Outsiders by Steve Lazarides is a striking, oversized anthology capturing the birth and rise of contemporary street art from the fringes of rebellion to the walls of galleries. Lazarides — Banksy’s former agent and one of the scene’s early documenters — assembles a raw, electric portrait of the movement’s major players, spanning graffiti, stencil, and installation art.
Published by Lazarides Gallery and Century/Random House, the book feels like a curated vault of underground legends and defiant innovators — a visual record of the late-1990s and 2000s explosion when vandalism and fine art blurred beyond recognition. Its pages drip with paint, attitude, and adrenaline, showcasing both the street’s energy and the irony of its later commercialization.
Featured artists include an extraordinary lineup of urban iconoclasts:
Banksy, Invader, JR, Conor Harrington, Antony Micallef, Mode 2, Paul Insect, Faile, Bäst, Miranda Donovan, Blu, Vhils, Jonathan Yeo, David Choe, Swoon, Zevs, Mark Jenkins, Lucy McLauchlan, Cyclops, D*Face, Judith Supine, Obey (Shepard Fairey), Nick Walker, Blek le Rat, Space Invader, Anthony Lister, Stanley Donwood, and Ian Francis.
Together, their work charts a movement that began in secrecy and illegality, fueled by punk spirit and social critique, and later stormed the art world’s walls. Outsiders is less a coffee-table book than a defiant statement — a vivid snapshot of artists who refused to stay inside the lines, whose work made the streets pulse with meaning, mischief, and revolt.
