The walls of Berlin town have more paint than any other I have visited and one artist has helped to dominate the skyline there. There was an agreement between the local council and the residents that every wall possible spare space or wall had to have a stencil, a pattern, a tag, a scribble or doodle…. well not quite but would have been nice
Keeping an eye on Watergate since 2007
Blu is an Italian guy who’s huge pieces can be seen from miles away and across the world from his home town in Bologna, the Camden to Isreal, to Valencia, Barca and even Poland.
BLU Berlin skyline
Most of his pieces look like some kind of mutant super heroes, the style is pretty hard to copy so you will always recognise them.
I also double like his website, his scrap book of artworks from across the globe, the drawings scribbles and doodles
The last few weeks the number of new pieces found has gone right now, SF has been pretty inactive due to tumble on two wheels, it will continue in this vein for a while but there will be bits and bobs for your eyeball delectation…
Shok 1 is London based and a bit underground, more known for spraying off the beaten track in places others dare not go. His style is pretty individual and like no other… Like. for a guy who has been spraying since 1984 he has certainly done his time. This is his old site but the new one is en route. See it around Brick Lane, Hanbury St to be exact.
Colour Sho
Cheery fag… looks a bit like Malarky but it is actually Kid Acne
Like this of course, it is a little bit of paint combined with a girl wearing a tour t-shirt from one of the best British bands ever… Joy Division. Add to the fact that design of the album was by Peter Saville, add to the fact it is by Fin DAC means that this piece is pretty sweet.
Check out his site for some brilliant stencil and spray can work, like many artists I like he uses popular culture with his own twist of romance, colour, cheek and creep about it. He is french so he is clearly a bit aloof and cool
Through this blog I have found pieces and slowly i find out who they are by…. a couple of piece I found that I love come from this very man. Great discovery
Mooching around the city I call home has become rather difficult in the last 3 weeks, being as I was knocked off of my bike and bust my shoulder and cut my face open…. and then had my bike stolen while I was unconscious… but that is another story
So here are a few piece I have spotted on my hobbles around Londres….
Pez dispenser
Pez is a cute artist, his stuff adorning the walls and trains and sometimes even galleries in Barcelona, London, NYC, Amsterdam and beyond since 1999. On my recent trip to Barcelona to dance my ass off at Sonar his fishy pieces were everywhere, a bit like our friend Sweet Toof in London. He is the signature of Barca for me.
Then something I have seen more and more of recently in the Eastend…
BFC head
Relatively new to London but making a bit of a splash, more info to follow on Broken Fingaz Crew Love this, it looks like some weird super hero cum slasher porno mag from Sin City
Cartrain – An artist SF really likes, few reasons for the respect, firstly the style is cool, love the collage based stuff, taking everyday items, cultural reference points and making them into playful pieces. The pieces are 3D as well using other items to stand of the canvas, wall or paper.
G&G – Legends
This piece features a collage including a Blue Peter badge and a stamp with the iconic Queens of the Eastend. #Like
The other reason I like him is his amusing feud with Damien Hirst, Hirst is not known for his sense of humour. He comes across as a bit of a dour-nut, someone who takes himself supremely seriously and who has pretty much performed an anal gynecology with his head…. The feud started when Cartrain used imagery of Hirst’s over-priced skull a few years back for an exhibition he had created, it happened to share the same name, For The Love of God.
Cartrain was only 17 and maybe trying to steal some notoriety by doing so really got on Hirst’s wick. He retaliated and sued…. a 17 year old. He won ownership of the art work and since then there has been some bad blood.
Cartrain pulled a funny by pinching some pencils from a Hirst exhibition then creating a wanted style piece with a note to Hirst which read…
‘FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF DAMIEN HIRST’S PENCILS I WOULD LIKE MY ARTWORKS BACKS THAT DACS AND HIRST BACK IN NOVEMBER. IT’S NOT A LARGE DEMAND…. HIRST HAS UNTIL THE END OF THIS MONTH TO RESOLVE THIS OR ON THE 31 JULY THE PENCILS WILL BE SHARPENED. HE HAS BEEN WARNED’
Cartrain for a giggle….
SF feels having a little sense of humour about this could have ended in Hirst not looking like a bully and even an amusing colab. A chance for Hirst to help a young pretender.
In the end the young pretender created his own riposte and hung it
Stik. One of the most visible artists in town, especially around the Eastend, these are not new ones but they have not featured on SF before.
Cute sleepy one
Zzzzzzzzz Stik
The lookout one
eye Stik
A SF fave for simplicity and and conveying emotion through something ever so simple, in a world of political art and the plain shite, this is a refreshing change. props Stik.
So where does my sentiment lie? I love Kate Moss, if I was a woman then I’d be her. Ok she made a boo boo with the drugs, or was it just getting caught with that druggy rat fink Doherty? We all have dabbled. She has managed to say nothing but say everything and become a cultural icon by maintaining mystique while being one of the most famous faces in the world. Being accessible but totally inaccessible. Genius.
Then you have Mr Brainwash, a man whose opportunism can either be admired or found to be totally nauseating, I fall on the latter. By showing additional pieces I am giving him credence but at the same time it is attention seeking. O how torn!
If you fancy seeing his exhibition then check out here... as much as it is recycled ideas from everyone who has ever put paint to canvas… it is a touch intriguing.
Ps. Kate Moss – Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels
Couple of quick additions from around the Hackney Road area.
Found round the corner from a Sweet Toof piece, by regular collaborator Paul Insect. Nice cool and simple piece of a super hero-esq mouse character. Vivid colours, sharp lines and a creepy cyclops style eye.
Eye eye
No idea who this is by but love the mixture of two styles, classic B+W and the firey word work. Any suggestions for who this then hit me up
NYC based graf artist has a new website, I do not think it is fully finished but looks alright. Could do with showing some more of the older back catalogue. I’ve picked it out because it is a great example of an established graf artist making himself a commercial product.
It shows that graf artists from any generation are a business and as such they need to sell themselves. Cope2 has his statement on his site, eulogising about what he does, influence, techniques and his journey. There is his CV which is actually where he has exhibited and then there is the history naming all the brands he has worked with.
Street art is so accessible and open for everyone to engage with, I think this is a great thing, from the years of making no money from it at all to today where it is hung in the biggest galleries across the globe. In my marketing career I have used street art for brands from fizzy drinks, to cars, to beers to sport equipment and it always draws a crowd. The key to using something cool and underground is how to make it relevant and interesting to the casual fan and the hardcore street art community. And to make sure you are adding to a scene rather than ripping it off.
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