Not the first time at the Rodeo….

Always nice to see a good combo at work. A lot of the street art world combine to create collaborations to devestating effects, Team Robbo must be made up of 15 plus, Sweet Toof has regular collaborators and Stik and RUN are often found in close quarters.

Latest lil combo I have seen is fairly new and on a regularly updated wall along the Lee Valley Canal in Hackney. Rodeo Skoya and TBK.

Green much

Now I kind of like it but it does feel a little too clean cut, I like something a bit more grubby, coarse and earthy…. but what do I know, maybe Fido Dido is the future

Skoya

Sweet-ness it’s my weakness

So it has been exactly one month and two days since I last did a post dedicated to our most prolific of urban artists, ol Sweet Toof. That is not to say that our gum obsessed toofy hero has been not spotted, has not been out putting his mark on any spare piece of London he can lay his mitts on, no Sir, StandardFact just took a wee break.

Sweet Skull

That was until I came across the Sweet Toof skulls, comedic whilst being a little creepy, huge and positioned in such a way that you can not help but spot them, but still a little hidden. A nice juxtaposition, bit like the big bright teeth in the skull.

Toof + a jonny

Once again the nOlympics wouldn’t be right without Sweet creating the aesthetic sound track to the journey.

Bravo

Canal knowledge

If StandardFact should say one thing, it is that you need to get yourself down on to the canals of East and North London, literally the best and most imaginative scribblings that you are likely to find.

This is my fave piece I have seen. Brass, I know little about him / her / them but will endeavour to find out more. Unless anyone can fill me a little bit.

What to say…?

Every wall tells another story, if tourists get lost on their way to the Olympics they might actually find themselves learning some truths about the Eastend, vibrant does not cover it. These two characters above would make brilliant kid’s cartoon characters… sans the swastika, unless it was the original Hindu version or the Buddhism version or the Jainism version.

Then there is this wee chap…

Like an angry westie

And finally the money shot, everyone likes the money shot

Money money money

Wall of truth

Needs not explaining really… brilliant new addition to the canals of Hackney

Not worth thinking about really…

Hackney Wick – a hidden gem I say

The Brick Lane doesn’t really have any space left, pretty much every wall is covered with pieces from everyone from Roa to Banksy to Sweet Toof, to Dscreet to some lil crack head with a sharpie. It was the original but some of the most prolific graf artists in the eastend have moved on to a far bigger canvas, that of Hackney Wick, the industrial wasteland that the Olympics forgot, that the tourists rarely find and that has it’s own little burgeoning scene full of cutting scribblers, stencilers and spray can aficionados. Check it out for your self kids.

I give you….

Sweet Toof

Sweet even in a car park

Nazir Tanbouli

A Nazir bug

Malarky

All that Malarky

Hackney Wick has many art studios dotted throughout the business warhouses, yards and garages. The roads are battered and bruised but it has a certain romance to the area. Art and tags popping out from every corner plus lots of random little places to eat, galleries and some bars.

Things I’ve seen….

Liking Hackney Wick more and more recently, lots of random piece popping up all over the place. And some at a very simple yet effective level. These pieces may not be seen by our Olympic visitors this summer but heading down for a mooch is well worth your time.

EFE… who is this?

The better more creative, more thought provoking bits are never in the most populated parts of town

Hackney Love

How to build in Hackney…

Rule number one, put up some big wooden boards, then do not do a sodding thing until some natives come and put their stamp on it…

Top tache

The stamp should take influence from the locals too…

More great facial hair

Art by Broken Fingaz

The Olympics…. Every Londoner can not wait….

So it is 58 days until the biggest show on earth comes to town, everyone is besides themselves with excitement and anticipation. Well not quite…

nOlympic pigeon shitting on rings

It should be the greatest show on Earth but the over OTT approach of LOCOG and some of the sponsors no doubt runs the risk of creating a negative feeling amongst those who actually live in the Eastend and further a field.

News of Florists being forced to take down flower arrangements which are in the shape of 5 rings, food places getting into the spirit of the games being told to remove their Olympic themed offerings and even a granny fearing prosecution for her home knitted dolls at a car boot sale.

Olympic Jerk… how apt

Sponsors mean that these big events can go ahead, but should there be a little bit of humility amongst these super-sized multi-nationals? For me it is all a bit bully in the playground. Surely there is a clever marketeer out there who could maintain the benefits of sponsorship whilst not looking like the party pooper de jour?

Amazingly…. even this Olympic countdown clock has had to remove certain references…. I wonder if I might be hit with an order to remove certain words.

Can’t wait for London 2012 me….

Mobstr – Simplicity is the key

Took me a little bit of time to find out who it was but twas only a matter of time…

One to tick off on the London Street Art Tour….

I like this a lot, Mobstr has been a bit prolific of late, short and sweet stencil across London town, taking over sandwich boards, advertising boards and plain bricks and mortar.

More to follow…..

The uncomfortable truth is Wearing thin

I like things that are a a little uncomfortable to watch, that make you re-evaluate what you are seeing, hearing and taking away from the exhibition.

Desperate

The Gillian Wearing exhibition is very much a naked truth thing, it can sometimes be a little uncomfortable to watch, there are times when I sniggered like a pre-pubescent boy and other times when the story warmed.

Smile and the world….

The exhibition at the Whitechapel has imagery, story telling and acting, the one thing that every piece does is play with identity and our pre-conceptions. Be it through adults miming the words of a child, the artist herself photographed in the guise of others such as Andy Warhol or the rather disturbing confessions of people hidden behind elaborate masks and wigs.

Ever so slightly creepy…

One of the best pictures I have ever seen. Fact