Banksy book – If ya’l interested?

Banksy book

Banksy divides opinion but one thing you have to admit is that he is the most well known of our street arting chums. He clearly has made a fortune as everyone from Brangelina to your nan has a print from our undercover Bristolian. Another book is out now from Paul Gough called the Bristol Legacy, I wonder if Banksy gets a cut…

I like some of the stuff he has done but sometimes it does feel like he is using political statements for the sake of it, it feels a little diluted. I get he wants to say something but he can try and retain a little bit of perspective and sense of humour.

Also to be honest the whole Robbo vs Banksy thing started of as mildly interesting if a little disrespectful and now it just seems like a stunt that has gone badly wrong.

Another Stik…

Stik & A N Other

Think it is a new one as I have not noticed this before, it is pretty big and in a fairly clear place off Old Street. I think this might be the start of the piece, and that there is more to follow as we have seen before, Stik likes to re-visit his pieces in the future.

Below is a great piece as well, huge head, not sure who that is, any thoughts ya’l?

Sweet Toof – Prolific

Mobile toof

Another piece in East London, it seems every corner you turn there is another piece, maybe he should try another part of London or even jump on the train and head to Manchester, they could do with a little help.

Just off Mare St and London Fields, well hidden mind…

 

 

Things I’ve seen….

Mooching around London, spying what I can spy, taking a few pics and showing you lot…

This piece I would like to name Golden Showers.

I think the name is rather apt....

This is a massage parlour on Great Eastern St, I have not noticed the graf before, it used to just look quite dull and seedy… now it looks rather alluring and I am wondering what ‘Canary Flavour’ is, still not sure I’ll be going in there mind

Happy finish?

Possibly the most photographed in East London? Possibly. Always being tweaked and added to, nice addition with the ‘Home Sweet, Home Less’ script.

Ain't that the truth

Terry O’Neill – Reworked – Rook & Raven Gallery

el Tel

London is awash with exhibitions at the moment and a fair few of those are free. Terry O’Neill has shot some of the world’s most recognisable faces and this remix of some of those pictures is really interesting, if a little too brief. It only opened last week but the Rook & Raven gallery felt a little empty.

O'Neill + Dawe do Bardot

Aside from the number of pieces to ogle, it was good, I like the space and the uncluttered approach. I was looking forward to seeing James Dawe and my favourite pieces were from Dawe, combining collage and digital techniques to give the images an almost stencil street art effect.

O'Neill + Dawe do Stones

Daniel Lumbini‘s Jagger piece is cool too, showing a very young Jagger, looking rather feminine and with ladies hands reaching all over him, as was the reality in those early gigs.

O'Neill + Lumbini do Jagger

Then there is the British national treasure, Mr Elton John, I prefered the original to anything that had been reworked.

O'Neill does Elton in Windsor Great Park

 

Shots of the day – Canal Art

RDM anyone?

The canals of London town offer a menagerie of art works, it seems these arte the training grounds for the next gen before they head to Shoreditch and the like and really start showing off. Regardless you can spot some cool stuff down by the waterside, although at this stage I have not got the foggiest who did them

Hidden away under a bridge on the canal

Get on the canal near Hommerton and have a wonder along and see for yourself. If you get as far as Springfield Marina you could have a pint too… who would have thought I would turn in to a citizen advice bureau.

Pins Toof or Snip Foot maybe?

Also those boat people are a thoroughly nice bunch too, not all crusty at all. Every day is a school day for me right now

Things to do this week…

Couple of great exhibitions in London town this week to check out.

Alex Daw

No.1. the rather creepy but also rather good Terry O’Neill, one of the most iconic photographers working today has taken some quite famous images in his time. In this exhibition at The Rook & Raven gallery, some of his most famous images have been re-interpreted by some of the best up and coming talent such as Alex Daw and Nick Gentry. Terry O’Neill – Reworked

Gilbert & George

No.2. Gilbert & George – London Pictures, they do not really need an awful lot of introduction, their latest exhibition is at the Bermondsey White Cube and features a commentary on the British media if you like, for 6 years the artists have been half-inching the headline sheets form the add stands these make up their new collection. For someone who takes a keen interest in the media, written word and art, this should be the perfect combo for me.

Reviews to follow…..

This added to the brilliant Lucian Freud Portraits and David Shrigley: Brain Activity , London really is a great place to be right now.

Sweet Toof – from blank canvas to finished article

Featured a lot of Sweet Toof recently, because he is bloody everywhere, the guy must have just finished his day job because he is everywhere.

On Tuesday I was wondering home and spotted someone just starting off a piece, I saw the outline of some gnashers so slyly took a pic and scuttled off.

In the beginning....

Today I returned and it is finished, here it is in all it’s glory

Ta daaaaa

Clean Toof

Given the location away now...

All I’ll say is it is Off Hackney Road, very simple to find

Graffiti Graveyard – East London’s best kept secret

Graffiti Graveyard

Today I found a gem, an absolute gem in the East End. I have never seen it before on any other website or been told about it…. surely others have spied it?!

Bang-up, back-up

I have named it Graffiti Graveyard because it is a wasteground, a dead area which may have formally been to be a basketball or football court, now it is littered with rubbish, beer cans, spray cans, bins, wood and general crap. But on each and every wall of this enclosure there are bright, vibrant sometimes poignant pieces of street art. There is a tribute from Team Robbo to their fallen leader and various other RIP pieces and tributes, therefore the Graffiti Graveyard feels spot on.

King Robbo

Jobzy

Now for any regular readers you will know I am conflicted when it comes to giving away the exact location of pieces of street art, personally, and it is only my opinion, I think it should be discovered and not advertised explicitly. So all I will say is that it is in the Broadway / London Fields area of London.

Unknown

Access Play

Toast anyone?

Plus there is a naked man….

Nice beard, small dick though

Sebastiaan Breemer – Hales Gallery

All in the eyes

At the Hales Gallery in East London in the Tea Building to be exact, there is a small but perfectly formed exhibition by Dutch artist Sebastiaan Breemer called Egmont Re-Visited which teams photography with really intricate dot work in white to create shading and contours on the photographic paper.

Faded beauty

The photographs are a mixture of old shots from Breemer’s family collection and his Brasilian wife’s, some new and some very old. Each image has it’s  own emotion which is then textured with the white paint work to bring an even more emotive feel, then finally a few coloured spots.

It is only on for a month until March 5th and it does not feature any of his coloured photos but well worth the trip to the Hales Gallery