LondonistHighlights Of 1,000 Murals Organised By Global Street ArtThis mural by Cept is one of the few that survives in the Leonard Street site near the former Griffin pub. 1875-80 Leonard Street. This space had huge walls and easy access -- GSA only got permission because it was an interim site destined for development. It was a great site as sites go and as great sites go, it's gone.Above came to London and local housing association Poplar HARCA helped GSA get permission to paint 49 shutters over 20 shops. Above, with a little help from friends, painted the lot in a weekend. The Chrisp Street Market looks that bit nicer at night as a result. This was the flagship mural at the recent Brockley Street Art Festival. Artist Dale Grimshaw had broken his foot so was wearing a moonboot yet persevered to produce this amazing mural, replacing a Bob Marley mural that was lost in Brockley a few years ago having stood, in one form or another, for around 40 years prior. Photo by Nelly Balazs.Another mural from the Brockley Street Art Festival -- this one by Dan Kitchener. This wall, near Shoreditch Overground station is not owned by Network Rail or the local council GSA learned after long conversations with police and an over zealous council enforcement officer a few months ago. When the council and police step in and start arresting or fining people it tends to drive out the better art because the only remaining options are quicker illegal pieces. This piece, by artists Gary and Lilly Lou has stood now for a couple of months and it’s a belter.This mural by Hannah Adamaszek & GZ lasted only a day or two before it was defaced. Such is the nature of painting outside – most artists are quite zen about it. It helps to be that way because it’s going to happen anyway. Photo by Monoprixx. Jason Botkin from Canada has an unusual style – this was hidden on Blackall Street (a small alleyway) and ran for a couple of months earlier this year. Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada paints ochre-shaded portraits on a huge scale, using satellite technology, earth movers, etc. This is a relatively small wall at the Bussey Building in Peckham and shows one of the young children that regularly play in the car park. A piece by Brazilian artist Mateus Bailon from the street art festival GSA held in Sydenham a couple of years ago. This is a controversial mural by New York-based artist Never because it’s quite sad. Public art doesn’t need to be shiny and happy all the time, otherwise it becomes sanitised and obnoxious. This piece by Nils Westergaard was clever but probably lasted a day only before it started getting tagged heavily. There was too much white space left over for it not to be defaced eventually. The first big piece GSA ever organised is still there. Phlegm painted this over three days to work with the wall features.This recent mural by Italian artist Pixel Pancho was funded by a National Lottery grant (which GSA got with the Forest Recycling Project). This was the first of nine murals to be painted by GSA using lottery funding this year.This second GSA mural funded by the lottery grant is in Cambridge Heath. It was painted by 12 artists from four countries over four days. This is a fun piece by Hong Kong artist Roes.This piece by Australian artist Mik Shida is at a site in Hackney Wick.
It’s been three years since Global Street Art (GSA) started and already it has organised 1,000 murals painted by hundreds of artists across London and beyond — in fact the organisation has been responsible for over half of the murals in the Brick Lane area since 2012.
GSA's CEO and co-founder Lee Bofkin tells Londonist: "When we started there was no plan, just a notion of wanting to support art and artists, which is still very much at the heart of what we do. Most days someone is out painting a space we look after — think of it more as gardening than curating."
That same spirit was especially evident at the recent Brockley Street Art Festival, which came about through support from Londonist and Brockley organisations.
Bofkin adds: "We don’t mark the walls we look after so walking around the streets of east London you might not know how facilitators like us work with artists but it’s a story with good lessons. The notion is that street art doesn’t need anyone like us — it doesn’t need anything. It’s a culture that self-sustains because artists want to paint and will find their own walls. However, when you make it easier for artists to go out and do what they do best the city benefits because there’s more art."
In the gallery above, Bofkin takes us through some of his favourite murals from the last three years.
