I’ve been meaning to get up to Rockaway park for ages. I’ve known Mark, the driving force behind it for years. We used to store old stuff from The Unfairground there years ago, but its changed a great deal from those humble beginnings. These days it’s a incredible social centre for alternative alternatives, its hard to explain, best to visit and make your own mind up. The reason for this weekends shenanigans was the Rockaway Part Arts weekend. Art, music, great food, film and eclectic art market. Loads of old faces and a right good laugh.
From right to left, Martin Parr, Dan Rawlings, Me with Rowdy underneath.
First up i painted a new set of billboards Mark has had put up along the entrance way, you need to get that forklift serviced by the sound of it Mark! (lolz)
Painted the old workshop too, making sure to paint around the initial scrap yard sticker on the door which i remembered from back in the day.
Took a few things up with me, it was always going to be blandalised with wallpaper, but for some reason only Mark can explain he plumpt for a swinging monkey…..well wasn’t just him i did haul it up to Temple Cloud thinking it might fit in with the general vibe. The chimp is on a sliding door that rolls back and forth so the monkey swings as you close the door, very apt for the workshop!
What a fun weekend! It was very busy, loads of visitors and a lot of fun. Sunday lunch is amazing, one not to miss! Get your order in early to avoid disappointment, so good ! Bands were great! Company fantastic, i had a ball. Find it here. Check the calendar for events.
What a wonderful week in Ireland, thanks to all the crew that made the week a slick production experience. A special thanks to Gabe, John, Kerri, Luke, Raphael, Madison and Soak7. There were more involved of course but as an old tipsy man my memory fails me. I haven’t experienced such a shared responsibility amongst a team for a long time, congratulations to all of you, you should be proud of what we all achieved. I cut some new things specially for the festival that were a bit out of my usual schtick. Hope they worked for the local audience as they were cut for you.
The kneecap image was mediated thing i have ever painted, i’m a plastic Paddy (london irish) married to a Dubliner, taking a provocative image from a Northern Irish band to a southern Irish graffiti festival, i planned to just paint it around the place on unsanctioned walls and not ask permission. However with all the other factors that i’ve mentioned, i actually checked with all involved to see if i wasn’t stepping on too many toes. The band and the festival said yes and with the wife happy i was not being a bull in a china shop i was set.
I only explain this background to temper the uk interpretation of this image . I am not ignorant of an irish dialogue which may make this image problematic. But as a street artist its more of a tribute to Mr B’s flower thrower than anything else. It is after all me in a tracksuit pulling the same pose with a can of paint.
Faced with that, the location Waterford and the whole street art shtick. I thought of doing it my way with a localised message . It was first painted in much hit spot in Jenkins lane car park, keeping the look of a tagged wall to contextualise the tagging that is bound to appear after i have left. Thought i’d contribute to their wall than go over it with something more mural like .
I painted it a second time at the Waterford walls paint jam. I love a good knackered wall, something with a personality. There were a loads of great charcoal drawings and kids chalk drawings all over it and i thought i could add a couple of kids or something would of added to what was already there. The artist i ended up going over was a nice guy called Maurice Caplice who drew the seahorse, he explained a French girl had written the Free Palestine on the wall and the spot for DJ Próvai was found.
Photo by me
Rather than paint a mural in the town, Waterford walls were kind enough to find some smaller spots dotted around town. Its a big ask, a lot more talking to folk and finding walls that work with my style. But they pulled it out of the bag with 8 or 9 nice folk that allowed me to pop up some old fashioned street hits.
A big thanks to Hannah Judah and Street Art Atlas who captured my visit. Thanks to Hannah for my inclusion in her wonderful book signing ( check it out, available from all your usual suppliers ). Thanks you too all those who came and suffered my quite sweary artist presentation. Sorry! Had a great week, painted a fair bit, drank a little too much, i blame the Buzzballs!
The Kid above is actually called Luca and is an old friend of the family. He’s a bit sweary but the coincidence was appriciated by the nice guys in the record shop.
I just got back from York working on the show for Vandal Fest organised by Vandals at Work. Vandals At Work is a York-based non-profit community arts organisation with a passion for street art and a belief that art should do more than just hang on walls and look pretty, it should inform, spark conversations and be a call to action. We believe art can be a powerful force for good in our community.
