Street Art in Milan, The Most Beautiful Murals in the City

Street art is transforming Milan, as colors brighten up the dreariness of the suburbs, turning the city into an open-air museum.

Large murals created by international street artists like Iena Cruz, Ericailcane, Blu, Bros, Pao, Zed1, and Orticanoodles cover the walls of certain neighborhoods, including Isola. Here are some of the most beautiful and well-known murals in Milan and where to find them.

Photo: © Paolo Bona / Shutterstock

Ortica is the first museum-neighborhood where the memory of the 20th century is painted on the walls. It all started in 2015, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation, when neighborhood associations created the first mural titled The Words of Freedom on the Buccari overpass. This was followed by other works created by young people and residents of the area.

Thus, the ORME Ortica Memory project was born from the collaboration of the Orme association and the artistic collective Orticanoodles. Today, there are numerous murals that have transformed this peripheral neighborhood of Milan into an iconic and evocative open-air museum.

Walking through the streets of the neighborhood, you'll see figures like Cardinal Ferrari with partisan Morandi, women partisans, Dario Fo, Nanni Svampa, and Enzo Jannacci, as well as Lea Garofalo, Giorgio Ambrosoli, and Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, as part of the exhibition dedicated to legality. You will also find cultural references with Camilla Cederna and Alda Merini, alongside Anna Kuliscioff and Liliana Segre. Here are the murals of Ortica and where to find them: here.

The CosìMIPiace project, conceived and executed by the New Acropolis Association of Lombardy ODV, was born from a historic collaboration with RFI (Italian Railway Network), which started in 2011 and aimed to add color to anonymous and gray urban spaces.

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The first successful initiative was EscoAdIsola, named after the neighborhood. The pedestrian path connecting Isola with Corso Como was filled with color, leading to the revitalization of other spaces, such as those of the train stations Milan Porta Garibaldi, Porta Genova, Greco Pirelli, Romolo, San Cristoforo, and Corsico.

If you want to see some works from this project, start from the underpass of Porta Garibaldi station, along via Pepe, where murals dedicated to the Tuscan genius Leonardo da Vinci were created for his 500th death anniversary.

Then just outside the station, there is a 2,700 square foot mural created by 25 artists, including students and emerging artists, selected through a municipal call, guided by artist Gregorio Mancino, known as Greg.

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Among other beautiful and interesting works is Mr. Blob's mural, A Different World is Possible, addressing environmental issues related to Ilva, located at platform 20. Then on via Pollaiuolo, from Frida, a venue located in a former industrial space, you can see a woman's face surrounded by leaves attributed to Willow.

In Piazza Archinto, there is an interesting mural on the walls of a workshop: on the front façade is Ozmo's work on the right (the Virgin of Guadalupe), Ryan Spring Dooley on the left (the Angel), and Zibe on the rolling shutter with Arnold. Don't miss The Little Prince on via della Pergola.

Still in Isola, you will find the Energy Box. If you haven't heard of it, it's a project dedicated to urban art, created in 2015 by the City of Milan with the support of A2a and the Aem Foundation, born from an idea by the street artist Davide Atomo Tinelli. 50 street artists participated in the project painting 150 anonymous traffic light control boxes. In the Isola neighborhood, you can see the work by Zibe&Naba, Fluid Thought, representing a couple whose minds are connected.

Finally, reach via Sebenico, where at the corner of via Borsieri, you will see another historical piece of the neighborhood: the unreal world of Microbo blends with the rounded figures of Bo130 and the decorated bells of The Don in a mural in shades of blue.

Among the most famous graffiti in Milan by renowned international artists, you must see Anthropoceano, created by Federico Massa, known as Iena Cruz, on the facade of a building in the Lambrate area (via Giovanni Viotti 13). The work illustrates our impact on the sea: an oil platform is inside a plastic container that traps the marine ecosystem, represented by some of its most fascinating creatures.

Moreover, the mural was created using innovative Airlite paint, capable of reducing air pollution.

CuciMilano, on the other hand, is the immense mural by Zed1 on a wall of the Madama Hostel and Arci Ohibò, in the Lodi area (via Benaco at the corner of via Brembo), which was at risk of being removed to make room for advertising. The work, created in 2017 during Design Week, was fortunately saved and is still visible. The mural depicts a seamstress stitching flags from around the world, a tribute to Milan as a fashion city and a multicultural hub.

In the CityLife public park, you will find one of the largest art murals in the world. W.A.L.L. - Walls Are Love's Limits by Eron measures 1,076 square feet and originates from the artist's idea to transform the wall itself into the subject of the work. As you approach the wall, you'll see a landscape dominated by a dense weave of barbed wire over 1km long, concealing the repeated sequence of small letters forming the names of the five continents. At the corresponding point of the sun, the barbed wire dissolves due to the strong glow of light in the shape of a heart. It is a monumental public work designed to be a wall against walls, which will be demolished by the artist's decision.

Lastly, on the facade of the Contemporary Art Pavilion at via Palestro 14, you can see Animal Factory by Blu and Ericailcane. Created in 2007 during the exhibition 'Street Art Sweet Art,' the large black-and-white mural represents a modern infernal circle in which characters and animals play the roles of victims and oppressors in a society dominated by drugs and abuse.

The City of Milan has made available free and open spaces where anyone can express themselves with spray cans in hand. Click here to locate and visualize the interested locations or suggest new possible sites.

The first map of Street Art in Milan was created by Street Art Map Me

Author: Francesca Ferri

Photo Thumb: © DEA / C. BALOSSINI / Contributor