Tag Archives: Urbanart

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Best Of Shoreditch Street Art Tours Kiss Of Death

Should this Shoreditch Street Art Tours post start with an apology to the spraycan virtuoso Jim Vision? Perhaps.

Last night we held a short notice online virtual ramble through some of the art that provided great food for thought on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour in 2021.  With the benefit of being able to show slides from the past, we were able to look at the waxing and waning of Jim Vision’s Jerome St mural which concluded with the photograph shown at the top of this post mural taken 2 days earlier on 29th December.  This is the story of that mural and it ends with the dramatic update based on what we found today!

The history starts in 2020 with a curved wall pretty heavily battered with graffiti of varying styles and levels of accomplishment.  The artistic highlight on the wall was probably back in 2014 with a beautiful paste-up from the French street artist Ludo.

Street Art in Shoreditch by French street artist Ludo

Ludo, 2014

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Wild! Featuring Noze, Lap406 Oct 2019

Forward to 2020 and Jim Vision secures consent to paint the wall with permission and has claimed the spot as his since, painting a couple of portraits as part of his admirable “Colourful Women” series.  In the artist’s words this was “celebrating all women of colour with their vibrancy and strength, at the same time addressing an imbalance in the representation of women of colour on walls.  This first dates from early Summer 2020.

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, June 2020

The next portrait on this wall came complimented by a pod of killer whales.  In this next early December 2020 photo we see the mural in great condition with 8 killer whales swimming through, to the right is a cluster of illuminations and the background is an abstract veil of almost luminous vertical streaks.

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, 2nd Dec 2020

Just a few days later the negative spaces in the margins have been targeted with graffiti, including sundry tags and a nice piece by Lap in the background:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, lap406 , 22nd Dec 2020

Things are relatively unchanged by July 2021, a throw has gone over the cluster of lights to the right, a couple of tags and Lap in the background appears to have been painted out.  Still the augmentations are occurring away from the main subject:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision July 2021

By October there is fascinating development in the artistic interactions taking place on this wall, Jim Vision covers up new tags with the creative and playful expedient of adding Orcas where the tags were.  Now the pod has grown to 20 killer whales and something a bit albino, or perhaps a 21st whale with only its white parts turned to us:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision Oct 2021

Halfway through December heavy tagging appears in quite aggressive spots at the centre of the portrait and a green tag close to the front of the face where the white whale was.  Ours is not to cast judgement!

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, tags, 19th Dec 2021

Then, on 29th Dec, a new killer whale appears to be likely to see in the New Year, its placaement jumping through the earring brings to mind the cruelty involved in keeping these beautiful beasts in captivity in sea life parks.  This was the state of play at the conclusion of the timeseries presented in the  “The Best Of Shoreditch Street Art Tours 2021” virtual tour last night (New Years Eve):

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, 29th Dec 2021

New Years Day, this morning, look what we found:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

New Years Day 2021 Jim Vision with Slak & Cuso

Gonna take a lot more whales!

Jim Vision instagram

all photos: Dave Stuart


Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Winter Lights 2020 Canary Wharf London

Dark nights and biting cold make classic ingredients for some light art so off to Winter Lights at Canary Wharf, selfie heaven in the form of 26 sculptures.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Affinity; Amigo and Amigo & S1T2Starting with our favourite, Constellation is part Dr Who theme tune vortex visual and part early 80s wire frame battlezone tank game.  The white light projected into water vapour clouds is totally immersive, absorbing and nothing like as wet as it might sound.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Constellation; Studio Joanie Lemercier

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Constellation; Studio Joanie Lemercier

Pre visit consultation of the website suggested Absorbed By Light had compelling crowd “interaction” photograph potential but the crowds clustered around the bench means sharp elbows and abandoning your British reserve is essential, time and rumbling stomachs decreed we wouldn’t throw ourselves into that scrum.   In a desperate attempt to contrive a street art reference, this installation channeled two great pieces of art by Banksy, the Mobile Lovers in Bristol and the bench with seagulls at Dismaland.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Constellation; Studio Joanie Lemercier

The Bra Tree fused the after effects of a Tom Jones gig in the park with a 1970s women’s lib rally, it probably looks much the same in daylight, the illuminations operate from 4pm to 10pm, as at night.  All the bras are believed to be part of the artist’s original installation, evidence suggesting otherwise gratefully received. Perhaps a more imaginative name would have inspired some more enlightened thinking about explosion in a lingerie department.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

The Bra Tree

Everyone can take fabulous photos at Winter Lights, the Mountain of Light is particularly photogenic.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Mountain of Light; Angus Muir Design

Shish-Ka-Buoy looks like a rather psychedelic sex toy and once that thought is planted in your mind you just can’t erase it.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Shish-Ka-Buoy; Angus Muir Design

Sasha Trees is one installation that involves quite a bit of a schlep from the main clusters and you’ve probably seen it already so even though it looks great if time is tight, this would be the one to drop

