STREET ART PhotoGraphy - Brick Lane East London (Photo Essay)

Street Art

As part of a new series of street art photography from East London here is a second set of images with accompanying thoughts. This time the themes become darker, more serious with a taste of horror in certain corners of dark wall space. Spraychild zombie-esque prints sit alongside hybrid incarnations of cartoon characters by pysco and Basquiat influenced characters painted in a wild scrawling style.

Layers

There are many layers of work to be discovered with poster art replaced over the top of existing work and torn corners revealing snippets of previous exhibitions. In certain parts of the walls, stickers and work sensitively sit along side each other in a neatly arranged natural order. In other more exposed positions, work competes for the viewers attention by aggressive placement over existing work.

Escalation of Stakes

It's an arms race of weird and wonderful with more and more surreal and horrifying imagery reflecting the increasing competition to be noticed but also of a dark undercurrent lurking in the subterranean avenues of UK subculture. Alienation is a common theme as are more traditional pastiche of pop iconography from Doctor Spock to Tom & Jerry.

Collaged Walls

The walls themselves become interesting as the spaces between the art and the previous layers begin to create it's own syntax of grime and colour, spray and sticker. The walls begin to resemble the work of artists Jacques Villeglé who working in the 1940's began to recreate ripped & torn posters as originals. I have long been interested in the results of this form of natural abstraction which creates a new world in negative space.