Street art running!

Thanks again to the 100 MC Aspiring Members group for the idea for this weeks running theme - graffiti! Luckily, east London is good for that, so it's been a good theme to have! And it's been so interesting to try to find out about all the pictures I often run past, although a little challenging, as street art changes so much!

27.02.2021 - 27 miles

Just a little bit of street art today, on the way to Hyde Park to do a marathon. This is just down the road, by Columbia Road (where the flower market is normally) and I think it is my favourite picture. It was painted in October last year, by artist Louis Masai, and is part of Project Pongo - a project to raise awareness of the orangutans in Borneo, whose habitats are threatened by palm oil plantations.

A little further on, on the Rich Mix arts centre on Bethnal Green Road is another artwork from the end of last year, called "200 Nationalities, One NHS", the largest mural in the UK to celebrate the work of the NHS (four stories high)! It is by artist ATMA, and Paint the Change, and has over 200 flowers that were designed by members of the public!

From here, we ran over to St James' Park, which was full of beautiful spring flowers.

Then up to Hyde Park, for four laps (and a spot of sunbathing).

Before heading back home, via a final piece of (relevant) graffiti! 

The route:

28.02.2021 - 10 km 

OK, big miles done, now time for serious art searching! I went on a street art walking tour with my Mum a few years back, and learnt about some of the artists who use the streets of Shoreditch as their canvas, so hunted down the ones I could remember. First up was Thierry Noir, who is considered to be the first artist to paint the Berlin Wall in the 80's (he painted over 6 km!) and is a forerunner of the street art movement. I love his giant brightly coloured figures. 

On the next street there are some beautiful paintings, one by Australian artist Aka Jimmy C.

 And another stunning mural, by Jim Vision.

There are a few of the next one, in this red and neon style, around the area, but I haven't worked out who the artist is yet.

There is so much street art around here, even the vans are painted if they stay still too long (easy to do during lockdown!)

Next it was down to the river, to the Millennium Bridge, which is where there is loads of work from the most random artist and the one I remember the most from the walking tour - Ben Wilson, AKA "chewing gum man"! There are hundreds of tiny paintings (each one about the size of a penny) all over the bridge, on discarded pieces of chewing gum. Early on, he got some unwanted attention from the authorities; but he argued, and won, that he is not defacing any property, the people that spat out the gum did that, he is simply recycling the waste and turning it into art. The one we saw on the walking tour a few years back was on Old Street roundabout, and I feel sad each time I walk past there now, and it's no longer there. I guess they only last so long with so many people walking over them. But here are a few from the bridge this morning!

I like this one near Liverpool Street station, as it is an accurate representation of how I feel before coffee. 

And this sparkly heart/ coffee pot combo, staying on the same theme.

This massive colourful mural is by MadC, a German graffiti artist, and she created it as part of the 2020 London Mural Festival.

And one final stop on the street art treasure hunt, by the artist Stik. His giant stick figures are all over east London, and I love them!

Art, sunshine, and running = a great combination!