Cept, Sweet Toof – Backyard Colouring

all photos: NoLionsInEngland

Graffoto went out hunting Swoons yesterday lunchtime, Boris Bikes for transport, cameras for the kill, separating and meeting again to cover more of the East London concrete jungle. Diddley squat, nada, nothing new, just the three recent pieces already located.

However, at the last rendezvous HowAboutNo excitedly reported that a known Burning Candy wall had been updated and the pelmet over a nearby raised shutter showed evidence of a new CEPT. Howaboutno being the less thick element of Graffoto came up with the genius suggestion that NoLions might find both the shutter down AND no parked cars blocking the garage wall if he swung past on his bike first thing in the morning.

Old – Before Colouring

And so it came to pass, there were no cars and shutters were down.

Cept, Sweet Toof

The CEPT lady is absolutely stunning, and borrows from the Black and white illusions CEPT has created in the past and a face portrait seen previously on CEPT prints (www.spradio.com – “Fly Wonder”).

CEPT has even painted the lamppost and the weird booby trapped water butt thing, though I found the optimum viewing point a little low giving a poor overall perspective. Doh.

The characters on the right are all by Sweet Toof.

Sweet Toof

The shutter nearby continues a long Cept saga of ambiguous loves won and loves lost.

CEPT

Then exploring a nearby rarely travelled lane we spotted the tips of an instantly recognisable CEPT painting and a pair of Sweet Toof teef opposite. A peep through a tiny hole confirmed a hidden secret graff art treasure trove.

Returning at lunchtime, the challenge was to find out which property the yard belonged to and could we get in. The people behind the new CEPT shutter said they could see it but it wasn’t theirs, they directed us around the corner. We pressed voice entry phone buzzers, CCTV cameras swivelled but no one answered (chiselled features, statuesque physiques and a tendency to be found at crime scenes leads to Graffoto often being accused of being five-oh). On a hunch we skirted round the whole block and came across a previously un-known art gallery. On the pretext of admiring the art, we tried the back door and it gave out onto the holy grail.

Sweet Toof

Hopefully this link might allow you see see this image LARGE(ER) (pls email if it doesn’t work because I prob would need to tweak “rights”)

Arch 402 is brand new, only opened last night. The gallerists know nothing about street art or graffiti and had actually been asked if they were going to “deal” with the growing amounts around the Cramer St garage. They enquired at the garage who the artists were, and let the garage mechanics know they liked the stuff on the walls and wanted more of it. Well and truly dealt with then.

CEPT

Those garage mechanics have previously featured in Graffoto reports for their resistance against the council who issued a written demand to remove the graffiti on the walls. So, a few days later, presumably about the time Sweet Toof and Cept went back to the garage wall, the gallery found it was now the proud host of one of the most stunning Sweet Toof/Cept collabs ever.

The interesting question arises – with 8 characters on the truck and one horse, which of the 9 strong Burning Candy crew is the mule and which one is the driver?

Name That Crew Member

If you travel the new East London line you are assailed by throws and pieces by Burning Candy types in the few hundred yards just south of Hoxton station, Mighty Mo and Gold Peg have running riot across the roof tops eye level with the trains whilst these two spectacular sites are immediately opposite eachother either side of the track.

Any number of street art gallerists would give their right one to have a private mural of this calibre on their walls. Arch 402’s parting question to us: “are they any good?”!!!

Sweet Toof

There you have it, Graffoto shares another lunch break with the World and Sweet Toof and Cept get a mention as well. Big Celebrations.

(ps – the bit about often being asked/accused of being cops is true – thing is, when someone wanders up to someone taking photos on skanky back lanes and says “are you a cop?” what happens next if the answer really is “yes”? The other one, really flattering…”are you a photographer?”]