polis: a collective blog about cities worldwide

Stencil Street Art, Writ Large

by Vivien Park


Sten and Lex's latest stencil poster at the 2012 Outer Spaces festival in Poland. Source: Sten Lex

Italian street artists Sten and Lex have been experimenting and expanding the stencil-poster technique, which the pair lovingly nicknamed "Hole School," for more than a decade. Considered pioneers in stencil street art in their home town of Rome, their half-toned portraitures of found images are inspired by graphic printing processes and traditional portraiture.



Their latest work, for the Outer Spaces urban art festival in Poznan, Poland, is their largest to date. Covering almost the entire facade of a four-story building, the artists went through a laborious process of cutting out the stencil, painting over it, then peeling it away. Part of the stencil remained with the work, lending itself to gradual transformation by the elements over time.

More photos and videos of street art by Sten and Lex can be found at stenlex.net.

+ share