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Greek Graffiti Artists: Mr. Phaz & Others

Kaymaria DaskarolisApril 12, 2007

Athens graffiti
Photo by Tara Lencl

Graffiti art hasn’t been an exclusively Stateside phenomenon for quite some time. It’s been developing and spreading throughout the world over the past 20 years, ever since people overseas first saw films like Beat Street.

There are many talented graffiti artists in the Balkan region. One example of local graffiti can be seen above, in an expression we haven’t been able to identify by artist.

One local star is Mr. Phaz (+30-694-6146-393), who currently resides in Athens. We have seen Mr. Phaz’s writing on many walls around the city and decided to investigate.

It turns out Mr. Phaz has been practicing his art since 1999. He’s got some DJing and MCing under his belt as well. Now he is one of a growing number of Greek graffiti artists putting their skills to commercial work. While continuing to please and disturb locals by writing on public walls, he and many of his peers are also starting to get paid for their graphic art.

Does this mean we’ll see more or fewer public graffiti displays in the future? We hope more.

About the author

In order to keep a promise she and her brother had made to their grandmother (and to simultaneously fulfill one of her own dreams) Kaymaria left her beloved hometown of Oakland, California and headed to Athens in time for the 2004 Olympics. Today, she continues to work and play in the Greek capital, where you may find her writing atop Lykavittos, road-tripping with overseas guests, enjoying Athens cafés with friends, dancing to Greek hip-hop music, or reading Greek subtitles in an outdoor cinema. The daughter of two life-long educators and enthusiastic travelers, Kaymaria has explored North America, Mexico, and Europe. It was not until she spent a year as an exchange student at The University of York in England, however, that she discovered that she does not actually speak English.
Posted in: Art, Athens, Greece, Local Objects
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Cheapo Comments

3 Responses to “Greek Graffiti Artists: Mr. Phaz & Others”
  • sk says:
    December 26, 2008 at 5:34 pm

    who is the artist of the piece in the photo? I also have a pic of one of this artists pieces from athens but can’t find the name….???

    Reply
  • Ryunosuke says:
    June 23, 2009 at 2:43 am

    The artist of the above piece is Alexandros Vasmoulakis, also known as Zap. The url of his website is this: http://www.zap51.com/pheyo/. This person has a very unique style, which is easily identifiable. You can also see some of his work here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/13067779@N04/sets/72157602416453597/, a set I have created in flickr for his works.

    Should you need anything else for any Greek graffiti artist, don’t hesitate to contact me, and if I cannot give you an answer, I can point you to some people that might be able to.

    Ryunosuke

    Reply
  • Sia says:
    March 28, 2011 at 5:42 am

    I am intrigued by the graffiti in Greece- I am particularly interested in ( if it still exists) graffiti from the junta period .If you know of any images I can see, could you send me the link??

    Thank you and kali sarakosti!

    Reply

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