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Sasha Trees; Adam Decolight

Sky on Earth is a genius proof of the “there’s a queue, better join it quick” herd instinct. The installation has subwoofer bass note throbs accompanying a bubble bath with intermittent light flickers, you can extract the impact, effect and visuals just as effectively from around the perimeter but everyone who didn’t have kids under the age of 10 politely queued 10 minutes for the privilege of walking down the channel in the middle.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Sky On Earth; UAII Studio

Light festival veterans in London will find a number of the installations quite familiar.  I can’t think how many light festivals the Light benches have appeared in and some such as Liquid Sound and Bit.Fall looked identical to last year.  Some were just downright underwhelming such as Seeds Of Life located in a shopping mall.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Squiggle; Angus Muir Design. So 2019.

Pools Of Light was also present last year and still looked like a 6th form disco light show fell into a ball pond.  This was amusing to the resigned attempts of steward to prevent people throwing the balls around in the face of what looked like about a dozen American Football matches taking place on the same pitch.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Pools Of Light

It’s fun, it’s photogenic, it runs for a week until next Saturday 25th January and the forecast for this week is fortuitously dry.  Arriving at Canary Wharf tube station drops you right into the action so getting there isn’t too problematic, so perhaps well worth considering Winter Lights for a free thing to do in January.

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Mountain of Light; Angus Muir Design

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Lactolight by Lactolight

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Aquatics; Philipp Artus

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Ditto; Ithaca Studio

Winter Lights, Light Festival, Canary Wharf, Streetart, tourguide, neon, sculpture, urbanart

Time and Tide; Paul and Pute

All photos Dave Stuart

See Winter Lights Website for more information


My Dog Sighs Street Art and Gallery Show

CRYLONG

Nelly Duff, 156 Columbia Rd, London E2 7RG

8TH – 14TH Nov 2019

My Dog Sighs has a London solo show at Nelly Duff, well overdue after a long gap since his last London solo show.

This photorealistic extraordinaire has steadily built up a broad array of impressive street art styles, most famous of which are his Free Art Friday cans.  The cans feature a crushed and folded cylinder with cute snub hosed faces painted onto the shiny base which were left outdoors for people to discover and keep, they are hugely admired by many, found by few.  The concept and discipline of painting photorealistic faces on circular can bases fed into other street art styles, notably in many enchanting paste ups created in collaboration with fellow south coast artist Midge.

My Dog Sighs & Midge, London 2013

My Dog Sighs/Midge collaboration, London, 2014

My Dog Sighs has also a massive reputation for his incredible murals, his eyeball paste ups, his stickers, his waterdrops and his completely different non-circular non photorealistic stick character.

Upfest mural, Bristol 2015

Upfest mural, Bristol 2017

Eyeball, London 2017

Stick Man, London 2017

Water drop, over Subdude, London 2019

Sticker, London 2015

The humble tool of the graffiti writer, street artist and amateur bodywork repairer is the spraycan and My Dog Sighs art has brought the can right into the art as a canvas as well as a source of paint.  This show is all about the cans.

My Dog Sighs- Beige

Crylong, the title of the show plays with the phonetics of the name of a major spraypaint supplier Krylon.  Back in the early days of graffiti spray paint manufacturers were focussed on industrial applications, particularly car paint and a major source of paint for graffiti writers was the cans of paint sold in car repair shops, not all of it finding its way through the checkout before ending up in the graffiti writer’s hidden pockets.  Crylong also speaks to the sad doleful appearance of My Dog Sighs’ characters.

As well as the cans, it’s all about the eyes. Watching My Dog Sighs in action on a public mural is to watch someone painstakingly paint microscopic detail in flecks of colour in the iris and in the reflection on the eyeball.  In his exhibition you ascend the rickety wooden stairs of the Nelly Duff Gallery and enter into the Room of Stares.

Rickety Stairs

Room Of Stares

Engage in a staring match with each of the square eyeball images and in the reflections in each of the eyeballs you will spot different characters inspired by legendary photos from the 1980s era of subway graffiti.  One lining up his spray cans is unmistakably Dondi photographed by Martha Cooper and published in graffiti’s Book of Genesis Subway Art. Look right into the detail of the eyeball and you can see that My Dog Sighs has even replaced the Rustoleum logo on the can Dondi holds with the characteristic triple spot of Krylon’s logo.

