Once outlawed, graffiti has now become an inherent part of the visual style of many modern cities. It transforms ordinary city landscapes into open-air picture galleries.
Moscow is also involved in the trend. Every year, dozens of Moscow buildings turn into canvases for talented artists who want to express themselves.
Sputnik presents a photo gallery of some of Moscow’s street-art masterpieces.
A decade ago graffiti was illegal in Moscow. But now the Moscow authorities officially cooperate with street artists, seriously transforming the city’s image.
Above: "I love Moscow" graffiti, near the Kuznetsky Most metro station.
Above: "I love Moscow" graffiti, near the Kuznetsky Most metro station.
Above: Yaroslavl artist Artur Kashak paints Star Wars graffiti on the facade of a building on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street, Moscow.
Above: "Pop-art", by the artist group 310. This work was inspired by the paintings of legendary US pop artist Roy Lichtenstein.
Some graffiti works in Moscow are dedicated to important events in Russian history or outstanding people.
Above: The facade of 4 Narodnaya Street in Moscow's Tagansky District is covered in graffiti portraying FC Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin.
Above: The facade of 4 Narodnaya Street in Moscow's Tagansky District is covered in graffiti portraying FC Dynamo Moscow goalkeeper Lev Yashin.
Above: A woman walks past a giant graffiti-painted wall in the style of impressionism, Moscow.
Above: A woman in the reconstructed underpass of the Lubyanka metro station in Moscow.
Maya Plisetskaya was one of the most outstanding dancers in the history of ballet. In Moscow, Brazilian graffiti artist Eduardo Cobra created graffiti portraying Plisetskaya, to celebrate her 88th birthday.
Above: A passer-by photographs graffiti on the wall of a building in Moscow at the unveiling ceremony for a memorial plaque and garden square named after dancer Maya Plisetskaya.
Above: A passer-by photographs graffiti on the wall of a building in Moscow at the unveiling ceremony for a memorial plaque and garden square named after dancer Maya Plisetskaya.
Graffiti artists do not restrict themselves only to painting on buildings or working in one genre. Moscow galleries and museums hold exhibitions of street artists’ works.
Above: Graffiti in Moscow.
Above: Graffiti in Moscow.
Above: Graffiti portraying Marshal Georgy Zhukov on Moscow's Arbat Street.
Above: "Girl", by the street artist group P183.
Above: Graffiti on the wall of a building on the Kotelnicheskaya Embankment in Moscow.
Moscow holds street art festivals and contests which attract graffiti artists from across the world.
Above: Graffiti in Moscow.
Above: Graffiti in Moscow.
Above: A man walks past a building covered in a mural depicting the Crimean landscape in central Moscow.
Above: Graffiti art depicting the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and his wife Natalya Goncharova on Nikitsky Boulevard, Moscow.
Above: A young man in the renovated underpass of the Lubyanka metro station in Moscow.
Above: The artwork by Italian artist 2501 (Jacomo) on the wall of Building 23 on Nizhnyaya Krasnoselskaya Street during the Artmossphere Street Art Biennale in Moscow.
