All posts tagged: London

Alice Pasquini Paints ‘Generation Equality’ in London

Alice Pasquini Paints ‘Generation Equality’ in London

Italian street artist, illustrator, and muralist Alice Pasquini just completed a new mural in London for “Generation Equality”. She says that she did it in partnership with StreetArtForMankind and UNWomen to mark the implementation of the #GenerationEquality Plan.

“The plan calls for equal pay, an end to violence against women and girls, and healthcare services that respond to their needs.”

You can see the video of her installation on Leather Lane on her Instagram page. In the meantime, enjoy these photos for the new mural making.

Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
Alice Pasquini. Generation Equality Mural in collaboration with StreetArtForMankind, UN Women/GenerationEquality Plan. London, England. (photo © Quentin Duran)
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disCONNECT In Total : All the Artists Who Created This London Show During Lockdown

disCONNECT In Total : All the Artists Who Created This London Show During Lockdown

Back in June, BSA published the first article on disCONNECT, a project created in London during the lockdown due to Covid-19. A collaboration between Schoeni Projects and HK Walls, disCONNECT involves the take over of a period building by 10 artists from different countries.

Alex Fakso. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)

Disconnect “reflects on the creative and physical constraints of the current global crisis, exploring psychological and political reactions to the crisis, as well as the role of technology as conduit between the two.”

We’re pleased to bring you our final article on the project with images of the works of all 10 participating artists. For our previous coverage click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Isaac Cordal. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Isaac Cordal. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Mr Cenz. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Mr Cenz. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Icy & Sot. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Icy & Sot. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Herakut. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Herakut. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
David Bray. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
David Bray. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Aida Wilde. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Aida Wilde. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Adam Neate. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Adam Neate. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Vhils. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)
Vhils. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Alex Fakso. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Nick Smith)
Zoer. disCONNECT Schoeni Projects / HK Walls. London. (photo © Ian Cox)

Tickets

Free Tickets for disCONNECT are now available.
24 July – 24 August, Wednesdays – Sundays.
Hourly slots starting from 11am to 5pm, with a maximum of 8 people per slot.
Please book below, we can’t wait to share this journey with you!

Click here to book your tickets.

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Gabriel Pitcher Creates New Mural for “Project Zero” in Walthamstow, London

Gabriel Pitcher Creates New Mural for “Project Zero” in Walthamstow, London

“Encased in a wooden frame, the figure of Steve is shown seated, in a palette and pose reminiscent of traditional celebratory portraits of kings or popes. In his hand, he holds a timepiece, a symbol to the lost time waiting for change,” says the press release.

Gabriel Pitcher portrait of Steve Barnabis. Wood Street Walls/Project Zero. London, UK. (photo courtesy of Gabriel Pitcher)

UK artist Gabriel Pitcher has just completed a new community mural to address the topic of vulnerable youths and knife crime in London. Located on Canning Road, the figure of Steve Barnabis rises many stories upward, a local leader who has worked hard to address social and financial inequities for some time. Now the Covid economy is threatening to foist cutbacks and setbacks on the organization he is a youth worker at, Project Zero.

BSA gladly encourages readers, especially our London readers, to support this youth-centered project that bridges the gap, creates community engagement, and provides badly needed servies.

Gabriel Pitcher portrait of Steve Barnabis. Wood Street Walls/Project Zero. London, UK. (photo courtesy of Gabriel Pitcher)

I have seen first hand the positive impact Steve and Project Zero have had on young people in this borough, and the void it has left in the community. I also recognize the significant financial challenge faced by local authorities suffering cuts from central government funding. These critical services are desperately needed, programs like Steve’s have a life altering effect on the people using them.” ~Mark Clack, Wood Street Walls CIC


Project Zero https://projectzerowf.co.uk

Gabriel Pitcher portrait of Steve Barnabis. Wood Street Walls/Project Zero. London, UK. (photo courtesy of Gabriel Pitcher)

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE


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disCONNECT Wall Of Fame / Free Coloring Books

disCONNECT Wall Of Fame / Free Coloring Books

In need a calming yet stimulating distraction during these tumultuous times? Artists from Schoeni Projects and HK Walls have made a free coloring book for you and so much more.

Aida Wilde (photo © Jenny Lewis)

They’re also mounting a show in a Victorian townhouse in South West London as part of an exhibition created during our Covid-19 lockdown and we’ll be bringing you exclusive installations from them. They’re calling it the disCONNECT Wall of Fame and it will run July 24 – August 24.

And here’s a sweet spot: You can participate in the exhibition with your own work. Submissions of your complete own creation on your thoughts and feelings about the pandemic are welcomed; a quote, a poem, a drawing, a painting.