Pink canvas (detail)

Pink screenprint (detail)

Dondi by Martha Cooper, Subway Art, published by Thames and Hudson

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Red screenprint on paper (detail)

Flick through your copy of Subway art and you will find spraycans littered, almost literally, throughout Martha Cooper’s photos which embraced the broader context of graffiti culture rather than just the trains themselves.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Blue screeprint(detail)

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Blue canvas (detail)

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Crazylegs by Martha Cooper, from Hip Hop Files, published From Here To Fame Publishing, 2004

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Yellow canvas detail

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Green canvas detail

The wall of stares houses a mix of eyes on canvas, eyes screen printed on paper and in one case screen printed onto metal, each in 5 colourways, though not all on display.  This allows us a very unusual opportunity to compare a screen print with the original, and only a publishing house with the quality of Nelly Duff’s in house printer would have the confidence to pull this off.  Under close up scrutiny the effect of the varnish layer on the aluminium print is bewitching although really only apparent when viewed in real life, photos don’t do it justice.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Blue – Canvas original painting

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Blue – archival flatbed print with silkscreen varnishes on brushed aluminium

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Blue – archival flatbed print with silkscreen varnishes on paper

The other half of Crylong is a collection of framed faces on cans, the cans are Krylon and Rustoleum and in each one the painted character reflects the colour of that paint can and indeed something of the emotion suggested in the faintly surreal names the colours are given by the manufacturer.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Owl is obviously a quite extraordinary name to give a paint colour so just as well Owl has an extraordinary face.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Owl (detail)

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Owl

Nice to see a vintage can of Rustoleum making an appearance, seems that aluminium is a colour now, interpreted by My Dog Sighs as a Silver lady up to some devilment at a masque ball.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Silver

The rim of the base has been sanded back to bright metal to make it silver rather than the rust finish seen in all the other vintage cans.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Silver detail

The frame fillet, that colour strip inside the frame that gives depth to the frame is also matched to the colour of the can and at the bottom of each frame is a used spraycan cap, also colour matched.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Bright

My Dog Sighs has, in the blink of an eye, doffed his cap to the origins of street art in his homage to the classic Martha Cooper photos and the old school industrial painting spraycans in a nod to the significance of the can as a canvas for his art.  He also demonstrates that photorealism can be beautiful art as opposed to the exercise in tedious virtuosity it can appear at times in the hands of others.

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Fire

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Bright (detail)

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Regal

MyDogSighs, Streetart, Urbanart, Gallery, Shoreditch, NellyDuff, photorealism, spraycans, Krylon, Rustoleum, waterdrops, eyeballs, walkingtours, streetarttours

Pink canvas

LINKS:

My Dog Sighs website

My Dog Sighs instagram

Martha Cooper instagram

all photos: Dave Stuart except where stated


Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens, Core, Fanakapan, Voyder, Aches, Jim Vision

Shoreditch – So Much To Do

It has been a long time since we did this but the dance card for the next few days is chock full of fantastic events you might consider adding to your diary.

The ever brilliant BSMT Gallery in Dalston marked its re-opening last week in better  premises with a group show called Dystopia dedicated to Extinction Rebellion.  Tonight Wednesday 18th September BSMT hosts the first of a series of related workshops.  Following a talk about the mission of Extinction Rebellion there will be an introductory workshop in regenerative culture, which will discuss and provide some of the tools and approaches one can use to maintain one’s physical and psychological well-being in the face climate catastrophe. A specialist in this field from Extinction Rebellion will lead the workshop.

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Extinction Rebelion at BSMT, Photo courtesy BSMT Space

You will also get to see an exciting collection of urban art including some amazing bronze castings by Jonesy

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Jonesy

Thursday is packed.  Subdude has his first solo show at the atmospheric Monty’s Bar and I hear he is premiering a range of new previously unseen political lightning bolts.

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Subdude Wall Of Fame!

Up in Hoxton Donk, Rider and Skeleton Cardboard join forces for ”Dream Bigger Better Wierder” at Wellhung Gallery.

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Rider/Donk collabs above, Skelly below

Anna Laurini has a stunning show at The Old Bank Vault, 243 Hackney Road and Thursday is a late evening opening.

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Anna Laurini, Old Bank Vault

Finally, the big one this weekend is the Graffestival at the Nomadic Community Gardens, organised by Jim Vision/End Of The Line.  Two “flyers” for this, one being an absolutely stellar collection of spraycan artists from the graff and street art spheres, the second is the music.  This is likely to be the last major spraycan event at this location which has hosted numerous editions of the brilliant Meeting of Styles under same management.  We here the feature wall is going to be something very special for signing off from this spot.

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Nomadic Community Gardens, Hayley, Roving Cafe – we loved you so much!

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Graffestival artists lineup, nomadic Community Gardens

Shoreditch, Urbanart, streetart, shows, gelleries, extinction rebellion, End Of THe Line, NomadicCommunityGardens

Graffestival music lineup, nomadic Community Gardens

Lest we forget, London Design Festival LDF19 runs until the 22nd of September and there is so much of this located in the Shoreditch area, my fav (so far) has to be this Lee Broom installation which is yards from where our street art tours end

London Design Festival, LDF19, Lee Broom, installation, mirrors

Lee Broom installation, LDF19

There ya go, don’t say nothing ever happens.

photos: Dave Stuart except Graffestival and BSMT flyers courtesy respective organisations