Inspiring City @inspiringcityuk - Tumblr Blog

Banksy's Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem

Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem

The first thing you notice is the wall! Long, grey and snaking over the hills. This is the sight which confronts any visitor driving from Jerusalem in Israel to Bethlehem in the Palestinian authority controlled West Bank. As imposing structures go, it’s an arresting site and this is where we are heading. To see Banksy’s ‘Walled Off Hotel’.

The Bristolian artist is well known in the area. He’s…

View On WordPress

The Street Art Murals of West Didsbury

It’s not the most obvious place that you might think of to find street art. But West Didsbury in Manchester is a place which has a number of impressive murals dotted around its streets.

Most of the works have been commissioned by the Matthew Ludlam Foundation. A charity formed to promote projects involving young people. With themes along the lines of urban form, design, street art, culture,…

View On WordPress

The Art of the Treatment Rooms Collective

The Art of The Treatment Rooms Collective

The Treatment Rooms is a collective based in West London. Unofficially centered around the home of Carrie Reichardt. The house is itself a dramatic piece of urban art. All of Carrie’s home is covered is mosaic, quite a sight on a suburban street in Chiswick. A number of artists have come and gone as part of the collective over the years. Primarily…

View On WordPress

The Banksy Articles

The Banksy Articles - A selection of articles written about the worlds most famous street artist

Banksy is the phenomenon that keeps giving. Almost guaranteed to raise a wry smile every time his latest piece hits the papers. He is, by some way, the worlds most famous street artist. We’ve written a number of features covering the work of Banksy and yes, of course, we’ve also indulged in some idle speculation. But then who hasn’t? Here are some of the articles we’ve written over the years…

View On WordPress

Discovering the Bow Palace site of the Great Suffrage Demonstration

On 24 November 1912 Sylvia Pankhurst and George Lansbury held what was described as a ‘Great Suffrage Demonstration’ at Bow in the heart of the East End. A poster at the time advertised the event. Purple, Green and White it described it as a ‘Fight To Win’ and it was to be at the grandly named Bow Palace!

Part of the by-election campaign for the seat of Bow and Bromley, Lansbury had forced the…

View On WordPress

Woskerski paints portrait of Marie Mcleod from 'Depression Changes Minds' at the Jealous Gallery

Woskerski paints portrait of Marie Mcleod from ‘Depression Changes Minds’ at the Jealous Gallery

Well known for his expressive portraits popping out of the walls of London. Woskerksi’s latest work features Marie Mcleod, a campaigner on Mental Health issues and subject of his latest work on the top of the Jealous Gallery rooftop in Shoreditch.

Part of a campaign from ‘Trapped in Zone One‘. Marie’s work with ‘Depression Changes Minds‘ is about going into the community and working with…

View On WordPress

Mark Vessey the Photographer Bringing Collections to Life

Mark Vessey is an artist who has made his name photographing collections! Often filled with nostalgia, he tends to print them big. Statement pieces that draw attention to the subject matter. These are collections with meaning, each telling their own story. the contents of the image often battered with age and worn to the years.

His latest piece features the work of Norman Cook. Better known to…

View On WordPress

An abandoned building in Warsaw has been covered in aluminium foil! Specially designed for the inhabitants of the Praga North district by Polish artist Piotr Janowski it covers the building from head to toe.

Completely covering an old tenement building dating from 1870, the area is full of history and the piece itself is meant to draw attention to that. “I believe that my aluminum installation will, for a moment, turn into a symbolic silver bridge” says Janowski. “Which will combine the dreams of the pre-war past and then the dramatic years of the city’s inhabitants during the occupation with the contemporary positive changes that are taking place so definitely in this fascinating Warsaw district.”

The tenement building in the Praga North district of Warsaw, entirely covered in aluminium

REFLECTING THE CHANGING CITY

The area itself has of course experienced major change. Warsaw is transformed and it’s journey has been a huge one. Much of the city was destroyed during the Second World War. It didn’t fare much better during the years of communism when attention to detail was not given to architectural design. Now in later years, the city has evolved into a modern metropolis, it’s been quite a transformation.

“I think that this is an ideal and unique time to adapt one of the abandoned buildings for this project and symbolically make its destroyed beauty reborn” says Piotr. The aluminium reveals the architectural beauty of the building. It’s shabby walls, full of wounds and scars are wrapped in foil. Symbolizing change and development it actually ends up revealing through the process of concealing.