They aim to enrich our city’s cultural landscape by organising exhibitions, auctions, and other events that enable us to raise money for local charities and help support the artists we collaborate with. To date, we’ve worked with more than sixty artists and have donated over £55,000 to three local charities, York Food Bank, York Mind and SASH (Youth Homelessness).
Street art returns to the Low Ousegate building in the centre of York. Kindly donated by Mack & Lawler. Our next event opens on 11th July 2025 and will span four storeys of the unoccupied building, featuring the work of an exciting group of world-class street artists alongside a cohort of local artists.
Show opens tonight Friday 11th of July, is open this weekend and the following two weekends.
A whistle stop trip to York to contribute to a very cool show for a good cause in the centre of York. Three floors of cracking large scale wall based works, an immersive experience in a disused office block on the river in central York. A super slick production from a unique crew of volunteers. I had a fun trip, show looks stunning and it’s free to visit for 3 weekends during July. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Vandals at work are working with the team at Tennants Auctioneers again for the fourth year in a row. They will be running an online Vandal Fest auction with works donated by participating artists. If you can’t make it to the show this is your opportunity to acquire artwork by our participating artists, and support SASH. The auction will go live on 18th July and run until 3rd Aug check their site for details
Many moons ago Dotmasters was a project in a long catalogue of works under the name of c6, a collective. So….long story….people got to busy, people left, people died, and c6 was no more.
Its been a while since these people worked together under that name, but the oppertunity to throw a curve ball in to a street art museum was the perfect vehicle to hot wire for the silliness that is being presented to you now.
This work is close to my heart and i hope that you get the chance to play with it. c6keepout website
C6 the group is notable for its experimental approach to creating art that often involves collaboration and the integration of various technologies. Their work frequently challenges traditional perceptions of art, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a medium.
C6.org has engaged in numerous projects that span various disciplines, including interactive installations, web-based art, and public art initiatives. Their work often emphasizes community participation and engagement, inviting audiences to interact with the art in innovative ways.
Overall, C6.org represents a dynamic fusion of artistic expression and technological exploration, making significant contributions to the field of digital art and collaborative creative practices… or so they say.
But anyway, its a old return to a format and dialogue that i think makes more sense today than it did when were bleeting on about it in the 90’s
Life these days is mediated by our smartphones and social media. The documenting and sharing of our experiences has become the capital of social media platforms. Through this constant interaction these platforms learn a lot about us, our likes, dislikes, purchases and politics, creating a targeted market place they can sell advertising within.
Of course it doesn’t stop there…Society is a diverse mix of opinions, wants, needs and goals with social media platforms often acting like an accelerant in a house fire. The conventions of real world reticence of seeming extreme, or rude, dissipate in these echo chambers of niche opinion.
Sold to us a tool for connection with our fellow humans, they have become a dealer in capital, a speed of exchange that benefits all but the user.
With “Keep out” C6 wishes to explore the methodology of these tactics and make a parallel between the worlds of meth amphetamine and social media, inspired in part by the rabid rise of companies like Meta, whose name was the inspiration for this artwork.
Keep out is an interactive exhibit resembling a Meth lab, a situation we have all learnt about through the television series Breaking bad. It’s a place to be avoided, definitely with your phone in your hand!
The installation has a series of sensors and cameras that detect the viewer and enable them to interact with the exhibit. Cctv cameras are placed on each corner of the trailer and broadcast those that view it online via our website (coming soon….)The website contextualises the work and is available through QR tags stencils sprayed around it. A back interactive panel (at the rear of the exhibit) allows the audience to play with the various systems. A chance to join a rogues gallery of users is captured by a camera and added to a wanted poster that is posted to the site and is available for download and can be subsequently shared on a social media platform of their choice . Other buttons in the interface allow the viewer to jam with the storm (controlling the flashes of lightning and thunder soundtrack. Or play a random song to accompany the installation. Playlist available on the 24th.
The cloud above the trailer has an invitation to advertise in that space and directs the public to a local french telephone number which results in a conventional answer machine message. It is a corporate advert for the Metha lab and encourages the caller to leave a message (which again gets archived on the site).
