Street art and urban art in Palermo
Street art, Palermo.
Palermo is renowned for its vibrant street art scene, which reflects the city’s complex history, including its struggles with the mafia. The city’s walls serve as a canvas for artists to express social and political messages, turning public spaces into platforms for creativity and commentary.
Palermo’s street art often intertwines with its rich cultural heritage, offering a visual dialogue that connects past and present. Street art, in general, is a form of visual art displayed in public spaces, created for public visibility. Unlike traditional graffiti, which often carries an element of rebellion and illegality, street art has evolved into a more structured and, in some cases, commercialized form of artistic expression. While graffiti is typically created without permission, street art today is often commissioned or produced in collaboration with local authorities or communities. Despite this shift, street art remains distinct from traditional public art, as it integrates the urban environment into the creative process, making the space itself a crucial part of the artwork.
The primary goal of street art is to provoke thought and spark conversations. It often addresses social and political issues or showcases personal artistic expression. Some artists use urban spaces to highlight societal challenges, while others aim to beautify their surroundings or create accessible art for a wider audience. The appeal of street art lies in its accessibility, reaching people outside the confines of galleries or museums. Moreover, the illicit nature of some street art installations adds a sense of risk and authenticity, further captivating viewers.
→ Antonio Curcio aka B1
→ Tutto e niente
→ Camilla Falsini
→ The artist collective Associazione CalaPanama
→ Uwe Jäntsch
→ Rosk and Loste
→ Other street artists who has been working in Palermo
Antonio Curcio aka B1
Super Rosalia. Street art by Antonio Curcio aka B1.
Street art by the artist Antonio Curcio aka B1 in collaboration with Yuri Romagnoli (Hopnn). Curcio often collaborates with Romagnoli. Curcio tags his characters with “B1,” while Romagnoli adds a bright touch of red.
Let's stop the wars. Street art by the artist Antonio Curcio aka B1.
Let’s stop the wars.
Let’s keep Palermo clean! Street art by the artist Antonio Curcio aka B1.
This painted tile was purchased at Antonio Curcio’s shop, located at 271 Via Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo.
Tutto e niente
“Self-portrait in a doorknob reflection, with street art painting by Tutto e Niente. The Latin phrase ‘Temet nosce’ means ‘Know thyself’.”
Hope. Street art by the artist Tutto e niente.
Street art by the artist Tutto e niente.
Camilla Falsini
Urban art by Camilla Falsini. It shows Frederick II as a child, a NICO (meaning “small” in Sicilian) with his rocking dragon (Drago was the name of his horse), who, along the Arab streets of the Kalsa, welcomes religions, cultures, sciences, and arts. The wall created in Palermo for the Pangrel project is Camilla Falsini tribute to Frederick II, a historical figure who became a symbol of hospitality, inclusion, and curiosity. Source: Camilla Falsini’s Instagram page.
The artist collective Associazione CalaPanama
The street art portrait of actor Ciccio Ingrassia in Palermo was created by the artist collective Associazione CalaPanama. Unveiled on 5 October 2022 to mark the 100th anniversary of Ingrassia’s birth, the mural is located on the wall of his birthplace on Via San Gregorio al Capo. Ingrassia appeared in numerous films, including Kaos—specifically in the segment La giara (The Jar), where he portrayed Don Lollò, a feudal landlord who commissions an enormous jar to store his olive oil. We came across this streetart painting during the No Mafia tour organized by Addiopizzo Travel.
Santa Rosalia.
Uwe Jäntsch (Uwe Jaentsch)
Uwe Jäntsch (b. 1970) is an Austrian-born multidisciplinary artist, a boundary-pushing urban artist whose practice blends artistry with civic engagement and urban activism.
Uwe Jäntsch: Fontana 1943.
Jäntsch is known for his provocative and socially engaged art interventions. He is an autididact, and works with drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, performance, film, and public space transformations, especially in Palermo.
Jänstch has gained attention in Palermo’s Vucciria district—especially Piazza Garraffello—where his large-scale installations revitalized neglected urban areas. His iconic works, like the Uwe loves you facade piece and the multi-media Clearing Room inside Palazzo Lo Mazzarino, shaped local nightlife and commerce.
He has lived and worked in both Bregenz and Palermo, and continues creating impactful urban art pieces.
In 2014, Jäntsch spray-painted “Si vende” (“For Sale”) on a 16th-century fountain in Palermo’s Piazza Garraffello to highlight urban decay in the Vucciria district. While Jäntsch described the act as a “communicative gesture” rather than a provocation, city officials and residents viewed it negatively, condemning the act as damaging to public property. Legal action was initiated by local authorities.
Street art by Uwe Jäntsch/Jaentsch: Durex tropic.
The so-called “Durex building” in Palermo illustrates the city’s ongoing gentrification. Once marked by provocative street art by Uwe Jäntsch, the facade has since been erased and the building fully renovated, symbolizing the broader transformation of historic neighborhoods—from raw urban grit to polished redevelopment. (The photos were taken in 2025 and 2019.)
The Last Judgment: Uwe Jäntsch’s recent works includes Das Jüngste Gericht (The Last Judgment), a monumental 8×8 meter panel painting created specifically for the sacred space of the Johanniterkirche in Feldkirch. Installed opposite the altar at the church entrance, the work engages viewers in an immediate, physical dialogue with themes of judgment, mortality, and moral authority. Drawing on the medieval tradition of religious art, Jäntsch challenges contemporary aesthetic and ethical sensibilities, situating his work in a consecrated yet active art venue. Executed under harsh physical conditions, the painting confronts religious iconography with modern existential anxieties. Eight accusatory hands question who now judges humanity, suggesting that moralism—rather than divine justice—has become the new sacred. The artist critiques our moral instincts as manipulable and culturally conditioned. His work invites introspection, urging viewers to reassess their place within community and time. By blending tradition with rebellion, Das Jüngste Gericht reclaims sacred space as a site for critical reflection and spiritual confrontation.
Rosk and Loste
Urban art in Via dello Spasimo by the duo Rosk and Loste. A few years after this photo was taken, someone had written FREE PALESTINE in the lower left corner.
Other street artists who has been working in Palermo
A street art version of Madonna Enthroned. Painter: NN
Street art. Painter: NN
Street art. Painter: NN
Streetart painting in Via Argenteria Vecchia, Palermo. Painter: NN
Painter: NN
Street art. Painter: NN
Street art. Painter: NN
Painter: LB, 2016
Painter: NN
Via dello Spasimo.
Street art by “Oniro”, Palermo.
Detail of the wall.
Street art near the Ballarò market in Palermo. Painter: NN
Santa Morte. A parody of Christ Pantocrator. This photo was taken in 2019. And here is the same place in 2025:
Santa Morte, anno 2025.
Dear mama!
«Panormus conca aurea suos devorat alienos nutrit» (Palermo the golden dell, devours hers and feeds the foreigners. Latin inscription on the edge of the basin of the Genius statue at City Hall of Palermo.)
Street art in Palermo: Here is Al Pacino.
Street art near the Ballarò market in Palermo.
Street art in the Ballarò area.
Street art near the Ballarò market in Palermo.
Remembering Mattiuzzo, Ballarò. Palermo street art.
Street art in Palermo made by “Luke Art”.
Garbage and street art hand in hand.
Esther Zimmer.
Selected sources
Antonio Curcio’s Instagram page
Camilla Falsini’s Instagram page