Click here for all the details https://schoeniprojects.com/

Participating artists:

Adam Neate (UK)
Aida Wilde (Iran)
Alex Fakso (Italy)
Mr.Cenz (UK)
David Bray (UK)
Herakut (Germany)
Icy and Sot (Iran)
Isaac Cordal (Spain)
Vhils (Portugal)
ZOER (Italy)

David Bray (photo courtesy of Schoeni Projects)

An unusual approach to most unusual circumstances, this joint London/Hong Kong show will reflect on the creative and physical constraints of the current global crisis, exploring psychological and political reactions to the crisis, as well as the role of technology as conduit between the two. Accessible to online audiences through Matterport software, each work is further activated through an accompanying program of digital initiatives, including downloadable artworks, online videos, virtual tours and an Instagram Live interview series.

Mr Cenz (photo courtesy of Schoeni Projects)
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BSA Film Friday: 05.29.20 / Dispatch From Isolation # 68

BSA Film Friday: 05.29.20 / Dispatch From Isolation # 68

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :
1. “InkStemism” from Tinta Crua in Lisbon
2. STIK at Picadilly Lights in London: Hope & Solidarity
3. The PR Economy Shapes “News” and Perception
4. Big Joanie, “Fall Asleep”

BSA Special Feature: “InkStemism” from Tinta Crua in Lisbon

Portuguese activist, street artist and illustrator Tinta Crua says he hasn’t had a lot of action in Lisbon since the virus outbreak, so he’s been experimenting with animation and seeing his figures come to life across the screen. Today we have a look at the homemade video called InkStemism.

He says he’s been using wheat-pasting to display his hand-painted original acrylic pieces on construction walls or downtown shop windows. The style of figures and archetypes may recall for some the hand-drawn aesthetic punk/heavy metal fanzines: A stark wit and a bit of sarcasm – softened by an underlying sentiment of goodwill, romantic tendencies.

“I started back in 2008 when the crisis hit Portugal with its full impact. Lots of shops closed. People lost their jobs like me at the time and now again…but this window became my canvas!” says Tinta. Given the dire economic situation that appears to be headed our way, its safe to say there will be more artists working on the street soon, addressing fundamental issues in social, economic, and geo-political spheres.

“I don’t know what will be the scenario post-pandemic,” says the artist. “I hope that people will  keep their jobs and that the shops keep open. Well I’ll keep doing my thing – just have to walk more and wait till I find a good place to paste.”

STIK at Picadilly Lights in London: Hope & Solidarity

A curious turn of events leads STIK to Picadilly. His forms unite in a warm glow, yet few are here to see it.

The PR Economy Shapes “News” and Perception

When you hear and see the same story repeated multiple times by serious faces in authoritative positions, does it affect your perception of a company, politician, poet, artist, businesswoman, race, war? Sidenote: Is this journalism?

Big Joanie, “Fall Asleep

London based trio Big Joanie going from strength to strength. A great sound evolving from the DIY community and a fresh frank take on feminist punk.

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Mark Titchner: “Please Believe These Days Will Pass” / Dispatch From Isolation # 44

Mark Titchner: “Please Believe These Days Will Pass” / Dispatch From Isolation # 44

Yes, out door advertising is often a pox, a blight, most agree. But once in a while, artists take it over and it becomes a service to society.

Mark Titchner. London, UK. (photo @jack__Arts)

Example; this new campaign by Mark Titchner that reassures all of us that this is a temporary situation, and we will pass through it. The bold lettering and direct statements may bring to mind original text-based culture-jammers like Barbara Kruger or Jenny Holzer, who wrested the nomenclature of mass marketing and rather rearranged it. Clearly the sentiment here is a bit easier to connect with.

Mark Titchner. London, UK. (photo @jack__Arts)

But during a time where there appear to be more questions about the virus than there are answers, and the power-holders are slyly seizing more while the rest of us drift further toward poverty, it is a nice bit of a reassuring sentiment. Don’t you believe?

Mark Titchner. London, UK. (photo @jack__Arts)

CLICK HERE TO PRINT A FREE HOME VERSION OF THE POSTER

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SNIK Is “EPHEMERAL” at Crypt in London.

SNIK Is “EPHEMERAL” at Crypt in London.

A 3-day solo exhibition this weekend opens with SNIK at The Crypt Gallery in London


Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)

Flowers in decomposition, pathways to discovery, hidden and revealed – SNIK unveils a certain richness with this multi-staged display of beauty and decay. Lightboxes, textures, curving forms, natural and artificial light wending in and out of layers; the artists approach and examine the mystery of life and death with wholistic poetry, finding beauty in each.

Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)

For nearly a decade the English duo of Laura Perrett and Nicholas Ellis have chosen the nomenclature of the gallery when creating larger and medium-sized stenciled imagery for the street. Clean lines, photographic values, increasing sophistication in volume and textures, it is a steadfast dedication to learning that plays out before your eyes. For this show they do it all – scenery, costume, lighting, photography, directing, hand-cutting, and painting.

Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)

The resulting experience of the show is a seamless continuity in sensual gentility, a collection of figurative works and environments that seem familiar, enveloping you with the more subtle stirrings of nature. Analogous to the ephemeral qualities of art in the street, you can possibly see that there is a way to embrace the changes that they bring, and suggest. SNIK aims to help you to embrace this ephemerality.

Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)
Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)
Snik. “EPHEMERAL” (photo © Doug Gillen)

British artist duo SNIK present EPHEMERAL, an exhibition of new works at The Crypt Gallery, London, running from 17- 20 October 2019.
The Crypt Gallery, London, 165 Euston Rd, Bloomsbury, London NW1 2B

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“Cash Is King II” is Rolling In It at Saatchi in London

“Cash Is King II” is Rolling In It at Saatchi in London

Now that corporate and global debt has surged to an all-time high, posing unprecedented risk to the value of all money, it’s a sweet and sour nostalgia that drives you into your purse or wallet to pluck out a thin colorful slice of that rumpled paper fiat currency to buy yourself a beer at your local pub.

Bitcoin may be coming, and plastic is fantastic but in some parts of the world, cash is still king. And it rules everything around you.

Icy & Sot. Last Supper Five Dollar Bill (photo courtesy of the curators)

Right now you can see a collection of these banknotes from around the world developed as a series of canvasses at London’s Saatchi Gallery – mutated and defaced and adorned by graffiti and Street Artists, along with a series by Iranian born Aida Wilde, who uses banknotes from Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria.

Penny. Picasso Ten Pound Note (photo courtesy of the curators)

Cash is King II, a sequel to last years Cash is King – the brainchild book and exhibition of artists Robert Osborne and Carrie Reichardt, the show opened this week to an appreciative crowd who appeared to really enjoy seeing bills reimagined.

Jef Aerosol. Arts Can’t Buy Me Love (photo courtesy of the curators)

Curators Susan Hansen and Olly Walker share these images here with us and tell us they’re also happy that Ms. Wilde’s sales are going to benefit the Help Refugees organization so they are able to continue their work around the world. Not surprisingly perhaps, “Many of these banknotes represent some of the countries that have seen the highest numbers of people become refugees in recent years,” says Hansen.

Olly Walker. Process shot. (photo courtesy of the curators)
Aida Wilde. And We Walk Eritrean. Process shot. (photo courtesy of the curators)
Al Diaz. Samo Dollar (photo courtesy of the curators)
1 UP Crew. Tag Dollar (photo courtesy of the curators)
Anthony Lister. Zero To One Hundred Real Quick Dollar (photo courtesy of the curators)
Bortusk Leer. Art Is Not Serious (photo courtesy of the curators)
Caroline Caldwell. Oil Money Dollar (photo courtesy of the curators)
John Fekner. Greed Dollar (photo courtesy of the curators)
Cash Is King 2: Money Talks. Opening night. (photo courtesy of the curators)

Aida Wilde’s work will available for sale on the Saatchi website from 2pm on Tuesday the 20th of August. All proceeds will go to support Help Refugees’ work around the world.

Cash is King II: Money Talks features works of art executed on banknotes, an exhibition curated by Olly Walker of Ollystudio.

Cash Is King 2: Money Talks is currently on view at the Saatchi Gallery in London installed in the Prints and Originals space until September 8th. Otherwise, click HERE to view and purchase available works of art.

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Mark Rigney, BSA Wishes And Hopes For 2019

Mark Rigney, BSA Wishes And Hopes For 2019

As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2018 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s a box of treats to surprise you with every day – and conjure our hopes and wishes for 2019. This is our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ to you for inspiring us throughout the year.


Today’s special guest:

Mark Rigney, photographer, writer, founder of London-based Hooked Blog


Looking back it was for me a year of adventure and travel as I continue my ongoing journey to document the ever-changing and evolving street art movement.  Each year the number of festivals I revisit annually is ever increasing and throughout 2018 I made return visits to WaterfordWalls in Ireland; Nuart in Scotland and The Crystal Ship in Belgium.

This was the year I made it to my first PowWow which also happened to be the first European edition of the festival taking place in a city new to me, Rotterdam. Each year I make an effort to pick one or two new festivals or destination to visit and along with PowWow in Rotterdam; FestiWall in Ragusa Sicily, CVTA Fest in Civitacampomarano deep in the Campobasso countryside in Italy were just some of the new events that will now join my annual list.

Of the thousands of photographs I shot this year I have selected this image of British street artist Phlegm. I took this photograph on a particularly cold day earlier in the year while the artist was taking a much needed coffee break from working on a large mural in the East London neighbourhood of Walthamstow.