The installation can be found at Ząbkowska 9

The aluminium reveals the scars and the brickwork of the building

Passers by are reflected onto its surface

INSTALLATIONS WITH ALUMINIUM

Janowski is well known for his installations with aluminium. In 2015 he made headlines after covering every square inch of his bungalow and driveway with foil. Not only that but he covered the palm trees on the surrounding land too. That was in Tarpon Springs, Florida and it had quite an impact.

Changing urban spaces is really at the heart of Janowski’s work. The new aluminium relief of the facade of the building reflects the changing light and the silhouettes of the people passing by. The whole texture of the building changes and surprises with its subtlety. This is about seeing the city in a different light. Linking one era to another and reflecting the change that this historic city has been through.

The installation called ‘Zabkowska 9, Take off’ was designed by artist Piotr Janowski and installed in November 2018. All images in this post are courtesy of the artist. For more recent posts featuring the work of international artists check out these posts featuring Leon Keer in France and the work of Hungarian artists IamSuzie and Cokestd in London.

ALUMINIUM BUILDING GALLERY

Visitors taking pictures of the aluminium building in Warsaw

The aluminium reveals the marks of the building

The building on Ząbkowska 9 in Warsaw

Artist covers Abandoned Building in Warsaw with Aluminium Foil An abandoned building in Warsaw has been covered in aluminium foil! Specially designed for the inhabitants of the Praga North district by Polish artist…

A limited edition print from LAPIZ will be released to coincide with World Aids Day on 1st December 2018 aiming to raise money for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town.

The image, first pasted up onto a wall on Dunedin in New Zealand in 2008, has been one which the artist has been creating each World Aids Day for the past 10 years. Painted or pasted up in various guises, the image called ‘Love All – Trust No One’ shows a couple kissing against the backdrop of a long row of graves over which is laid a red ribbon.

‘Love All – Trust No One’ by Lapiz

Each print is signed with a run of 100

“Before my life as a street artist I was a scientist researching the development of vaccines” he told Inspiring City. From South Africa originally he was working at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital there as part of his work around trying to find a cure for the virus. “The experiences that I made while living and working in South Africa fundamentally changed who I was as a person and what was important in life” he said.

Eventually resulting in a moving away from his scientific career some years later LAPIZ instead decided to pursue a new way of life as a street artist. Working with big stencils his intention would be to use the medium to push what he describes as socio-critical ideas. Moving to New Zealand, it was the sharp contrast he saw in living conditions that would produce the impetus needed initially to start pasting socio-critical paste ups on the street.

Now living in Germany, LAPIZ has painted all over the World including at festivals such as Meeting of Styles, IBug and Upfest. Preferring to paint on a large scale he believes that if you have something to say you should do so loud and address as many people as possible. “This might not result in something that makes you smile” he says “but at least it will make you think.”

ABOUT THE PRINT – ‘LOVE ALL – TRUST NO ONE’

Called ‘Love All – Trust Non One’ the print from LAPIZ is a two colour (black and red) risograph measuring 42 x 30 cm. Each print is signed, numbered and limited to 100 copies with 3 artist proofs. The cost of each print is 30 euros and all sales proceeds benefit the Children’s Hospital Trust. A non-profit organisation collecting funds for the Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town South Africa. The print will be released at World Aids Day 2018 (1st of December).

The original paste up from LAPIZ which was first created in Dunedin, New Zealand in 2008

LAPIZ launches print for World Aids Day ‘Love All – Trust No One’ A limited edition print from LAPIZ will be released to coincide with World Aids Day on 1st December 2018 aiming to raise money for the…

#world aids day

We are back in Blackburn! The northern former mill town which this year celebrated it’s third Open Walls festival. It’s an event which has left it’s mark on the area and which has attracted artists from around the world to paint on its walls.

Alexandra Gallagher has offered to show us around. She’s from Bury originally but has lived in the town for years. A fine artist, this is where her studio is with her detailed and delicate work sought after in galleries across the UK. More recently she has been creating work using digital images to make into exquisite collages.

