Across The Tracks and Through The Looking Glass

I was invited in to paint a small piece of this monster wall by Aks, graffiti artist and the events

co-ordinator. Situated between Shoreditch high street and Brick Lane and opposite the new Chrome and Black shop with the Rarekind Gallery downstairs, this is London’s graffiti central. In the next street is Sclater Street Hall of Fame.

This is now East London’s most visible and longest graffiti wall and is at the heart of the most graffitied area in the country. The wall is a youth project organised by Richmix for young people to learn graffiti with experts and professionals such as the legendary Prime, a face I Iast saw at the Covent Garden ‘writers bench’ in around ‘89.

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‘Covent’ or ‘The Bench’ was the Saturday spot where graffiti writers and b-boys from all over came to hang out, plan missions, sign each others black books and show outlines and photos. I never painted with him before but from seeing his work I always regarded him very highly among the kings of piecing from the eighties and early nineties along with Fuel, Scam, Foam, Cazbee and Kast. To watch Prime paint today it confirms my suspicions, he’s sure as hell still got the magic, as you will see.

Prime and Aks both did huge walls along with Gee-U, Kade and Pie doing pieces and characters with help and input from the young people and other local writers. I did a small piece with a background and character around a character by Mark, one of the young people from the project.

First sunny graff of the year… ELATE!!!

This is the space I was given to work with.

Gee-U working up his outline in the green and my silhouette against pink is taking shape..

Andrew from Spain has another similar piece just off the Osborne Street end of Brick Lane, go and hunt…

“Imajin if Drawing Was Life” it says…

You have to have been into graffiti for a long time to appreciate who this guy is… PRIME from the Golden Age of UK Graffiti.

The master from the eighties shows the new school a future, when the fizz goes from the froth of the ‘urban/ street art’ scene there will still be our movement, always mutating and pushing the limits.

(Big hint- It’s all in the clouds)

ARKADE’s magical colour palate…

demonstrates a cut and fade contrast masterclass heralded by a tuff character by Zomby.

.

Aks pulling it all together with an outline…

Mark, a young person participating from the Richmix project outlines his character.

It just goes to show…

…the sky really is the limit.

Prime outline © PRIME 2009

No Adobe Illustrator or stencils here-  take note!!! Strictly blood, sweat and tears for years and years.

Space with Slash character by Vapor.

Richmix Unity.

My effort (as yet unfinished) from the bus stop opposite…

The Saturday was drizzling and a bit grey but it kept fairly dry enough so we could paint, Me Aks, Prime and his protege had just got started around noon when a small protest march against Police violence passed us. They were in particular calling for a full and independent enquiry into the death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 and against the use of indiscriminate violence against civilians at peaceful protests.

The small band made their way past silently and peacefully (this is nearly all of them) the mood was very sombre, like a funeral with lots of people in black.

…consisting largely of students, families, the elderly…

…as the cavalry and packed battle wagons bring up the rear an officer stops to check out what Prime is up to …

….and the packed wagons roll by and keep coming, and coming and coming, very intimidating given the circumstances, and I wasn’t even marching.

The march passed and we all carried on painting with the memory of Ian Tomlinson and other innocent victims of state violence in mind. Rest In Peace.

I started to add my ELATE above Mark’s character.

Prime started on the orange 3Ds and the purple-red outline.

Considering it was made up on the spot at short notice, with a hasty outline, made to squeeze between two characters, use up the leftover colours and fit in with the ‘inclusive’ theme of the project, I’m happy with it

Mark with his finished character.

Meanwhile the finishing touches start to go onto the main masterpiece …

Das owner of Shoreditch’s new Rarekind Gallery is using Belton’s amazing new Transparent Black to do the 3D modelling on some of Prime’s floating spraycans, it’s available at their shop opposite this wall as is pretty much anything else a graffiti writer might need.

Lastly Prime defines the peaks of a metropolis that emerge from the water, next to a character by Tizer.

Prime ‘09

Get down and see this while it lasts….

Yes these guys are actually varnishing Prime’s piece not buffing it!!!