City streets shout with billboards, fly posters and corporate advertising. They almost invite a subversive response.. and increasingly they are getting one. Many of today's graffiti artists have taken to the stencil and spray-can and are using the streets as a giant creative forum for their arresting artwork. 'The image', says San Diego artist Shepard Fairey, 'is integrated with the texture of the street.' This book showcases the work of the originators, the innovators and the new generation who, as UK artist Nylon puts it, are 'breathing life into derelict spaces'. Stencil graffiti is beginning to filter off the street, too, as artists are inspired to work on canvas, clothing and metal, influencing style magazines and the new media.

Tristan Manco has talked to the major players on and off the street, and has chosen over 400 of the most visually exuberant, subtle and creative examples of the genre from cities all over the world. With subject matter ranging from the political to the poetic, and from the funky to the frankly curious, stencil graffiti is graphic innovation on an international scale. Inspirational in form and content, Stencil Graffiti is an essential record for everyone with an interest in contemporary design - and anyone who wants a finger on the global pulse of urban culture.