Lille installations

Some of the displays I saw wandering around the Lille flea market were like unintentional art installations. Here are some of my favorites.

 

A Malarky on Redchurch Street

A Sunday stroll in the east end now obliges a swagger down Redchurch Street, especially when, as was the case a few weeks ago this provides an opportunity to dip into the last days of the sales. Although there was not much remaining a few super-discounted items were purchased, but far more exciting was the discovery of this sumptuous piece of wall are signed Malarky .

Malarks' blog

Wall Art

I spotted this fabulous colour combination in the entrance of a closed theatre on Charing Cross road, unfortunately is was too firmly stuck to the wall otherwise it would be over the mantle piece in my sitting room by now.

Blackboard Beasts

Paris always provides lush hunting ground for street art, this weekends visit to Maison et Object was no exception, I spotted these ephemeral chalk creatures in the achingly trendy 'haut marais' habitat of paris' Dalston/Hoxton crowd. The whole quarter has been rapidly overtaken by cool galleries and quirky boutiques. Those of you whose fashion memories go back to the 80's, will spot this shopfront was home to no other that Le Garage shirts whos' bold printed shirts were a must have to any fashion student circa 1988

These intricate fauna are signed Phillipe Baudelocque, and his website provides a more detailed view of his oeuvre. Which we're sure all you Curious Eyes will love !
Phillip Baudelocque

Born on the Streets - Fondation Cartier, Paris

Paris' Fondation Cartier is renowned for it's exciting contemporary art exhibits, and this new one comes in 3 parts. Firstly on the street, outside walls have been set up for 'local' graffiti artists to make their own contribution, as those shown here were doing during my visit last week. Then, inside on the ground floor and outside in the garden, space is given to contemporary artists working with the ethos of graffiti. Finally, the enormous basement is given over to a retrospective of American graffiti, from the early seventies onwards . For me that part was the most intriguing, perhaps partly because it felt like a trip down memory lane with early Eighties video clips like Blondies' Rapture and Malcolm McLarens' Buffalo Girls, and interviews with the earliest of Manhattans' graffiti artists. Definitely a must see if you're in Paris before 29th November.

Backstreet Art - Shacklewell Lane

Like most of East London, Dalston is a study in contrasts. The roughest urban grit meets the most daring creative spirits. Overdressed fashion students share cafés with Turkish construction workers. Clubs filled with Yardies exist side by side with 'alternative art spaces' - catering to retro hungry bisexual trendies. It's dizzying and dirty and fascinating.

Nothing sums this up to me like this art piece. Hidden down a side street in Shacklewell, an ancient advertising hoarding has been hi-jacked. The frame is almost as fascinating as its contents - dirty, forgotten and falling apart - not much of a temptation to any modern advertiser - it's transformed by the work of an anonymous artist.

Fittingly, the image seems to make a comment about urban blight. A Victorian lovely enjoys her verdant surroundings, while an industrial plant in the background pours waste into the river. 

An image that shows us the origins of industrial ugliness becomes something that now beautifies an ugly industrial area - how appropriate.

Grass-fitti

To mark the last day of Easter this year, we have a very unconventional Easter Bunny for you - another random find from the streets of Williamsburg.

Graffiti used to be made by gangs to mark their turf. Now it is made by artists out of turf. Times, they are a-changin'.

Flights Of Fancy

Like most big cities, London can be sublime or ridiculous. Some areas have an unsurpassable elegance, and others are so grim they become almost physically oppressive.

Vauxhall definitely falls into the last category. Much of it is so grey and industrial that even on a sunny day it feels like you could be sucked into a brutal vortex of grit and grime.

Which is why it's such a joy to come across these origami pigeons suspended under one of the railway bridges. As the trucks and buses drive past they flutter and spin in the cross breeze, much like the real thing.

Whoever put them up has taken a lot of trouble - the bridge is about 18 feet high - so hanging them must have been no mean feat. Well worth the effort, as they transform a harsh environment into something quite poetic.

As one of my old friends used to say, it just goes to prove that even in the darkest of gutters you can find the shiniest of gems.

Cordy House - Grunge Revival

'Cool' neighbourhoods have a very particular life cycle. 

Stage 1:Industrial areas are taken over by artists, who are attracted by the cheap rents and the large raw spaces. 

Stage 2: The area gains a reputation as being 'edgy' and avant-garde so the fashion crowd move in. They are swiftly followed by the hipsters, and wannabe bohemians. 

Stage 3:, the yuppies invade, in an attempt to bask in the reflected glory of the creative scene. The artists, fashionistas and hipsters then spend all their time complaining about how 'uncool' and expensive the area has become.

Shoreditch is a perfect example of this syndrome. It used to be a gritty industrial wasteland, but if you go down a dark backstreet today, you're more likely to find a private members club  or a designer patisserie than a drug den or a strip joint. Now, I like a mille-feuille as much as the next man - but when an area becomes too glossy, it starts to lose its sparkle.

I was therefore delighted to come across Cordy House, right in the centre of the action in Curtain Rd. It's a huge space, used for exhibitions, openings and parties, and it feels very much like 'Old Shoreditch' - the slightly dodgy area that was full of illegal raves, leather bars and Crusties. It reminds me of the days when we could move, move, move any mountain and everybody was free (to feel good).

As the ambiance of the space is very 'Squat circa 1991', it's hardly surprising that it recently housed 'MuTate Britain' an exhibition by The Mutoid Waste Company, the founding fathers of cyberpunk. The show is over, but the stairwells still retain some fantastic graffiti work, and the shutters by Dr D are a work of art in themselves.  

It's nice to see that despite the increasing latté-fication of Shoreditch, there are still a few rough edges left in the old neighborhood, 

Inspiring Milan 2 : Knittaplease

The gorilla street artists Knittaplease have arrived in Milan, we spotted this knitted street sign cosy outside the Triennale Design Museum

Loitering Without Intent

This Parisian graffiti art is the work of FKDL aka Franck Duval, a 45 year old father of 3 whos' ambition is to 'Always have the freedom to make street art throughout all the city and make people happy with my collages' His work is easily identifiable by the paper collage element and his signature fkdl stamp