Four weeks of Lockdown now, most sensible countries have extended their lockdown period for a few more weeks but don’t worry, the archive isn’t going to be running on fumes any time soon. The relationship between impact and size is not at all clear in street art. Isaac Cordal‘s forlorn concrete figures were found in […]
Category: Street Art
Diggin In The Archives 2
Another seven days of posting photos of street art dredged from the archives. In lockdown you have plenty of time with your thoughts and the wandering mind generates random recollections. Those which stand out lead to a photo being thrust into the limelight. So there was some kind of logical process behind the selection of […]
Digging In The Archives 1
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’s Small Faces
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 […]
As we slide through the holiday period, unsure of what day it is and absolutely no idea about the date, our only grasp on the sludge of events we are laying down and will call “history” is that something happened yesterday or 3 days ago, whatever day or date that was. The other evening we […]
At the beginning of the 2010 decade, a decade forever tainted by lack of a decent single word to define the period, the street art of Darius Downey, Ronzo and even the occasional Banksy sculpture (pickaxe phonebox) notwithstanding, there was not much sculptural street art to speak of. As a more benign accepting tolerance of […]
The second decade of the 21st century witnessed tumultuous political events. A web of local and international issues emerging from recent and historical influences with consequences for individuals and societal groupings have echoed in the street art spotted by Graffoto. Austerity, migration, foodbank poverty, ethnic oppression, democracy, corruption, patriarchy, nepotism, cronyism have all been the […]
A Decade On – King Robbo
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 […]
2010s A Decade Of Murals
Muralism is the painting of astounding pieces of street art on buildings, these days usually with permission. We’re talking daylight painting, accomplished artists and permission but not direct municipal involvement. In Shoreditch that’s generally how it operates. We are not talking about civic murals where artists pitch for council approval, arts council funding and perpetual […]
This month the 21st century ends its troublesome teenage years, the street art brat certainly matured and changed. In terms of becoming a phenomenon accepted by the public, the media and importantly the art market, the past decade actually makes up about half of street art’s life to date and Graffoto is delighted to have […]
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 […]
Brexit Street Art
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 […]
Street Art Against Hate
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” […]