We talked about his Cigarette card series, which has seen him producing a magical series of wood engravings, copper engravings and copper etchings each no bigger than 7×3.5cm. Working under a magnifying glass these beautiful miniature artworks are packed with delicate line work with which Phlegm plans to scan and produce a mini book.

Phlegm spoke about experimenting and challenging himself so as not to become comfortable and how working on the series at such a small scale has really altered his line work in the larger murals he is painting. I look forward to seeing the entire collection in the forthcoming book which I hope will get released in 2019.

 

— Location: London, UK

— March 2018

 

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“RUN” Plunders Subtle Summer Bourgeoisie Hypocrisies at the Beach

“RUN” Plunders Subtle Summer Bourgeoisie Hypocrisies at the Beach

You’ve packed your sandwiches, rolled out your tropically themed beach towel on the sand, applied sun block liberally, sipped your margarita from your thermos, and are finally laying down to daze at the seagulls circling in the blue sky.

RUN. Detail. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

Suddenly someone spots with their binoculars the sight of refugees swimming toward shore from their overburdened, partially submerged boat, escaping from an oil war that has devastated their home.

Italian Street Artist and muralist RUN shares with BSA readers his new beach reverie painted in Hackney, and with some closer inspection you’ll see that the politically charged scene is rather dark for a sunny day.

RUN. Detail. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

“I wanted to represent a normal, crowded beach-side scene where joyful people who suddenly witness a boat of immigrants in the distance,” he explains.

“They are trying to reach the shore. Some of them make it some others don’t. It is sad but it’s the daily reality.”

He plays with that normality of his figures behaviors and gestures among a privileged society, whose casual gaze out to sea at first only catches view what they must think is an athletic diver enjoying their leisure.

RUN. Detail. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

This is the second of two recent murals, and he has something to say in each.

“I have given a political edge to both of my recent murals,” RUN says, as he shows you a busy character who is checking his clock and going through some sort of chaotic time machine.

The artists dim view of the human race at the moment is reflected in the scene of gradual devolution. “The figure is going back to the sapiens and monkey stages,” he says, “caged in a small space, hypnotized by an electronic device.”

Present company not included, of course!

RUN. Detail. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

RUN. Detail. De-Evolution. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

RUN. De-Evolution. Hackney, London. July 2018. (photo © RUN)

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“The Lady Don’t Protest Enough” in Shoreditch, by Otto Schade

“The Lady Don’t Protest Enough” in Shoreditch, by Otto Schade

The sight of this stylized skull may not have evoked the same reminiscence by Prince Hamlet as Yorick’s did but Street Artist Otto Schade brings it to London streets once again.

Otto OSCH Schade. “The Lady Don’t Protest Enough”. London. July 2018. (photo © Otto Schade)

The context is wholly appropriate for a city that summons the spirit of Shakespeare rather year round – including this summer from Hamlet at the Globe Theatre to Ian McKellen as the tragic King Lear at the Duke of York’s Theatre, and Regents Park gives you open air performances of As You Like It.

For Mr. Schade, this freehand painting is about protest and power, particularly as it refers to women. Here on Bateman’s Row in Shoreditch he turns another Hamlet phrase to title it, “The Lady Don’t Protest Enough”. Hethinks.

Otto OSCH Schade. “The Lady Don’t Protest Enough”. London. July 2018. (photo © Otto Schade)

Otto OSCH Schade. “The Lady Don’t Protest Enough”. London. July 2018. (photo © Otto Schade)

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Theresa May Graces the Street Art Scene in London

Theresa May Graces the Street Art Scene in London

“No you May not!”

Maureen Barlin, creative commons license

Or so you might imagine Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May saying if you asked to illegally wheat-paste a political parody of her person on a London street. But that is exactly what is happening often these days, says Matt Brown, who calls himself “probably the most London-obsessed person in the world”.

“Any Prime Minister can expect to become the target of mockery, parody and satirical anger,” says Mr. Brown in his recent photo essay published in The Londonist. “Theresa May is no exception. In fact, she’s an inspiration. You don’t have to wander far around London to chance across a wry stencil, or biting paste-up.”

A wheat-pasted poster campaign by the artist duo kennardphillipps, a collaboration between Peter Kennard and Cat Phillipps who have been working on the street together since 2002. (photo © kennardphillipps)

For a New Yorker its actually a relief to not have to look at Street Art that lampoons our own orange travesty for a change, as American cities are routinely assaulted with images of Trump. Somehow, however clever, they don’t bring a smile to most passersby. So, as a bit of aesthetic palette cleanser, here are a couple of recent Street Artist creations with Mrs. May as the surly, scary, and sometimes sordid subject.


See more in Matt Brown’s article Theresa May: London’s Unlikely Street Art Icon.

Follow him on Twitter at @mattfromlondon

 

 

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