Alexandra Gallagher at her studio in Blackburn

ART RELATED NONSENSE

A veteran now of all three iterations of the Blackburn Open Walls festival. The expansion of street art into her town has also helped her to expand her craft. Twice experimenting with large scale paste ups in key locations for the first two festivals. For the 2018 version she thought she’d paint a full on mural. Her first actual street painting.

The reason we are meeting though is partly to see the art but really to record a podcast episode with her. Featuring as part of our ‘Art Related Nonsense‘ series with Art Republic, the gallery in Brighton. It’s not exactly close to Blackburn where we are now, but they sell a lot of Alexandra’s work and the podcast is meant to bridge the gap. To make a connection between people who might see and buy the work and the artist themselves.

Alexandra Gallagher by her latest street art piece. Created as part of the 2018 Blackburn Open Walls festival

STREET ART IN BLACKBURN

Her foray into the world of street art has been fortuitous. It’s not everyday a major street art festival establishes itself in your town. The mastermind behind it, Hayley Welsh, is another Blackburn artist and she has been the driving force. Gathering combinations of local, national and international artists to take part. The two hadn’t met before the festival took off but now they know each other well and work together to make it a reality.

She is showing us around the town. Now there are over 30 murals to see and realistically we would never be able to get around to them all. She seems proud that the murals seem to be starting conversations within Blackburn. They stimulate thought and become meeting places she tells me. “They become focal points to the town” Alexandra tells me, “people start to cherish them.”

Collages by Alexandra Gallagher on the side of Graham & Brown created as part of the 2017 Blackburn Open Walls

BLACKBURN’S FAVOURITE MURAL

The first mural she shows me is from Phlegm. The big name artist from Sheffield, his illustrative style in which he creates a whole new world is hugely popular. It was recently voted Blackburn’s favourite mural Alexandra tells me proudly. Depicting a fantasy creature sitting at a loom, the image is clearly a nod to Blackburn’s historic past as a cotton weaving town.

Just around the corner is a piece from Hayley Welsh. The Blackburn local, who actually lives now in Australia but travels back to make the festival happen. She has created a work based on the cute little creatures she paints. Creatures that are meant to be representative of the thoughts in your head. Look around the town and there are plenty other murals from Hayley, all giving their own little messages.

Sheffield based artist Phlegm is well known for his black and white illustrative style.

‘This Moment is your Life’ the latest mural from Hayley Welsh in Blackburn

BRINGING STREET ART TO THE TOWN

“It’s one of my favourite views in the town” says Alexandra as we look at Hayley’s cute creatures and up towards the work by Phlegm a little bit further up. Nearby we get to see other works from artists such as Case Maclaim, Mr Christa, Curtis Hylton, AddFuel and of course more from Alexandra herself.

The murals are helping to rejuvenate the town she tells me. Blackburn is an area which has suffered more than most following the economic crash which begun in 2008. The Open Walls Festival she says is a way of bringing culture into the heart of the town. She has seen how street art has helped to bring life to other places and already she notes how the people in the town seem to appreciate the work and take care of it.

Alexandra Gallagher pictured during the 2017 festival

But it’s not just benefiting the culture of the town. Street art can also bring attention to the town’s heritage Alexandra tells me. “I think that’s one thing that the street art does do. It makes people look at the town and the architecture and the buildings in a different way. Because we actually do have some amazingly beautiful Victorian buildings but we don’t really look at them above the shop fronts.”

“It took me about a week and a half” she tells me when I ask about the street piece she created for the 2018 festival. Her first foray to actually painting onto the street. It’s a giant mural featuring two cranes crying out against the backdrop of golden spheres and flowers. Ambitious for sure considering the fact that all her previous work is really studio based. “I loved the challenge of it” she tells me “I just love the challenge of doing new things.”

Alexandra Gallagher was interviewed on 5 August 2018 in Blackburn as part of our Art Related Nonsense podcast series with the Art Republic Gallery in Brighton. The podcast was released on 8 November 2018 and you can get the podcast now on itunes or android.

ALEXANDRA GALLAGHER AND BLACKBURN OPEN WALLS GALLERY

Alexandra Gallagher in her studio in Blackburn

The full wall from the 2018 Blackburn Open Walls festival by Alexandra Gallagher

Detail from the 2018 mural from Alexandra Gallagher

One of the giant paste ups created by Alexandra Gallagher as part of the 2016 Blackburn Open Walls festival

The paste ups from 2016 can be seen on the side of a shopping centre in the town

Giant works from Alexandra Gallagher on the side of a factory for the 2017 festival

Alexandra Gallagher Shows us around the Street Art of Blackburn We are back in Blackburn! The northern former mill town which this year celebrated it's third…

A couple of murals painted as part of the 2018 Coastal Currents Festival have appeared in Hastings. ATM famous for his birds and REQ known for figurative paintings of his muse Smudge both painted pieces in the town.

