Tag Archives: London

London, streets

1,2,3 Banksy safari in London

Since the 5 August 2024, elusive artist Banksy has been treating London with some new stencil artworks accross the city.

On 5 August, off Kew Bridge in Richmond, a silhouette of a goat appeared on top of a ledge looking down cheekily at CCTV camera, with debris falling down the side of the building.

On 6 August a couple of elephants in separate rooms are facing each other in the district of Chelsea.

On 7 August, three monkeys are playfully balancing underneath the London overground bridge off Brick Lane in East London.

Update – 08 August 2024

On day 4 of his animal themed serie, Banksy  unveiled a wolf howling on full moon, making a clever use of a satellite dish.

Image PA

Located in Peckham Rye, South London, the sattelite dish with the artwork got stolen less than one hour after being confirmed by the artist.

Update 09/08

On this fifth day, Banksy unveiled an artwork of pelicans pinching fish from a London chip shop sign. Located on Bonners Fish Bar in Walthamstow, the artwork shows one bird stooping down to scoop up a fish on the takeaway’s sign, while another is tossing one in the air.

10/08/2024

Banksy has confirmed the sixth artwork in his new animal-themed collection across London, a silhouette of a panther on an empty, distressed billboard. The mural is located in Edgware Road, Cricklewood

11/08/2024

This time it’s in Ludgate, with another more elaborate style. It depicts piranhas swimming in a police entry box.

Image Banksy

12/08/2024

Banksy is still on a roll, with a humorous stencil of a rhino strategically placed, looking as if it’s mounting a car with a traffic cone on its hood. It’s all about placement…

Located in Westmoors St, Charlton.

Image Banksy

13/08/2024

 A ninth piece appeared on a white shutter at the London Zoo, with a gorilla depicted lifting its base the release birds and a seal, with more eyes glowing the darkness.

London, streets

Banksy GOAT in London

A monochrome stencil artwork featuring a silouette of a goat perched on top of a wall appeared has been confirmed by elusive artist Banksy.

Located in Kew Bridge in Richmond, the piece shows the goat looking down cheekily at CCTV camera, with debris falling down the side of the building.

Since the artist did not write any caption on his Instagram post, the work is up to interpretation.

London, streets

Banksy new mural in London

Elusive artist Banksy unveiled a new mural in Finsbury Park, North London on Saint Patrick’s day.  Located in Hornsey Road, a social housing area, the council recently pruned a massive  mature cherry tree, as part of their regular maintenance,  and left it looking miserable.

Before Banksy mural – image courtesy of the artist

Using a pressure hose or fire extinguisher, Banksy painted a cascade of green colour on the façade of the nearby building, creating a trompe l’oeil effect.   At the bottom the mural Banksy used a stencil to paint a lifesized person holding a pressure hose next to it.  When stepping back, it looks like the tree is bursting to life.

Banksy’s attention to detail is noticeable with the green colour palette matching the one used by Islington Council for signs in the local area.  This also helped him act unnoticed despite the bright green colour.

This fire extinguisher technique is a favourite amongst graffiti artists as it enables to cover large surfaces high and wide quickly without the need of a ladder or scaffholding. 

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Mural by Russian artist 0331© in Moscow,  2012

Local residents expressed joy and pride to the addition of this major cultural element to their streets.

Listen to the podcast on BBC with James Peak and Patrick Nguyen here

Placement and timing are key. A celebration of the green colour (perfect timing with Saint Patrick’s day), combined with a celebration of nature and the springtime season in full bloom.

Update 20.03.2024

Street art is ephemeral by nature.

The mural did not last long in its original state. Three days after unveiling the piece, the wall has received some white splash paint, as well as a little addition with a brick signature character by Ronzo. Can you spot it?

Image PA

London, Shows

CUTE Exhibition at Somerset House

A major new exhibition exploring the irresistible force of cuteness in contemporary culture will be opening at the Somerset House in London from 25 January to 14 April 2024 .

Starting of with the celebration of the cat, to the influence of the japanese culture of cuteness ‘Kawaii’, CUTE brings together contemporary artworks, including new artist commissions, and cultural phenomena such as music, fashion, toys, video games and social media.

From emojis to internet memes, video games to plushie toys, food to loveable robotic design, cuteness has taken over our world. But how has something so charming and seemingly harmless – adorable, doe-eyed animals, chubby-cheeked babies, flowers, hearts, stars, sweets and other such romantic motifs – gained such traction?  

Examining the world’s embrace of cute culture and how it has become such an influential measure of our times, the exhibition will seek to unravel cuteness’ emotive charge, revealing its extraordinary and complex power and potential.   

Contributing artists include Mark Leckey, Sean-Kierre Lyons, Aya Takano, Mike Kelley, Karen Kilimnik, Nayland Blake, Cosima von Bonin, Hannah Diamond, Ed Fornieles, Juliana Huxtable, Rachel Maclean, Julien Ceccaldi, Paige K. B., Isaac Lythgoe, Alake Shilling, Wong Ping, Liv Preston, CFGNY, Ram Han, Maggie Lee, Bunny Rogers, Flannery Silva, Andy Holden, plus Somerset House Studios artists Chris Zhongtian Yuan, Sin Wai Kin and Sian Fan.  

The exhibition will also feature a games arcade for all ages and will spotlight and celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of cute’s most iconic and ubiquitous figures, Hello Kitty, in partnership with Sanrio.

London

Pandora ‘Loves unboxed’ immersive pop up with UK artists

British artists Hisham Echafaki, Renin Bilginer, Eve De Haan, Makiko Harris and Phoebe Boddy have been collaborating with international jewellery brand PANDORA for a new immersive experience in London launching ‘Loves Unboxed’ holiday campaign.

Collaboration with artist Hisham Echafaki

Situated on the South Bank, near Tower Bridge, the ‘Art of Loves’ pop-up, which will be open to the public from Thursday 9th – Sunday 19th November, has been designed to look like a huge Pandora jewellery box, welcoming everyone who walks through its doors into an art installation which celebrates different interpretations of ‘Loves’.

 Guests who visit the activation will not only be able to view the artists’ installation, but will also have the opportunity to create their own piece of art, via a bespoke interactive platform. After creating their own artwork, guests will then have the opportunity to showcase their designs on digital screens which will surround the exterior of the pop up, or print their designs off as personalised wrapping paper for a loved one. The pop-up will become London’s largest digital gallery of ‘Loves’, transforming the digital art created inside the pop-up into 8 by 3 meters digital canvases.