Street Art London: Discover the City's Vibrant Murals

Wow, what a day…Today the next Urban Artcore milestone begun: Three month in London! And I already have good news for all the urban art enthusiasts who are also currently in London: Zosen, a well-known street artist from Barcelona, who visited Berlin in 2009, brings not anarchy but “System Collapse” (his premier UK solo show) to the StolenSpace Gallery! System Collapse is a colourful vision of the world around us and an incisive commentary on the current state of the world’s economy. The distinctive lettering styles, loosely influenced by the artwork of the punk and the do-it-yourself movements of the 70’s - 80’s, the illusory characters and bright, pure colours reflect a hopeful optimism while the meanings of the words, real and conceived, provide a complex context for a creative discharge of conscience. (StolenSpace Gallery) ...

…is the next milestone in my life and the next level for Urban Art Core. Between August and November, I will have an internship in the great city of London and therefore a lot of work has to be done. I have to buy a flight. I have to create a lot of “What to do in London”, “What to see in London” and “Who to meet in London” list. I have to clean my camera equipment. I have to set up my netbook. I have to, I have to, I have to,… ...

Do you know Maclaim? It’s an very interesting urban fine art collective consisting of the four famous artists Case, Tasso, Akut and Typism. They are internationally well-known for their fantastic mixture of photo-realistic graffiti and modern typography. The history begins in 1999, when Akut, Case and Rusk started common projects. During the first two years the trio mainly met up in Weimar/ Germany. It was Rusk who first made contact between Case and Akut on one side, and Tasso on the other. For Akut, Case and Tasso it was easy to work together and to complement each other, as they had already focused on photo-realistic spraying irrespectively of each other. (About Maclaim) ...

I already posted some impressions of the Faile and Bast collaboration exhibition by Ian Cox at Lazarides Gallery. Today I have some moving pictures from the show for you! Babelgum visited the making of “Deluxx Fluxx Arcade 2010” and filmed Faile and Bast while their preparations. The huge count of posters pasted on the walls combined with black light and luminous colors looks phenomenal and also the special designed game machines are really phantastic! Please, give me one of those arcade games… ...

Some time ago, I wrote an article about the fantastic “Total Rewall” project in London, which connects graffiti, street art and photography in an public, urban context. “Total Rewall” started on Friday December 4th in the infamous Leake Street Tunnel, which was once the home of Banksy’s Cans Festival, with the claim “on collaboration, not only between the photographers organising the exhibition and taking of photos (of places graffers normally would not be able to work on) – but also with street artists themselves, a vital part of the cog.” ...

A very interesting concept of creative urban participation is the “Total Rewall” project, which connects photography and graffiti. About twenty photographers posted up giant photographs on the walls of the famous Leake Street tunnel in South London, which became open canvasses… “Total Rewall is bringing photography into the world of graffiti, by giving artists and creative types alike, for one whole week, a rare chance to work their magic on otherwise forbidden territory. ...

This evening, artworks from some of the best and most popular street artists in the world will come together in London for the street art group exhibition, called “The Thousands”. In addition to works by Jose Parla, WK Interact, Swoon, Faile, Os Gemeos and Banksy, there will be some by Know Hope, Adam Neate, Herakut, Armsrock, Barry McGee, Elbow-Toe and others! So you can say that “The Thousands” is a meeting of the worldwide street art scene’s “Who’s Who”. ...

I love artworks, which are influenced by maps or the city itself. For this reason, I already wrote some articles about this part of contemporary art - remind the Manhattan Skyline Drawing by Stephen Wiltshire or the fantastic typographic lino-cut by Mark Andrew Webber. Today I will present another great example: Whether New York, Paris or London, American artist Karen O’Leary’s map cuts are amazing! She hand-cuts parts of original maps into paper and reveals in this way the paths, nodes, circles, boulevards, parks and streets of some of the greatest cities in the world. ...

I regularly ask myself, how to renew and use abandoned places, like old industrial areas, dead railway lines or uninhabited houses in the cities around the world. A flagship project is the underground skatepark in London. Do you know? It’s called “White Grounds Skate Plaza” and open since April 2007. It’s located in an old, formerly disused service tunnel close to London Bridge station and was designed by the “Side Effects Of Urethane” crew. ...

Somehow I missed the live art event, which took place in London several days ago. But of course I will still write something about it… “Live art” or “performance art” is where an artist creates a piece of art in front of audience. This experience gives the viewers some insight into the mind of an artist at work, which is not only exciting but thought provoking. StreetFest is the first and only live art street festival in UK. ...