The disappointing disappearance of street art in London

Twat - Shoreditch

Banksy - Faringdon

After strolling around the streets of London this week hoping to photograph some fresh street art I was disappointed to discover a distinct absence of artwork. The usual haunts of Shoreditch, Soho and Brick Lane seemed to be lacking in the usual abundance of stencils and paste-ups. Found a few new Invader mosaics and a Banksy rat in Faringdon, but not much of anything else. Also a lot of the areas around Rivingdon Street were freshly white walled. I hope this can only mean a fresh canvas for London's urban escapaders...

Faile for sale

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After having my fancy tickled by the recent Faile exhibition in London, I jumped online to see where one could view/purchase some of the collectives pieces. The Belgrave Gallery in St. Ives seems to be the place, and they're currently running an excellent exhibition of street art too. They also have a pretty impressive collection of works inc. Banksy, Eine, Blek Le Rat, Cyclops, Shepard Fairey, Adam Neate, Nick Walker and D'Face.

www.belgravegallery.com

The day Mereana met the queen

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Key: ELIZABETH RICHIE MEREANA PHILLIP

The royals came to meet the All Blacks and inspect The Rugby Ball, the giant expo centre that has been erected in London to promote The 2011 Rugby World Cup and New Zealand tourism.

With a large media throng assembled an hour and half before the Queen's arrival, and the All Blacks taking up their position about an hour later, standing in formation three-deep outside the ball, they copped a decent blast off the Thames. Officially the temperature was two degrees but the wind-chill factor had to be much lower.

The Queen and Duke arrived to be met by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, All Blacks captain McCaw and a Maori welcome by Mereana & Precious. This time Mereana actually got to shake hands with the Queen, and spent a good old time nattering with the Duke.

I was standing about 6m away from the Queen when she got out of her car and walked toward the welcoming committee. She seemed tiny, and was dwarfed by the ABs. Sorry, my camera has crapped itself, so these are screen grabs from the video.

Adam Neate 1000 piece free art for all

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“Art worth an estimated £1m is being given away by one of the world’s leading street artists, Adam Neate, in an exhibition that will see 1,000 pieces deposited across the capital and left for whoever wishes to take them.”

I couldn't quite believe it at first, but it seems to be for real, and I expect a fair few people are going to be taking the day off this Friday on the hunt for one of his works.

The drops will be made this Friday, 14th Nov according to the paper, and they’re stating that they will be all over London:

“The action will begin before dawn, when helpers will begin distributing the hand-painted pieces on the outskirts of the city, moving inwards towards the city centre as the day goes on. While some will be left at famous landmarks around the capital many pieces will be placed in less salubrious areas of the city – both Lambeth and Hackney will be decorated.”

Post drop: Well, I wasn't lucky enough to fall over one, but I see the pieces are going on Ebay for up to 400 pounds already. Lordy - what a giveaway eh...

Faile exhibition in a abandoned school in Vauxhall

Faile collective was working on something a little different for their show in London. They took over an abandoned schoolhouse in Vauxhall for a ten-day project. Their show, entitled 'Lost the Glimmering Shadows' incorporated some Native American imagery along with their distinctive torn poster look. the first set of images show them hard at work…

More photography - Bjorn Giesbrecht

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While I'm still on the photography tip, here's another one worth checking out. Bjorn Giesbrecht is based in Dusseldorf, and unless you agency/client has an utter shit-load of dosh you won't get the opportunity of art directing him on your dream job shoot. He's just put up a bunch of new work, and has a new (and very beautiful) website as well.

www.bjoerngiesbrecht.de

Eric Traore - Professional photographer

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Ok, so I've been neglecting the street art thing of late, but work gets in the way of fun so... but on the plus side, while creating mood boards for some clients lately, I've come across some pretty fantastic photographers. Eric Traore is a photographer who deals mainly in the fashion & beauty fields, and works between NY and Europe. He has worked for some of the best clients and agencies in the world, and you can see why.

Check out his work on: www.eric-traore.com

Underworld @ Brixton academy

Saturday night saw a group of us head down to the Brixton Academy for the second night of their sell-out gig. Great time had by all. Fantastic set and up for it crowd made for a very special time.

All the sets for this tour have been recorded and are available
through their website.

www.underworldlive.com

Tough job but somebody has to do it...

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Photographer Elias Tahan hets to take photos of some of the most ridiculously attractive women in the world... What a trooper.

These photos just a snippet from his bulging portfolio. It's not hard to make models look good in photos, but his B&W pictures are really stunning.

See his work at www.eliastahan.com.

Mona Hatoum Exhibition

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Came across an interesting artist during the week. Mona Hatoum has been exhibiting in various forms since the late 70's, but has got quite a bit more experimental in recent years, including this installation that transforms during the course of the exhibition. Nice conceptual stuff...