Category Archives: Artist

New Banksy Appears In Dover

Another year, another Banksy, at last! The port of Dover, a major port with the shortest distance between UK and the European mainland, found itself the proud home of the latest outdoor street art masterpiece by Banksy. A huge version of the EU flag with a worker chipping away at one of the 12 stars greets inland arrivals coming into the port on the main road from London.

Banksy

When it reveals itself to you from about ¾ mile away on the hill descending into Dover, its audacious scale and visibility is quite breath taking. This isn’t tucked away on a back street facing somewhere anonymous, you simply can’t miss it. By the end of this year this could be one of the most viewed single works of art in the country, perhaps even the World.

Close up the attention to detail is awesome. Check the drop shadows on the chipped off pieces of the stars, look also at the cracks, they are stunningly painted and close up you can see each crack represented by two contrasting lines very precisely drawn alongside each other.

Banksy

The subject of the work is clear, it’s about Britain leaving the EU but is the piece perhaps a bit ambiguous? Is the worker “Leave” supporter taking great delight in symbolically destroying the EU or are his actions showing us how devastating the course the UK is seemingly irretrievably embarked upon is, in other words pro-Remain. Context is everything with Banksy and his views are pretty clear if you think back to art he put up in Calais in 2015, Steve Jobs as an immigrant; a child gazing through a telescope across the channel to England but a vulture (death) perches on the telescope; and his “We’re not all in the same boat”, a raft borrowed from “The Raft Of The Medusa” by Théodore Géricault. The issue was the refugee crisis but the clear message was more compassion was needed meaning open boarders, Banksy is pretty clearly a Remainer.

Banksy

Timing is a bit of an issue since the decisive vote which lead to our latest Prime Minister changing her mind completely from “remain” to “a red, white and blue Brexit” was 10 months ago. The issue is central to our current general election process but only to the extent that the PM seeks a mandate to do as much damage as she can without subsequent recourse to the population. Banksy’s mural seems to be more timely if considered in the context of the French presidential election which reaches its climax this weekend as the eminently sensible French electorate chose a centrist pro EU president rather than a far right candidate hell bent on wreaking further disunity and harm to the EU.

Dover – Gateway to Europe

The placement of this piece is magical. Dover is defined in its present and its history by this country’s relationship with the continent, whether that means trade, migration, vacation or war. Almost no one passes through Dover without registering that this is a point of departure, arrival and communication and it is all about the short cross sea link to France. It is hard to imagine a place in the UK where a Brexit piece could resonate more with its surroundings.

This post is an abridged version of a post I wrote for Graffoto blog, head over there for more views on the way Banksy may have created this masterpiece and similarities to older Banksy street art.

DR CREAM PROCLAIMS SPRING

We love signs of Spring! Today London bathes in well above seasonal average temperatures and blue skies, the cherry blossom has been out for several weeks and street art feels warmth in its bones.

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Springbot by Dr Cream

Last Sunday Dr Cream heralded Spring literally when he introduced his Springbots to the streets of Shoreditch. These jagged looking characters, linocuts on hand torn paper appeared in several locations around Brick Lane.

Springbot by Dr Cream

As usual for Dr Cream the final “art” in his project comes in the stop frame animation seen online not on the walls, here is his Springbot in animated action created by photographing the Springbots he pasted up on the streets.

Spring is here for sure – hip hip hurray!

Springbot by Dr Cream also feat The Rolling Fool, The Cat Rider and Robot Shark Army

All photos Dave Stuart

Artist Link: Dr Cream

Stik Street Art Auction

A piece of street art by ever popular London street artist Stik is to be auctioned tomorrow at Phillips, London with Stik’s blessing.

From a message issued by Stik:

30 Nov 2016: Street Artist Stik has agreed to authenticate and approve the sale of a street art piece he once painted on the front of the Magpie Social Centre in Bristol. This piece appeared in 2009 on the front wall of the not-for-profit social centre which was evicted earlier this year and is currently looking for a new premises.

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Magpie – Stik, photo via Stik

Stik states: “The Magpie Social Centre was one of the free spaces that actively encouraged street art and helped me to become the artist I am today. I don’t generally approve of the sale of street pieces but here I will make an exception. It gives me great pleasure to authenticate this piece so that Magpie can continue to support the next generation of artists.”

Stik only authenticates street artworks when all proceeds benefit the community they were painted for. The artist was approached by the community centre earlier this year and helped set up the sale with London auction house Phillips. The piece titled ‘Magpie’ has been preserved, framed and logged and comes with a certificate of authenticity.

