Carnival Route, Westbourne Grove
Carnival returned to Notting Hill this weekend after a COVID hiatus of 3 years, this meant the return of one of the best and most temporary HOFs (Hall of Fame) going – the Notting Hill Carnival shopfront hoardings.
One person who played a major role in grabbing the head of graffiti and twisting it 180 degrees until became street art was Mode2. The jaw dropping highlight of my exploration of the Carnival graffiti was unexpectedly coming across a new piece by Mode2. Check the Mode2 writing, I have not seen that spidery angular swirl since he painted that old since demolished industrial laundry building in Islington in 2010. While it is a shame the character on the corner is not intact, that’s life, to see Mode2 put up TCA in the Carnival girl’s tail feathers feels pretty special. Writing alongside is another London graff legend Teach DDS, hence the DDS in the feathers.
Also putting in a major shift was Shine.
RIP pieces were a recurring theme, names of the fallen are still honoured within the community.
The last photo in that set features Vade’s ubiquitous throw which was everywhere but there were also some Vade pieces.
Vade
Grenfell fire disaster was over 5 years ago but the horror has not been forgotten and the campaign for justice still fuels graffiti in the area.
Syer Justice 4 Grenfell
Priest
Artik is a roller king, at Carnival there was a rare sighting of a spraypainted Artik piece.
Artik Real
Riotous colour really turned up in party mood in these gorgeous creations by Kiwie and Finito.
Kiwie Finito
Quite a lot of graf from prior years makes an appearance, those frugal shopkeepers hoard the hoardings but usually can’t be bothered to do the jigsaw puzzle, which makes for quite brilliant collaged mosaics.
My head spins
my eyes hurt
Last Thursday I cycled past the Global Street Art team painting an advert on a wall in Notting Hill, I hope their terms and condition on this one ensure they get paid regardless of any tags, cos there was no chance a Cillian Murphy advert would survive the weekend!
Cillian Murphy spraypainted advert acquires character
Carnival is about participation, music, dancing, food and partying in whatever combination you fancy, even early doors all that was well underway.
Apologies to creators whose graffiti features in the photos but has not been attributed. This is most likely ignorance on my part, perhaps some omission in there as well, send an email if you want crediting.
All photos: Dave Stuart