I daren’t look at the
person next to me…to look
as if I’m looking.
by Scooj
Tag: London
358. Hoxton Square, Shoreditch, London (1)
My wanderings in Shoreditch turned up so many wonderful pieces of street art, but this duo of Mr Cenz and Fanakapan really has to be the pick of the bunch. I am really familiar with both artists, thanks in part to the excellent London Calling blog.
For a while, I have longed to see some work, first-hand by both of these artists, so this was a real treat for me on a wet monday evening. Mr Cenz is a London street artist who started his graffiti in 1988 and is now a professional graffiti artist with his own company Positive Arts.
This reasonably recent piece is a freestyle creation of a female portrait distorted with shapes and colour, typical of his current work. Exceptional work and so very pleasing to the eye.
Fanakapan is a genius in my view. He creates the most incredible images of shiny surfaces which recently has featured helium balloons of lettering, animals and other shapes. The way he captures these subjects is quite extraordinary and his technique is quite exceptional.
In this piece he has even managed to incorporate two wooden features on the wall into his art. I am a huge fan of both these artists, and wish they would do more work in Bristol outside of Upfest. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I was a very happy man after finding these works on the side of 333 Mother, a pub on the end of Hoxton Square.
357. Rivington Street, Shoreditch, London
Time for a little bit of a diversion from Upfest 2016…just for a few moments. With my work taking me to London for two days a week now, I am taking advantage of staying over in areas where I get great access to the London street art scene. Shoreditch is obviously the most famous place to go, and so this week I took my first steps out into the streets.
I had no idea where I was going, but it didn’t take too long to come across some really great pieces. This is by one of the the best South American street artists around at the moment – Stinkfish. This piece, outside the Bedroom Bar on Rivington Street is much smaller than his works I am used to in Bristol, but it is no less impressive.
Everything is here…the photo captured image, yellow faces and skin, and designs emanating from and around the heads of the subjects. I was very happy to find this and also to be able to recognise the artist immediately. Rewind 18 months and I would have known nothing, and would possibly have walked past without taking a closer look. I am happy now to be able to enjoy street art and share it with you. A good feeling.
Together alone
Me and my pizza,
the chef, waiter and bar girl;
empty restaurant.
by Scooj
Undone
Seventh to ground
breakfast and back to seventh
horror…flies undone!
by Scooj
City food
Wonderful smells drift
in and out of the street stalls
selling World cuisine.
by Scooj
Son
He will not know the
sadness I feel as I hug
him and wave goodbye.
by Scooj
337. Leake Street tunnel, London (3)
Everything was unexpected when I visited Leake Street Tunnel recently, not least the large number of new pieces that had been created as part of the #do1cancer campaign. It would have been easy to overlook some of the other works that had been in the tunnel…except, I find it hard to overlook anything.
Having reached the end of the tunnel, I returned the way I came – it is funny how you see different things when you go in the opposite direction. High on the ceiling was this wonderful face by Hannah Adamaszek, who I have featured a couple of times recently.
There are two notable things about this work: the first is that it must have been very awkward to do…neck-breaking; the second is that depending on where you stand, the face takes on very different appearances. More great work from Hannah, who I am expecting to see at Upfest.
London lunch
Smoked salmon and cream
cheese sandwiches enjoyed with
views of the river.
By Scooj
329. Blackstock Road, London (1)
As regular readers will know by now, I have recently taken on a new job for six months which involves being in my native London two days a week. This week, instead of staying in a lonely sad hotel, I stayed with my lovely sister and family in Stoke Newington. Ever the opportunist, I realised that this would afford me an opportunity to snap some London street art. Hurrah! This is between Finsbury Park station and my sister’s house.
This is a spectacular mural by a Sao Paulo-based artist ‘Muretz’ (Mauro Golin), which was painted when on a flying visit back in March this year. There is more about this and one other work on the excellent London Calling blog. I cannot hope to cover London works in the incredible way that London Calling does, so I won’t try to duplicate.
I think that one can predict Brazilian artists will feature skeletons in some of their work, as death is celebrated in a way quite different to the somber conventional ways in the ‘West’. I love this. It is witty and simple. A bit like Stik meets Banksy…or something. I love the way the character appears to be sitting on the steps of the house.
This is a lovely work, and I feel thrilled at coming across it. On a slightly off-topic note, I wonder if the Green Grocer is always open…the sign would suggest it is.