End message quote

The following news arrived In a later message which came in today:

Stik met with the director of Magpie Project Space this week to authenticate the fundraiser sale on Thursday 8th December at Phillips Auction. Seen here at the private view the sale is expected to raise enough funds to rehouse the community centre.

Stik with Natty Lee form Magpie Social Centre at Phillips Auction Private view. Photo via Stik

Details of the piece are:

STIK – Magpie

Lot 90,

Phillips New Now London Auction
8 December 2016

Signed, dated and authenticated ‘STIK 2009 2016’ on the reverse. Spray paint on wood, in artist’s frame.
139 x 29.8 cm (54 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)

Executed in 2009. This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the artist’s studio.

Estimate £8,000 – 12,000

To participate in this rare opportunity to acquire an authenticated street piece:

Contact Specialist
Simon Tovey
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4084

or check online HERE

It’s not so easy to see from the photo of the Magpie Social Centre that the Stik piece being auctioned is one of the pieces visible on the Magpie wall but here is a photo I took back in 2010 which shows the same piece much more clearly.

Stik at Magpie, photo Dave Stuart

On the surface it feels like this has a lot of similarities with the famous case in Bristol where Banksy’s Mobile Lovers was removed by the proprietor of the Riverside Boys Club and which ultimately led to Banksy authenticating the street piece and using language very similar to Stik’s to confirm that he was ok with it being sold as a fund raiser for the Boy’s Club. The clear difference is that while Banksy’s Mobile Lover was almost certainly done without permission, Stik is likely to have had the blessing of the Magpie Social Centre to create his work.

all photos via Stik except Dave Stuart where noted

Banksy vs French Embassy In London

After a long long wait (since mid 2012 actually) Banksy has sent us scrambling with a new piece of street art in London.

It is a stunning piece, combining political content, perfect placement and the big “wow – how did he pull that off?” factor.

The piece references the gassing of refugees in the Calais Jungle by French Police earlier this month. It is placed right opposite the French Embassy, under the watchful gaze of their armed security guards and CCTV cameras.

Sadly this morning developers refurbishing the premises the art is place on were implementing a plan to preserve the work and solve health and safety issues arising from its placement, i.e., they were going to have it. The removal attempt was temporarily aborted and they have resorted to covering it up with plywood. so relieved to have got there in time.

There is a more detailed assessment I have written on Graffoto

all photos: Dave Stuart aka NoLionsinEngland

New Years Day New Free Art by Sean Worrall

Last night I was picking photos and writing words to go in a review of 2015 street art that had caught my eye when I saw on Sean Worrall’s facebook page that he had been out hanging a few pieces of free street art, also known as found art or art that the artist does intend you take home and treasure in Shoreditch. I am going to have to re-write what I wrote last night because on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour today we found several pieces of Sean’s #365artdrops project.

London, Shoreditch, street art, tours, walks, found art, free art, #365artdrops, Sean Worrall

#365artdrops number 239

#365artdrops is a project that Sean has run throughout 2015 and a number of the free pieces of street art he has left on the street have gone home with guests of Shoreditch Street Art Tours.

#365artdrops 258

The two pieces above are both going to a new home in Sydney, Australia. This next piece was destined to decorate family premises in Spain.

#365artdrops 357

An interesting aspect of Sean’s project is that he has no control over what happens to his #365artdrops once he steps away from it. Some of it may end up in skips, one piece I know of found a home hanging in the toilet of a Shoreditch café and a number have actually ended up travelling the world, a long way from their original liberation from skips and bins on the streets of London.

#365artdrops 357

Sean has just published a blog post about the completion of his #365artdrops project and promises a more comprehensive review of the project soon, it will be fascinating to get his insight into what impacts the project has had on him as a person and an artist. Well done Sean Worrall for keeping up that project throughout 2015, we will miss the excitement of these chance discoveries.

Sean updates his Facebook page and a photo album with the latest news on his #365artdrops project here: https://www.facebook.com/sean.worrall1

For previous works of art from Sean’s project which were found, photographed and written about on blog posts, click here

All photos: Dave Stuart aka NoLionsInEngland

Street Art Needs Dentist

Shoreditch Tour guests will already know that on the tour we like to find evidence of street art evolving as time does its work assisted by other artists. A lovely piece by HNRX has been cheekily modified by artists unknown:

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Sexy lips

Dentist required

HNRX has hit Shoreditch hard with a massive sticker campaign.

Sausage sicker

You need a sense of humour if you’re going to hitch yourself to the “comic surrealism” waggon, other HNRX artworks have come to light in Shoreditch

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HNRX website

All photos: Dave Stuart aka NoLionsInEngland

So Porno Street Art Tour

It must be Christmas and a mood of festive generosity is welling up within street artists. Mr. Farenheit, a perennial tour favourite left a couple of sticker packs out on the walls which tour guests found today.

