GRAFFITI - it’s all over the joint. It’s in your neighbourhood, and ours too and damn, some of it is good. For the price of a short walk around the hood in which The Leap is situated – which for our international fans and those who don’t know, is in Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa – there’s art on walls galore.

Sure, sure – there are loads of galleries in our area, and some of them are among the best in the country. That’s all good and well, but it’s great to know that street-level art is on the prowl and is making its own contribution to putting beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Take these examples, for…uh…example, recently shot on a stroll around our hood. There have been quite a few international collaborations taking place in the area, and one of the standouts has got to be this jellyfish and hot air balloon combo down a nearby side street. It’s a really beautiful piece, with rich colour and spectacular attention to detail.

Then there are these symbols, which are reminiscent of Japanese kamon (family crests or clan signs) and are no doubt the calling card of one of the crews responsible for some of the wall art we’re seeing pop up. It’s the ‘all-you-need-is-this’ icon for DIY street art.

Some of the pieces are, to be honest, kinda run of the mill and common or garden. They’re the usual pieces that take typography and twist it till it’s virtually unrecognisable, well, for most at least. But damn, some of them have great details, like these faces.

One thing’s for sure – wherever on the fence you sit about graffiti, there’s a lot of beautiful art that’s not located in the rarified atmosphere of galleries. If you’re in the area, take a walk around the backstreets of Woodstock; it’s one big open-air art gallery!