Jonathan Kroppmann – Ahem

F

Jonathan Kroppmann…. Literally just stumbled across this and thought it was beautiful. Love indie tattoo men… that is all…. For some photography book…

U

C

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me

Worth More… little dig at Cameron me thinks

So it used to read Change and felt very in keeping with the idea of the time, Obama was in and used the word enough, we in the UK were looking for Change as well and we got it with Cameron and his diluted government.

Well Ben Eine who was rather miffed when he found out that Cameron had given Obama a piece of his work for Obama’s inauguration has now stoked the winds of change and moved to another slogan, something which I think all Londoners can understand. With unemployment, the London riots, increased council tax, wages not rising, food prices climbing and footing the bill of the Olympics… all in all we really to be…..

please continue….

always…

Fishy Lips – SweetToof

Sweet as always

Weekly installment of Mr Toof. Like this one because when you first look at it it is simply a funny caricature, very much in the style we have become accustomed to but look again, it is actually a couple of fish peeping out over the signature lips with a wee baseball hat on top. I double like this.

Between Ben Eine and Sweet Toof, who has the most shutters in the Eastend…?

Shepard Fairey / Ron English – London Pleasure Gardens

This is going on at The London Pleasure Gardens…. Looks to be turning into a very important part of the urban art scene in the UK…. plus Ron English is there. Going to check it out this weekend I think

Shepard Fairey’s big tings

Ron English clouding judgement

Not to mention Bloc festival next weekend

Dr Dee – Preview

Dr Dee is the newest output from the ever busy Mr. Damon Albarn, since his days in Blur he has reinvented himself through various guises, and he has done it without ending up being a fat cheese chomping foppish cnut. Bravo Albarn for putting together this opera

Damo

Now Dr Dee or John Dee as he was also known was a mathematician, astrologer and magician amongst other things, he was supremely intelligent and his open minded ideas and search for knowledge and experiences ultimately led to his demise. Without giving the game away, his beliefs in other worlds lead to him making a decision which would ultimately cost him the one thing he loved the most.

Epic costumes

The show is visually brilliant and combines a great set with an elevated band area where Albarn sits with his cronnies, he plays guitar throughout and acts as a sort of watchman / narrator, singing some parts of the opera. With the creepy and intense set design there is a brilliant light display tracking mathematical equations against screens as the story unfolds. The second half opens with a brilliant full stage light display while the cast perform beneath, huge grids reminiscent of the Matrix build across the stage with numbers, shapes and quotage. I clearly could not take pictures but found these…

My afternoon view

This was the preview before the show has a short run at the London Coliseum, the opera came about following Albarn’s first foray into opera with Monkey: Journey to the West, the idea for Dr Dee came when comic book author Alan Moore suggested Albarn and collaborator Jamie Hewlett should use this as the basis for their opera over their original idea of superheroes. In the finish Albarn worked with Rufus Norris as Moore stepped aside for one reason and another.

My advice…. go see it. I have always wanted to see an opera and this is a good entry level one, even your heather mates might find this accessible… maybe

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

Moss slide

Ok so imagine street art as the most eco friendly, council endorsed, granny approved and street credible thing… well that would have to be Moss art by Mosstika.

Ask me now questions

Since 2007 these amazing pieces have been popping up most regularly around Brooklyn but also as far afield as Brazil.

Brasiliant bunny

The NYC based collective are an band of eco artists who in their own words…. ‘use guerilla tactics to evoke the call of man back to nature’. A nice idea I recks. Why not make the place we live in look shubbery nice.

Wall of doves

Reminds me a little bit of the Guerilla Gardener who came to prominence in London about 5 years ago by making urban areas that little bit prettier by planting flowers and tress. Urban horticulture.

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