When you live in New York, graffiti is a part of your everyday experience. You can’t go more than one block anywhere in the city without seeing at least a few spray-painted tags or stickers. While most people tune it out entirely, or see it all as vandalism, actively looking for street art in certain neighborhoods can be as rewarding as a trip to the MoMA.

Last year’s release of Banksy’s ‘documentary’ film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” seemed to mark a peak of interest in the genre by the mainstream. Any fame Banksy has garnered as an anonymous artist is well deserved, as his work is among the most clever and thoughtful out there. The film was even nominated for an Oscar. Other break-out street art superstars who have gone on to do gallery shows all over the world include Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee (aka Twist), and one of my favorites, Swoon.

Originally called Caledonia Dance Curry from Daytona Beach, Swoon gained fame through a series of elaborate paper cutout portraits that she wheatpasted onto forgotten New York doors and walls. I’ve had the pleasure of coming across many of Swoon’s public pieces over the years in Soho and Williamsburg. The delicacy of her cut-paper technique is always unexpected in a landscape of concrete and spray paint. In addition to her cut-paper adventures, Swoon has also staged a series of performances that involved large rafts built out of New York City garbage. In 2009, Swoon and a crew of 30 set sail from Slovenia on rafts and ‘invaded’ the Venice Biennale.

In the last 10 years, street art has followed the way of hip-hop, and evolved into a commodity, a piece of authentic inner-city innovation ripe for the picking by big brands looking for street cred. The wall at Houston and Bowery (shown above) is controlled by Jeffery Deitch and Goldman Properties, providing an authentic downtown vibe for the Whole Foods and luxury condos across the street. Fortunately, the mainstreaming of the genre hasn’t stopped anyone from working. Following in the footsteps of Keith Haring, the walls, sidewalks, and doorways of the city will always look like an empty canvas to scrappy young artists struggling for attention.

The Wooster Collective , Street and Stage, and 12oz. Prophet are the best sites for staying current with what’s happening on the streets. What started in New York is now a worldwide phenomenon, with some of the freshest work coming from South America and Asia. For a good documentary on the genre, watch Bomb It.