Quite a few of these fox stencils have popped up around Northwest London – Queen’s Park, Kilburn and these three I spotted around Portobello Market and Ladbroke Grove. The third one has already been painted over, I noticed this morning.
Does anyone know who the artist is or if she/he has work in other areas of London? What’s the significance of the foxes? I’d love to know!
I don’t know if I would call this bin graffiti art, exactly, but it’s clever enough that I took a photo when I was walking through Portobello Market on a rainy Saturday last weekend and want to share it. Ladbroke Grove isn’t exactly the cleanest, safest area in London, but it has always been one of my favourite places. I suppose a lot of it is in the details, the little things you find, the brilliant market goods and friendly vendors. Here are a couple more random bit and pieces.
Another Stik for you. Ever since I interviewed him for London Art Spot, I’m seeing his work all over the place. Love.
Just some houses!
A phone booth sticker by T. Wat. Ha.
A mix of peeling paint and graffiti on the old red bridge.
I love London, indeed.
Little London Lunch Break posts will appear every Wednesday around lunch time. I’ll ask a questions or start a discussion, give my answer and leave the comments open for the rest of you the same when you have a minute or two. If you would like to suggest a question, please email me at littlelondonobservationist@hotmail.co.uk.
Question: London is so incredibly diverse and intricate that one person’s experience of it may be completely different from the next. Where is “your London”? Which areas do you feel most comfortable in, which are the most familiar?
My Answer:
There are a few places that feel like “my London”.
Notting Hill all the way down through Portobello Market, Ladbroke Grove, through to Kensal Green – the 52 bus route, basically. I lived in Kensal Green for 2.5 years, and have worked in Notting Hill for almost two. You would think I would have been tired of the walk between the two, but even on weekends I used to spend a lot of time in Portobello Market.
Spitalfields/Brick Lane also makes my list, the spread of market stalls and exotic food, the slightly run-down, creative atmosphere with graffiti splattered walls and vintage clothes shops. It’s all about the vibe.
I spend some time in the area between Oxford Circus and South Bank – down Regent Street, past Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square. It’s tourist-heaven, but it always makes you feel like you’re a part of something bigger than yourself. South Bank at night always reminds me of when I first fell in love with London.
Hampstead where I used to work and the amazing heath in the summer, Knightsbridge where I lived when I studied abroad and Hyde Park’s romantic willow trees, Blackfriars Bridge which I used to walk across into the sunset when I was doing work experience at a publishing company, Camden for the madness of the market, for Marathon’s hidden jazz nights and gigs generally.
These are not the only areas I spend time in, but they are places either connected to my life or that I have explored time and again.
And “your London”?
Ladbroke Grove – February 2009
Mutate Britain is back with a Winter exhibition under the Westway in Ladbroke Grove.
There’s giant fire-breathing robots, lasers, sculptures, installations and graffiti artists showing off their best stuff just off Portobello Road this weekend and next.
Here’s a video with a taste of what’s to see:
Date & Times:
Weekends now through 20 December
Fri – 2pm -10pm (no entry after 9)
Sat-1pm – 10pm (no entry after 9)
Sun – 12pm-9pm (no entry after 8
Plus Wednesdays 6-10 for the Portobello Winter Festival
Place: Under the Westway, just across from Ladbroke Grove tube station
Cost: £2 before 6pm, £3 after
LINKS
Mutate Britain on WordPress
Mutate Britain Photos on Londonist
Little London Observationist 