The month long series of events took place in September. Funded with a combination of money from the Arts Council, Hastings Council and the East Sussex Arts Partnership. This was about bringing a celebration of art into the area.

‘Smudge’ emerging from the sea. Painted by REQ in Hastings on the Queens Road

SMUDGE BY REQ

Both artists we know well and we’ve featured their work a number of times on the blog. Most recently REQ, from Brighton, showed us around his home town and we recorded a podcast interview with him. His work can be seen all over Brighton so branching out along the south coast was something he was looking forward to.

The piece created in Hastings stands in the car park of the local Morrisons and overlooks the Queens Road. Covering the entirety of a gable end of houses, it features his muse who he calls ‘Smudge’. All of his work whether on the street or in the studio is inspired by her. A graffiti artist in a former life, he was always a fine art painter at heart yet now his work will often combine both elements.

For the Coastal Currents festival, he told me that he wanted to create an image that showed Smudge rising majestically out of the sea. Looking at it now, you can see that he achieved it. Featuring a turquoise blue ocean, it is indeed as if she has emerged from it. Whether this is meant to be the sea off the coast of Hastings is another matter.

Black Redstart by ATM in Hastings

Black Redstart in Flight by ATM in Hastings

BLACK REDSTARTS BY ATM

The work from ATM meanwhile can be found on the shelter of West Hill Park. With a beautiful elevated view his birds overlook the town and out over the sea. He is well known for his fine art paintings which are often of local species or at least species with a connection with an area.

For Hastings he painted a pair of Black Redstarts, several pairs of which nest on the cliffs nearby. The birds are however in danger and in severe decline reduced to just 100 nesting pairs in the whole of the UK. Part of a much wider conservation issue, the birds are included on the RSPB’s red list. It means that they are the highest risk in terms of continued decline.

It certainly fits ATM’s M.O. Using his art to campaign on environmental issues he will make connections with the community that he is painting in. The fact that there are nesting pairs living nearby of what is a threatened species will have been a major factor in his decision to paint them. The hope being that the local communities awareness will then be raised.

Black Redstarts in the West Hill Shelter by ATM

Hastings is certainly an artistic town. Full of independent shops and a lovely little old town, it overlooks a shingle beach and boasts an impressive fishing fleet. We’d only ever visited once before. Heading down there earlier in the year we went to interview our friend Sam Peacock who was so inspired by the area that he moved down.

The murals were only a small part of the festival though and in Hastings and the surrounding areas, a number of arty type activities took place. Let’s hope that if it happens again in 2019 we get a few more decent walls to bring street art into the heart of the town.

The Coastal Currents Festival took place between 1-30 September 2018 in Hastings. We visited on 17 November 2018 and all pictures were taken on the day.

COASTAL CURRENTS FESTIVAL GALLERY

Smudge overlooking the Morrisons car park in Hastings

REQ’s work is inspired by the image of his muse who he calls ‘Smudge’

Black Redstarts painted by ATM are an endangered species

ATM is known for his intricate paintings of birds

REQ and ATM paint murals in Hastings as part of the 2018 Coastal Currents Festival A couple of murals painted as part of the 2018 Coastal Currents Festival have appeared in Hastings.

Anamorphic and Augmented Reality Mural from Leon Keer and Massina appears in France

Dutch artist Leon Keer is known for his incredible anamorphic murals which, when viewed from a certain angle, blend into the environment they are painted into. Now though, painting with Massina, he has taken the anamorphic concept and used augmented reality as a means to bring the art even more to life.

Painted in as part of the Vibrations Urbaines festivalin Pessac, France the murals shows the…

View On WordPress

Tribute Mural to the Famous Hungarian Novel 'The Paul Street Boys' appears in Bloomsbury

Tribute Mural to the Famous Hungarian Novel ‘The Paul Street Boys’ appears in Bloomsbury

A new mural paying tribute to Hungarian writer Ferenc Molnar’s classic novel ‘The Paul Street Boys‘ has taken shape in a playground in Bloomsbury.

