Street Art

 A continuation from yesterdays post ... We were in London on a Street Art Tour. We were in Shoreditch.

We met the tour organizer outside The Old Foundry at 11 a.m. The tour finished at 4.00 p.m. The cost was £15 and well worth it. I wish now that I had taken more photos of the area - it is so completely unlike the centre of London.

The above artwork is by a street artist called "Bortusk Leer". His work is of childlike drawn monsters using brightly coloured paints. The monsters are painted onto newspaper and then glued onto walls.

Further down the road we came across street art by "Swoon". "Swoon" is a street artist from New York.

She makes intricate and lifesize paper cut outs of people that have featured in her life.

Isn't the one above amazing and blends in well with the wall.

There was quite a lot of work by "Bortusk Leer".

A happy monster!

A wiggling / dancing monster!

A three-eyed monster!

We then came across another of "Swoon's" work. This one is apparently based on her father.

I didn't catch the name of the street artist who had painted this.

Nor this one - there is the name "Nina" at the bottom but I don't know if that has any significance.

I don't know who this work is by either but it did raise a smile.

I don't know where you stand on graffiti - clearly the people who do the above describe themselves as street artists and distinguish themselves from those who spray graffiti etc.

The tour guide told us that the Borough of Hackney has a Policy to paint over all street art with black paint. He informed us that in the early days work by Banksy would just be painted over. The Council are now placing preservation orders on works by Banksy and a work by him can add £100,000 to a building!

Because street art is now becoming more mainstream - many works are stolen with some being sold on e-bay!

The tour guide showed us the above - it looks like street art but it is by "Becks" using street art to advertise their product. Street Art is becoming hip if advertisers want to encroach on their territory. Advertisers do know a thing or two about trends.

There is another street artist who creates these money eating monsters and places them at strategic sites.

A political statement about bankers perhaps!

On our tour we saw some art / graffiti about William and Kate - some quite derogatory which may have been why this street artist had used a complete wall to say "Don't Hate On Kate".

The wall where this was painted was a "legal wall" - street art is allowed by the land owner and tolerated by the Council.

This art work was in a run down area where buildings had been pulled down.

This was the view to the right of the art work above. I'm not too keen on the graffiti but I do like the colourful art. To my mind there is a clear difference. Some people see it all as vandalism but I don't agree. Some of the art is clearly by people who have an artistic flair. There are some who also sell their works in galleries - making them mainstream and the street art is a wonderful way of advertising!

I have a lot more to show you and I do apologize if this is not your thing but I find it all rather fascinating stuff!

Until next time.

June.