Tag: Allen Gardens

2905. Shoreditch, London

Continuing with a trip I took to Shoreditch, London back in November 2018 when I was lucky enough to come across this magnificent and rather dark halloween (I presume) fox by Irony at the Allen Gardens spot.

Irony, Shoreditch, London, November 2018
Irony, Shoreditch, London, November 2018

Irony’s work is nearly always breathtaking and I have yet to see a ‘dud’ from this artist. This chilling scene is of a fox (and possibly several other creatures of the night) clutching a severed arm in its mouth the hand of which is holding a hot dog. It is clever how the whole atmospheric piece has been achieved using only a few green, brown and black tones. Weird and wonderful.

2209. Allen Gardens, London (4)

This is the last in this little sequence of Shoreditch pieces from November 2018. I feel I have to post them because they are just too good not to share. Although I have loads of pictures of Thisone’s work in my archives I have never actually posted any of his work before and I hope this will be the first of many.

Thisone, Allen Gardens, London, November 2018
Thisone, Allen Gardens, London, November 2018

This work is larger than his typical pieces but contains some of his key themes, which are the use of black and white paints only, an animal of some kind and beads and jewelry. When I first saw this piece I thought it might be a swan, but on closer inspection the beak is taht of a gull of some kind – maybe an albatross? Whatever it is, the whole thing is very beautiful, and I am pleased to report was still on this wall when I last visited in April.

2206. Allen Gardens, London (3)

Sometimes it is just too difficult to talk about how good a piece really is, because the words used are clumsy and don’t really do the artist justice. This is a case in point. It is a zombie piece (not to everyone’s taste) by JXC, an artist I have come across a couple of times at Upfest.

JXC, Allen Gardens, London, November 2018
JXC, Allen Gardens, London, November 2018

Everything about this is good – an arresting subject, incredible precision and artwork, great colour selection and a level of detail rarely seen on the street. As an observer, sometimes it is just so hard to comprehend how these guys do this with spray cans, I am left in awe. As you can see, I rather like this piece which I photographed in London back in November last year.

JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016
JXC, Upfest, Bristol July 2016

2183. Allen Gardens, London (2)

It was great to be able to show my sister this wall back in April, because pretty much the entire length of it was  being actively sprayed. It is not often that you happen to be in the right place at the right time to witness a paint jam in progress, especially when Tizer is involved.

Bapsta and Tizer, Allen Gardens, London, April 2019
Bapsta and Tizer, Allen Gardens, London, April 2019

I believe the artist in the picture is Bapsta and that Tizer was probably wandering around, because even though the artists were doing their finishing touches, I don’t think they had started to disperse. If I had been here alone I expect I would have spoken to a few of them because I really don’t know much about the London scene.

It was a privilege and a bit of luck to see these guys in action.

2182. Allen Gardens, London (1)

One of the refreshing things about visiting Shoreditch or Camden Town is that every piece I see is a new discovery. What I mean by that is I don’t really follow London street art on social media, so when I see a piece ‘in the flesh’ it is usually the first time I have seen it or even know of it. In Bristol, I will have seen the majority of street/graffiti art works on Instagram before I ‘find’ them and photograph them. What this also means is that I know relatively little about the London artists, and for my own sanity probably need to keep it that way.

Cokyone, Allen Gardens, London, April 2019
Cokyone, Allen Gardens, London, April 2019

When I visited Allen Gardens in April I think that this piece by Cockyone was relatively new, it certainly looked incredibly fresh. When it comes to birds I think that kingfishers are a real crowd-pleaser, because of their beauty and character, and they frequently feature in street art. I think this is a wonderful piece, skilfully blending abstract grayscale patterns with the vibrant colours of the bird and the crown tops the whole thing off nicely.