Invited to paint the piece by the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London. The two artists Iamsuzie & Cokestd created their interpretation of it on a derelict wall inside the Alf Barrett Playground on Old Gloucester Street.

The Paul Street Boys mural in…

View On WordPress

Joseph Loughborough is, he says, an artist who is influenced by the human form and condition. It’s something you can sense when looking at his work. A kind of abstract portraiture!

His latest show in Brighton’s famous ‘Art of Treason‘ gallery is his eighth solo outing having previously showcased in London, Antwerp, France, Berlin, London and California. It’s in the gallery that we are meeting now yet it’s the first time I’ve really managed to see his work up close.

Portrait by Joseph Loughborough

Painting by Joseph Loughborough

Originally from Portsmouth he has moved around! Living in Brighton, London, Paris and most recently Berlin. That’s where he’s been for the past six years prior to returning back to London a few months ago. It was an “awesome place to live” he tells me although he says he had only planned to stay there for a year. Somehow he says, that turned into another five. “The art scene to live as an artist is amazing! So many creative people buzzing about.”

I ask him about the influence of his home city! Portsmouth he says “is filled with so many fascinating old creeks and boatyards. The decaying ramshackle nature of these places has defiantly bled its way into the work I make. The derelict navel housing estates in the surrounding towns have also always been a source of inspiration and nostalgia.”

Joseph’s figurative work inspired by the decaying shipyards of Portsmouth

OF RUST

It’s this influence which has seeped into his current work. Entitled ‘Of Rust’, the show he tells me was based around “personifications of old rusting merchant vessels sinking into the mud of Portsmouth harbour.” Looking at his work I wouldn’t perhaps have made the connection. But then looking again at the figurative representations he has portrayed perhaps there is something there.

“I always work well working in a series” he tells me. “When one is created it begets another exploring a different facet of the same aesthetic. To create a show like this I find something new that I like and roll with it.”

Joseph Loughborough was interviewed over email on 9 October 2018. His exhibition ‘Of Rust’ showcased at the Art of Treason Gallery in Brighton from 5-19 October 2018. You can follow Joseph’s work by checking out his instagram here or his sketchbook blog here.

JOSEPH LOUGHBOROUGH PHOTO GALLERY

Joseph Loughborough Abstract nude

Joseph Loughborough Exhibition at the Art of Treason Gallery

Abstract portrait by Joseph Loughborough

Joseph Loughborough work in the Art of Treason Gallery

We meet Joseph Loughborough at his latest exhibition ‘Of Rust’ in Brighton Joseph Loughborough is, he says, an artist who is influenced by the human form and condition. It's something you can sense when looking at his work.

Brighton Graffiti and Street Artists to look out for in the city

We’ve been spending a bit of time recently in Brighton. That creative city by the sea it’s only a short train ride from London. It’s a place where the energy hits you as soon as you get off at the station.

In particular we’ve been working with Art Republic which is based down there on Bond Street. With them we’ve been putting together a series of podcasts called ‘Art Related Nonsense‘ which is…

View On WordPress

Andrea Tyrimos portrait raises awareness of Mental Health at the Roy's People Art Fair

Andrea Tyrimos portrait raises awareness of Mental Health at the Roy’s People Art Fair

A portrait of Catherine, a woman who managed to transform her life with the support of homeless charity Centrepoint is one of the key exhibits at the Roy’s Peoples Art Fair.

Painted by artist Andrea Tyrimos, the portrait is a continuation of her own campaign to raise awareness of Mental Health issues. Known for her ‘Bipolar Picasso‘ series, Tyrimos explores mental health through her art. Not only…

View On WordPress

My Dog Sighs Interactive Art on Show at the Roy's Peoples Art Fair

My Dog Sighs Interactive Art on Show at the Roy’s Peoples Art Fair

My Dog Sighs, the popular street artist from Southsea has a new installation at the Roy’s Peoples Art Fair in the Oxo Tower Bargehouse Gallery.

Featuring one of his trademark giant eyes, the artist is well known for trying to put the public at the heart of his art. His Free Art Friday’s for example caught the imagination by placing art in communities for people to find and enjoy. It’s an idea…

View On WordPress

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Inspiring City