Smirnoff get clean - Photo: Alex Foley

Is it vandalism, public nuisance or a clever way to “get up”?

Paul Curtis aka Moose is no regular graffiti artist. In fact, he is the opposite - what one may call a ‘reverse-graffiti’ artist. He creates his art by cleaning dirt from surfaces with only a shoe brush, some water and a little bit of elbow grease.

British authorities aren’t sure what to make of the artist who is creating graffiti by cleaning the grime of urban life. The Leeds City Council has been considering what to do with Moose. “I’m waiting for the kind of Monty Python court case where exhibit A is a pot of cleaning fluid and exhibit B is a pair of my old socks,” he jokes.

His work includes street art for HP and XBox. Does it mean we’ll see this style of street art catch on here, and in turn reduce the number of street sprays and chalkings? Would the authorities take a dim view? Only time will tell, but I for one love the concept.

More, including addtional photo examples at NPR .