Graffoto
Two weeks ago today I received a text message from the NHS telling me I had to isolate, though I had pretty much gone into a self imposed lockdown a week earlier when I returned from my Father’s funeral in Ireland. On a daily basis I have been digging through the photo archives and posting […]
Jace is a street artist who puts up charming and idiosyncratic sculptural faces on walls, usually not troubling wall owners with requests for permission. At the turn of the decade, three weeks ago, Jace revealed he had put up 253 faces in an impressive 47 cities in a staggering 21 countries. I can relate to […]
Christmas Day 10 years ago the notorious Robbo vs Banksy spat went to another level. Robbo, RIP, headed out very early Christmas morning, crossed the Regents Canal at Camden directly under British Transport Police HQ and painted the perfect riposte to Banksy’s Wallpaperer. 25th December 2019 KING ROBBO! Early that Christmas morning I noticed a […]
Banksy street art hidden for many years has been brought out of limbo in Shoreditch, visible at last to the millions of street art fans new to Banksy’s art since it last doused itself under East London rain. Two images, a huge rat and a TV being chucked rock star style out of a window […]
A new Banksy has appeared in London and locations do not get much more central than on the roundabout at Marble Arch! A young girl appears to have planted a new sapling and seems mark the species with a plant label stating through the extinction symbol that it is the Extinction Rebellion and like any […]
This evening the UK’s parliament voted to show that they had not changed their mind since December on a withdrawal agreement that hadn’t changed since December. This leaves the country up shit creek, a situation that hasn’t changed since, well, several years ago. Street artists have not been impressed with the political process over the […]
In a weekend when a lot of new street art appeared in Shoreditch one creation particularly stood out, the new “Wall Of Love” from the #NoHate family of street artists. This consists signature art from 355 artists rendered in a circular format under the slogans #StreetartAgainstHate #ToLiveAndLetLive . This London installation was put together by […]
Late last week whilst contemplating a new piece of graffiti on Great Eastern Street an amusing diversion arose as a small gaggle of folk rolled up with a pushbike laden with rolls of blue backed paste ups and proceeded to bish bosh a lot of gloopy paste onto virgin building site hoarding. “Here will do” […]
Shoreditch street art is a little bit different, in many ways and for many reasons, it just is. One aspect in which Shoreditch however may be a bit off the pace is the gargantuan mural. The social media feeds of many brilliant photographers of street art from around the world are full of truly epic […]
Scarfing a bit of impromptu graffiti hunting on to a week abroad with the family was never likely to prompt delirious enthusiasm on their part. On the coach trip from the airport to the hotel that was to be our compound for a week of what turned out to be fairly British weather, our coach […]
Meeting Of Styles Nomadic Community Gardens, Shoreditch 26 – 28th May 2018 At the end of May there is a Bank Holiday in the UK though really no one knows why or cares what for. This provides a marvellous opportunity for a huge array of spraypainting talent to gather in Shoreditch for a frenzy of […]
Scale is nothing important in street art, otherwise only the biggest murals would count. A few years back curiosity was stoked by bizarre little cement structures appearing on the streets. Someone on the London scene a bit smarter and better connected identified the artist as 3x3x3. 3x3x3 has a Flickr profile, 56 followers (!) and […]
One of the many justifications given by street artists for their wanton abuse of other people’s property is that it’s a response, a push back against the use of the public visual space to host corporate propaganda, known in the indoctrinating the masses trade as advertising. One of Graffoto’s favourite proponents of advertising resistance is […]
Do you recall broccoli panic gripping the nation in Spring 2017? Something to do with the weather led to crop failure in Spain which triggered a desperate broccoli shortage in England. It is not known if the Cobra committee met to discuss rationing. Waitrose steeled itself for riots and Fortnum and Masons dusted off the […]
Caution: regular readers may be shocked to find references to the real world in what follows. Since his street art first appeared on London’s walls in 2008, Ludo’s paste ups have been a frequent delight around London. His dark and occasionally surreal vision sees nature take up arms, what at first glimpse may look like […]