saw a work of art. Artists are still sometimes sponsored to paint murals, but paintings on modern public buildings are often done by artists who are paid nothing. Street art, also referred to as 'urban art', is sometimes even carried out without permission, something it can have in common with graffiti. It's less controversial than graffiti because of a greater use of artistic vision and technique. Street art can be thought-provoking and political, but more often, the aim is to inspire people by making a dull public space more interesting and attractive. 2. Street art is found in many cities and large towns, but receives more public support in some than others. In Łódź, in Poland, the mayor has created a permanent urban art exhibition in the city centre called the Urban Forms Gallery, inviting artists to paint on the sides of the apartment blocks there. Street Art Belgium is a website documenting all the 'street installations' which aim to beautify the country's towns and cities. It encourages the community to engage with the works by sharing their views on them, and has the inspiring slogan, 'Making Belgium beautiful one piece at a time'. 3. A stunning development in the urban art movement is 3D street art. 3D paintings are an elaborate application of perspective, which was first developed in Ancient Greece, but only fully understood by 15th century Renaissance artists in Italy. Before that, similar figures in the foreground and background of a picture were painted exactly the same size, which looks completely wrong to the modern eye. We now know that objects further away need to be drawn smaller, and that railway lines need to get closer to each other as they move further away in a drawing. 3D art takes the laws of perspective even further, and makes the eye believe that a flat object has three dimensions. 4. Walking towards some 3D street art, you might think you are about to walk into something or fall into a deep hole. As you get nearer to the drawing and see it from above, you will see the distortion of all the shapes in it, which creating the 3D illusion from a certain viewpoint. The image is of a woman standing in front of a 3D street art design. The street art is designed to look like a drawing that has been brought to life, creating an optical illusion. The woman is looking at the artwork and taking a photo.