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Mr.Farenheit sticker pack found art

The main photo above is a novel group photograph of Shoreditch Street Art Tour guests, there must be a collective noun, “pride” perhaps and why are they beaming? Apart from the obvious enjoyment of a lovely and unexpectedly dry street art tour, each one has a little gift from Mr.Farenheit.

no caption required

While stickers are a staple in the world of street art, a door handle “You’re So Porno Baby” door hanger is rather a unusual but very practical piece of free art.

Who doesn’t need a door hanger?

Timothy went home with a rich collection of spoils as he later found a piece of free art by Sean Worrall, part of the #365ArtDrops project which Sean has diligently kept up throughout 2015.

off to San Francisco!

This San Francisco bound piece is unusual as we haven’t found a piece of the #365artdrops artwork painted around all four sides like this one.

#365artdrops number 339 by Sean Worrall

By coincidence, on a tour last Friday we also came across another product of Sean Worrall’s project and this now has a happy home with another Shoreditch Street Art Tour guest:

322 of 365 #365artdrops

In between, on Saturday while cycling around and not actually on a tour another piece of Sean’s art was discovered and this made it back to HQ.

London, Shoreditch, street art, found art, free art, Sean Worrall, #365artdrops

329/365, now at Shoreditch Street Art Tours HQ

Postscript: Sean Worrall has written an interesting note on his blog about this art drop yesterday, the two pieces reported here being part of that “drop”. The coincidence of him discovering that one of the locations where he placed is named worrrall’s Yard is amazing and makes a very interesting read HERE. (note that the pic labelled 340 on Sean’s blog post is in fact the 339 photographed above – oh its all gone a bit topsy turvy!)

Mr.Farenheit can be reached via the Steck and Dose gallery

Sean Worrall’s Facebook page is HERE:

All photos: Dave Stuart aka NoLionsInEngland

Cityzen Kane “Portal” Making Of

On a balmy warm week in mid 2014 the Shoreditch Street Art Tour came across a complex permissioned street art installation by the street artist Cityzen Kane. Cityzen Kane has now put up a film of the making of “Portal”, the immensely popular sculptural piece.

The film captures the intensity and the amount of handcraft Cityzen Kane puts into his sculptures.

That week, Shoreditch Street Art Tours had the pleasure of being joined by the Vagabrothers from San Diego and they were able to do a quick interview with Cityzen Kane as he installed that piece, it comes up 2’40” into their Shoreditch Street Art video (look out for their subliminal appearance in Cityzen Kane’s video at 6.40) .

Cityzen Kane’s portal was put up as a tribute in memory of his son Joe who had taken his own life a year earlier. Given the tragic nature of its inspiration, it is perhaps poignant that from time to time the central figure actually cries in the rain:

London, Shoreditch, Cityzen Kane, Portal, sculpture, clay, video, making of

Portal – detail

Cityzen Kane’s personal message reads:

Help save young and vulnerable lives from the despair of depression, Shatter the stigma around suicide. Please support www.papyrus-uk.com or www.thecalmzone.net

June 2017 Update: CityZenKane’s Portal is no longer on that wall but in the spirit of his intent and message, I thought I would let you know about A Guide to UK-based Free Mental Health Helplines by Cassiobury Court.

Paul at Cassiobury Court writes that there are fourteen different helplines in the guide. He wrote the guide because many helplines of this nature exist, and people seeking out the services of these helplines may be confused by their sheer number. This guide helps to demystify these helplines so people can select the most appropriate one for their needs.

Other resources:

OK Rehab: For guidance and support for people experiencing problems with substance misuse and co-occurring mental health problems

Small Perfectly Formed Street Art

A biblical downpour, ice cold hailstones and a hurricane 15 minutes before the start of this afternoon’s tour may have turned me on my bike into a mobile icicle but it didn’t deter a hardy group of tour guests.

We found a tiny piece of art on a wall, a mother, her child with some beautiful hand stitched embroidery acting as a shawl, the whole thing about 6 inches from top to bottom. It was beautiful, it is poignant and the artist is anonymous.

Shoreditch, Street Art, Street artist, unknown, paste up, hand stitched, embroidery, colourful, threads, mother, child

The placement of this work is intriguing, the juxtaposition against a pair of faded Betty Page images, part of a D7606 “post box” piece bring together two power images of the roles of women.

This next specimen, clearly from the same artist, photographed earlier this week a few hundred yards further up Brick Lane had already succumbed to light fingered art collectors!

Shoreditch, Street Art, Street artist, unknown, paste up, hand stitched, embroidery, colourful, threads, mother, child