Tag Archives: “Dr D”

Street Art, Shoreditch, London, street art tour, tour guide, Banksy, Stik, Roa, Dismaland, Dr D, Vermibus, Alo, Clet Abraham,

A Decade of Genius Street Art

As we start a new decade a review of a tiny amount of the amazing street art witnessed in the past decade seemed appropriate.

A Bun In Their Hair, ALO, Shoreditch 2014

Here is a slide show of a number of the images that made the final review of the “wild Wonderous and Inventive” art, which is a rather vague way of saying “stuff that wasn’t mentioned in our mural, sculptural or political street art reviews.

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The only way to bring to a close this dredging up of our favourite specimens of wild outdoor art is to look back at what Banksy has been up to. Although Banksy produced far less street art in the past decade than in the noughties, on almost all respects other than quantity he continues to be the most important, brilliant and relevant artist in whatever field he chooses.

Banksy Dismaland, 2015

Banksy’s Better In Than Out in New York saw a month long treasure hunt – “hide and seek” combo which cast Banksy as Bonnie And Clyde against the NY mayor, police and press and the world watched with glee but we already knew Banksy would never be caught.

Better Out Than IN, Banksy, New York, photo LunaPark

He also had a major art triumph staging a group shop with a conscience at Dismaland though we already knew Banksy did extraordinary exhibition/experience fusion.

Dismaland, Banksy, Weston Super Mare, 2015

He created a huge mural in Dover in 2017 but we already knew Brexit was a stupid idea.

Banksy, Dover 2017

My favourite Banksy of the decade however was his Les Miserables in Knightsbridge, London’s embassy land.

Tear gassed Cosette, Banksy, Knightsbridge London, 2016

It has the Banksy signature elements, it had the cleverness in repurposing the iconic image of Cosette, it had the impact in terms of global exposure, right opposite the French embassy it combined perfect placement with the “wow, how did he get away with that.” factor.

We did not however know about the French police tear gassing migrant families in the camps in Calais and this was Banksy’s crowning achievement, bringing that shameful episode to wider international attention.

Cosette v French embassy, Banksy, Knightsbridge London, 2016

This selection of photos a part of the selection reviewed and discussed on the Graffoto blog post 2010 – 2019 Wild Wonderous Inventive Street Art

All photos Dave Stuart except LunaPark where noted

It has been a huge pleasure to write 5 reviews of the street art of the past decade which we personally enjoyed.  The Links to those reviews are at the bottom of the Graffoto review.  A specific review of the street art of 2019 might appear shortly.

 


General Election 2017 Street Art

Today Britain goes to the election, we express political preferences through a mark on a ballot paper.   Walls are also great surfaces to express political opinions and here are a few highlights from the 2017 General Election, a period that began back in the third week of April.

One of the first out of the blocks was Banksy with his stunning comment on Brexit at the port of Dover.

Banksy, Street art, mural, Dover, Brexit, EU Flag, painter, ladder, stencil

Banksy

The election has witnessed a rare mis-calculation by Mr Banksy (or maybe he does a great job of just not screwing up in public!).  He offered a limited edition “archive quality” girl with balloon print to anyone from six tory controlled wards in Bristol that sent in a photograph of their polling paper showing a tick in the box for the labour candidate.   The initial response on Saturday from the Electoral Commission professed that the law was complex in this area but by Monday Banksy had announced a “Product Recall” on the basis of a legal opinion from the Electoral Commission that those polls would be invalidated.  Tweets purporting to be from local constabulary also declared the action illegal.

source: www.banksy.co.uk

Well known British contemporary artist Jeremy Deller provided a plain rebuttal to Theresa May’s campaign slogan, this work put up widely across London by the Fly Leaps organisation.

Jeremy Deller

The blind as a bat Theresa May poster next to Deller’s is by Kennard Phillips who produced the now legendary image of Tony Blair taking a selfie in front of a burning oilfield which was displayed in the window of Banksy’s Santa’s Ghetto on Oxford St, London in 2006.

The punchiest exponent of using other people’s walls to deliver punchy political messages for many years is one of my favourite artists Dr d.  For this general election Dr d has gone back to  spoof Standrd (note the spelling at the end) headlines, as can be seen here above Unify’s adaptation of Shepard Fairey’s famous Obama HOPE poster.

 

Dr d. above; Unify below

 

CodeFC put up a couple of strong stencilled compositions.  Sadly the one in Leake Street asking “Theresa who?” had burned bright but briefly as art and graffiti is wont at that location but with the grace of CodeFC we have used his photo as the featured imagae at the top of this post.  Brexit Through The Chip Shop simultaneously references a great British culinary institution, the title of Banksy’s 2010 street art documentary and the greatest political fraud of our lifetime.

CodeFC Brexit Through The Chip Shop

I am not sure who did this one but the idea of giving Putin a Pussy Riot style balaclava whist simultaneously referencing the conspiracy of Russian intervention in the US elections is clever. [Update 22 June: Heath Kane, hat tip to Subdude for letting us know]

Who Would Putin Vote For – Artist Unknown

Probably from the same “artist unknown” [update 22 Jun: seems unlikely], the rather wishy washy tory slogan “Strong and stable” is appropriated in condemnation of the UK arms industry.

artist unknown

A political wishlist expressed in the form of sequined skulls has been put up by Uberfubs, it would be great if they could all come true but this one in particular would be on my list.

Uberfubs

Many artists such as Subdude never stop expressing political views.   Paste up digs at Trump and Putin have given way over the past few weeks to a plethora of comments at the general political state of the country and specifically against Teresa May.

Subdude

Subdude seems to have gone a bit off message with this image (or maybe I am just missing the point) which has been modified in a Basquiat kind of style though as you scan down a polling slip looking for Jeremy’s name to put your tick against, try to get the surname spelt right.

Please vote wisely and safely

All photos Dave Stuart except “Theresa Who?” featured image by CodeFC

 

 


London Designated Curfew Zone by Street Artist Dr D

London has a designated Curfew Zone thanks to one of our best street artists Dr d.

London, Shoreditch, street art,installation,"paste up", artist, "street artist", "Dr D","congestion zone", satire, subversion

Curfew Zone, Dr D

Sadly when discovered on a rush to catch the last tube the cold sleet that had been falling steadily had made the top corner of the paste up peel away but  a passing kind young lady who didn’t run off with my phone when my back was turned helped with taking a photograph.

Dr D is lampooning police Stop and Search Powers using the format of the official warning signs which ring London’s Congestion Charging Zone.

London, Shoreditch, street art,installation,"paste up", artist, "street artist", "Dr D","congestion zone", satire, subversion

Congestion Zone portal

For a full run down on the brilliance of Dr D’s subversive street art and examples of his previous gems, check Graffoto Blog.

all photos: NoLionsInEngland (with anonymous passerby help gratefully received where noted!)