Thursday, 28 August 2008
London Graffiti
Continuing the recent London Day Out posts, we next went to two different locations to admire street art in our capital city. The first of which was the Tate Modern, which was hosting the first exhibition of Street Art at a major art gallery. Six gigantic works of art were sprayed or pasted onto the front of the Tate Modern building, creating an incredible display. The artists involved are Blu from Bologna, Italy; the artist collective Faile from New York, USA; JR from Paris, France; Nunca and Os Gêmeos, both from São Paulo, Brazil and Sixeart from Barcelona, Spain.
As part of the exhibition, a tour was also orchestrated nearby to showcase other pieces of street art. Jon and I didn't have time for this, however, and instead made our way to Leake Street near Waterloo Station. This was apparently the site of an exhibition organised by the famous British graffiti artist, Banksy, which he called The Cans Festival. It took place from 3-5 May, 2008, and thirty-nine artists from around the world were invited to take part.
Well, the quantity of art on display there is just phenomenal, and the quality is equally impressive! For a sample of what you can see here, check out Jon's London Graffiti Flickr set. We spent quite a long time there, admiring the art and taking lots of photos. :)
There are several other graffiti tours around London, which we might do next time we're in that part of the country. Now, I know that some people find graffiti a nuisance, and it can be especially annoying if it is on your property. But there is a difference between simply spraying your tag all over the place and actual street art. Street art can make an ugly wall look amazing, whereas tagging usually just adds to the ugliness. I highly recommend checking out Leake Street tunnel, it's fantastic.
Tomorrow, the final post in this London Day Out series will tell you all about our dinner in The Diner on Ganton Street in Soho.
