Our cities are full of grey\u00a0tower blocks built\u00a0for efficiency rather than aesthetics. Public benches are made of cheap concrete, pavements are falling apart, old structures are left derelict. Amid this backdrop of unloved, muted ugliness, a new wave of guerrilla mosaicists are enlivening their cities with beautiful, colourful designs.<\/p>\n
These artists rarely get official sign-off for their work. The legality of their art can be murky, with one of the\u00a0medium\u2019s more prolific artists, Will Rosie<\/a>, calling it \u201cPermission-vague street art\u201d (His book<\/a> is aptly named Mr\u00a0Mosaic: Unarrestable). Rosie installs Mr Men and other cartoon-inspired mosaics around Southampton, where he lives. He encourages volunteers to assist him with projects to make the art form more accessible. \u201cPeople are bored and missing community,\u201d the 52-year-old youth worker says. \u201cI want to make the city a better place, and people can see that. And they love that I\u2019m doing it without permission because it\u2019s like: \u2018Stick it to the man, you ain\u2019t got no power over me, coppers!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n What makes these installations so joyful is their element of surprise. \u201cYou walk down a grey street and suddenly there\u2019s an explosion of colour,\u201d says Ememem<\/a>, an anonymous Lyon-based artist famous for their \u201cflacking\u201d work, which involves using materials such as fragmented ceramic, marble and wood to install intricate geometric tiling in cracks on the ground. \u201cIt\u2019s a repair, but also a poetic gesture,\u201d he says. \u201cIn a time when we throw away and replace everything, the idea of repairing touches something deep.\u201d<\/p>\n In a similar vein, Chicago artist Jim Bachor<\/a> uses glass and marble to create installations on potholes. His works depict humorous takes on modern life\u00a0\u2013 or make political statements (one of his tiles, outside Chicago\u2019s Trump International Hotel, reads \u201cLiar\u201d). Bachor loved the durability of mosaics and soon realised he could use the technique to fix the seemingly unfixable potholes outside his house: \u201cEveryone hates potholes. And so sometimes the [mosaic] subject matter is what I call \u2018universal loves\u2019; everyone likes ice-cream, flowers, junk food \u2026 There\u2019s that nice contrast \u2013 it\u2019s unexpected joy.\u201d<\/p>\n A mosaic can inspire wonder and joy; it can also build community. Tessa Hunkin, leader of the Hackney Mosaic Project<\/a>, has been bringing people with mental health and addiction problems together to create murals around east London since 2012. \u201cA lot of people carry a huge burden of shame,\u201d says the 71-year-old. \u201cThey feel they\u2019ve messed up their lives. It\u2019s great for them to have something to be proud of\u00a0and to show their families.\u201d Her new\u00a0book, Tessa Hunkin\u2019s Hackney Mosaic Project, showcases these colourful installations, often featuring detailed motifs of plants, animals and historical figures. \u201cWalking through the city is endlessly interesting, and the more interesting things that you can add, the more fun the city becomes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Another London mosaic artist who goes by the name of Florist<\/a> once received 300 hours of community service for graffiti as a teenager. He stopped soon after, but his love of art was rekindled when, nine months ago, he began installing pixelated designs on buildings he considers eyesores. \u201cTo\u00a0come back full circle and do it now is quite a beautiful thing for me, because it was always what I loved. I was obsessed with colour and shapes.\u201d His work features his pseudonym Florist alongside 8-bit-style flowers, made out of glass \u2013 \u201cbecause it dances in the sunlight\u201d.<\/p>\n After living in Greece for 15 years, where the streets are embellished with ancient mosaics, Helen Miles<\/a> now sees her work as a way to bring beauty to Edinburgh \u2013 and as a form of meditation. Like many mosaicists, it takes Miles hours to produce installations showcasing plants and birds using traditional methods she learned in Thessaloniki. \u201cI love that a small mosaic in an unexpected place will catch the eye and make people notice and hopefully lift their spirits,\u201d the 62-year-old teacher said. It\u2019s good for her spirits, too. \u201cWhen I don\u2019t make them, I\u00a0become out of sorts and rather grumpy!\u201d<\/p>\n Meet the mosaicists: six designs from across the world<\/p>\n Jim Bachor \u2013 Paris Street; Rainy Day, Chicago, 2025 (main picture)<\/p>\n For this intricate pothole installation based on Gustave Caillebotte\u2019s 1877 oil painting, Bachor used Italian glass, making it very expensive but also very colourful. \u201cIt\u2019s the absurdity \u2013 I just love the idea that someone would spend that much time and money on a piece in the middle of the street.\u201d<\/p>\n Florist \u2013 Bench Old Street, London, 2025 <\/p>\n Florist\u2019s decorated bench in Old Street, London. Photograph: Roman Shabodalov<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to lighten up the space,\u201d Florist says of this mosaic in London\u2019s Old Street. \u201cYou have this beautiful hotel called Art\u2019otel, which is about art. You have this area that\u2019s so culturally rich with various subcultures. And then you have this bench \u2013 I just wish they\u2019d put a little bit more time and effort into it. The art there demonstrates how colourful and wonderful something can look.\u201d<\/p>\n Ememem \u2013 Grenade crater, Mostar, 2024<\/p>\n \u2018I wanted to not only restore dignity to a damaged space, but also keep alive the memory of what happened.\u2019 Photograph: Ememem<\/p>\n This flacking installation repaired one of many craters caused by grenades from the Bosnian war. Ememem reused tiles found on Sarajevo streets. \u201cI wanted to not only restore dignity to a damaged space, but also keep alive the memory of what happened, so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Inside Saturday<\/p>\n The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Helen Miles \u2013 Alley near Holyrood, Edinburgh, 2024<\/p>\n \u2018The mosaic was made in response to the atrocities in Gaza.\u2019 Photograph: Helen Miles<\/p>\n \u201cThe mosaic was made in response to the atrocities in Gaza,\u201d Miles says. She took inspiration from the Mona Lisa of Galilee mosaic in Sepphoris. \u201cBy creating a mosaic of a woman wearing an Islamic headscarf, I am asserting her place in that land.\u201d<\/p>\n Will Rosie \u2013 Mr Hope, Itchen Bridge, Southampton, 2020<\/p>\n \u2018Itchen Bridge is where people go when they feel they are out of options.\u2019 Photograph: Will Rosie<\/p>\n \u201cItchen Bridge is where people go when they feel they are out of options,\u201d says Rosie. \u201cSo I designed Mr Hope with his little lantern, waving and cheerful.\u201d Rosie installed this piece with a friend who had contemplated suicide a couple of years earlier.<\/p>\n Tessa Hunkin \u2013 Shelter in children\u2019s playground, Hackney Downs Park, London, 2014<\/p>\n \u2018I thought it might be a nice way for children to practise reading.\u2019 Photograph: Tessa Hunkin<\/p>\n In the face of growing gentrification in Hackney, Hunkin says this nine-month project \u201cwas a way of bringing people together, breaking down barriers, and giving people a shared thing to work on and be proud of\u201d. She labelled the animals because \u201cit\u2019s common in Roman mosaics to incorporate lettering into the designs, and I thought it might be a nice way for children to practise reading.\u201d<\/p>\n