Found this on a wall in the market just off Brick Lane.
Just a laugh? A statement on the tangled relationship between the fragility of humanity and the demands of organised religion? A message to people with delusions of grandeur? Boredom and a bit of extra packing tape?
I suppose the beauty of these little London moments is that it’s up to us to decide…
In a few days, central London will be transformed into an urban jungle with 250 life-size baby elephants standing on street corners, parks and buildings around the capital. Each elephant is a unique creation by an artist, fashion designer, organisation or celebrity, including painter Mythili Thevendrampillai who was featured for London Art Spot at the end of February.
I took this shot of Mythili with her painted baby elephant at her show in March.
Some other artists to look out for include Alice Temperley, Baroness Carrie von Reichardt (who I just mentioned here the other day), Diane von Furstenberg, Lulu Guinness, Matthew Williamson, Tommy Hilfiger and lots more.
The Elephant Parade has been called London’s biggest outdoor art event on record with an estimated audience of an impressive 25 million. Not only is it creative, but it’s for a good cause: conservation of the Asian elephant. In the last 100 years, the population of these wild guys has shrunk by over 90%. Where there were once 250,000 elephants roaming about, now there’s only 25,000 which means they could be extinct by in about 40 years. The Elephant Parade was founded by father and son Mike and Marc Spits in Holland. The parade supports a charity called The Elephant Family founded by trustee Mark Shand after travelling around India on his elephant, Tara.
The jungle beasts are in the city until the end of July when they will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s. The campaign is aiming to raise £2 million for the Asian elephant and benefit 20 UK conservation charities.
There’s a map here. If you find an elephant, snap a photo, stick it in the Flickr pool if you like and I’ll put ‘em up on the blog.
More info on everything here!
Turn the corner from Brick Lane onto Hanbury street where one wall recently came to life with the giant image of mother and child and right next to that, you’ll find that Stik has been round there creating some new Stik people.
Just above Stik’s pieces, a massive crane adorns the side wall next to an empty lot. This is ROA’s biggest piece yet and took eight hours to complete. One of the most talented artist’s to hit the city’s streets, ROA’s animals come to life with texture and detail. Definitely one of my favourites. He lives in Ghent, Belgium, but quite a bit of his work can be seen in New York, Paris, and of course, London.
Here’s a snapshot I took this weekend:
See some more photos of the crane on this page or check here and here for images of his other work.
If you’re up for a walk over the (hopefully) sunny weekend, here’s a map from Pure Evil to help you track down some more of ROA’s London pieces. If that sounds like too much work, nip in to Pure Evil Gallery to catch his awesome solo show before it ends on Sunday.
Pure Evil Gallery
108 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4XS
Here’s an interesting addition to the Flickr pool from trailerfullofpix.
This mosaic work by Baroness Carrie von Reichardt was taken at The Treatment Rooms, Fairlawn Grove, Chiswick.
Carrie and her soulmate Mr. Spunky have turned their house into a mural project, The Treatment Rooms, inspired by Carrie’s penpal friendship with Luis Ramirez, an inmate on death row in Texas. There’s more pics and a story on Carrie’s website.
Funny, after Friday’s entry about London being dog-friendly, that I should happen to stumble through Cabbages & Frocks on Saturday afternoon. Dogs galore. It was “Dog Day Afternoon” and it appeared I was just in time for “Doggy Aerobics Class” with the Good Boy Dog School. Needless to say, I high-tailed it outta there as soon as I could manouver my way through the barking, furry, mess of wagging tails and shiny coats. Despite that fiasco, Cabbages & Frocks is usually a great place to stroll through for some crafty jewellery, clothes and baked goodies on the way to Marylebone High Street for some boutique browsing and plenty of inviting cafes with outdoor seating.