The show opens on the 24th of May at Mausa 07 its an incredible space,8,000 square metres of steel and glass, welcomes 25 international artists, to produce original and exclusive installations… never seen before! The caravan, the mobile home, a perfect stage for a travelling urban artist. These vintage caravans evoke memories of vacationing on the road, of itinerant, unattached journeys. It’s a universe of movement…so they say.
Theres a whole load of ephemera to surround this installation, both on the street, online and on your social media platforms, just like everything else these daze. Bite the hand that feeds you, it feels good and tastes great! The whole bloody shenanigans commences on the 24th, at its all in development but should come together on that date, Fingers crossed. Online links to space 24/05/25 at 18.00 (CEST) tune in for chaos. URL to follow on the day.
Deck the walls with trucks of folly! Happy Christmas to you all! Been working on some Shit skateboards for some friends in Stavanger Norway. Got in to a conversation with these long time friends and collaborators at Shit Skateboards this summer in Stavanger while mucking around at Nuart festival. I love making skateboards and a chance to make some with someone has led me to make these. Who knows if they ever go in to production but they made me laugh and i was really happy with how they turned out.
Hopefully Martin and Frode from shit skateboards will ride them over Christmas and send us some cracking shots of them railing them out of existence. check out both their feeds on Instagram for updates .
Got all the rude kids together for a 10th birthday party in Penge, London. Thankfully London calling blog Steve was there to help me keep this unruly mob in check. It’s located in the Blenheim shopping centre car park, which the top two floors have been set aside for people to paint. Check out London calling blog with details of the rooftop gallery open days (where you can see what we’ve been up to) Rooftop gallery here
Its been 10 years since the first rude kid was cut, it was my daughter, at the age of 9. It’s a age before the teenage angst starts, a time of innocence and i thought getting her and her friends ( a lovely bunch) strike some poses that would perhaps be more associated with the age group above them, then these simple stencils could rude little invaders on a urban street corner. Not a threat, just rude!
Over the years the kids have grown up, so friends and families kids have joined the original core Hackney group of kids with some of the kids now come from as far away as Osaka, Stavanger and the Wirral. a full list of names of the kids involved can be found on my instagram. Thanks to everyone whos been involved and Happy Birthday!
I Painted a wall in Croydon on Park street a good number of years ago, think someone said it was 6! The space was agreed by the owner and was part of a larger number of works in the area. To be honest id forgotten about it, till someone posted a horrible picture of it a few weeks ago
Thats of google maps, I dont know which is worse to be honest.
I had 10 liters of black paint, left over from something and needed some 600ml cans for ‘Yes we can show’ at Atom gallery for the 9th of November. Once ordered i had to empty them (instructions from the gallery, something about postage)…so had 6 large cans to empty. Given the state of how the wall became , i need to create something bold that would cope with subsequent additions.
Black and white, dots kids and wallpaper while you wait for the bus.
The biggie was developed for a show in Tokyo with Hand inc. Ken last year, i haven’t painted them on the street in the UK, bet he gets a moustache and glasses, an arrow at least.
Of course i had to do a Indigo to replace the one i painted over, almost did the kids in primary colours , but chickened out. The different blacks work ok and a shadow goes a long to separate them.
Had a fun couple of days painting ending on Halloween, during the painting i re connected with the lovely lady who gave me the permission the first time i painted it, to be honest i hadn’t checked, (thinking something togo over the top of what existed was better than not painting it). Friendly place Croydon, had some good encouragement. Still have a large mural from the same time round the corner
It was a with great pleasure i accepted an invite from my old friend Martyn Reid to participate in the Nuart festival in Stavanger Norway (They also do a Nuart Aberdeen ). I worked on this festival for over a decade being first invited as an exhibiting artist (when it was more of a New Media festival in 2004) and coming back year after year in a progression of roles from curator to artist and production manager. The year after we met Nuart started to focus on street art, the budget was small and the possibilities of painting round the city were non existent. We ended up painting some abandoned buildings in a down at heel part of town as well as staging a small show up at the arts centre Tou Scene in 2005.
Since then the Festival has grown, huge murals appeared around the town, logistics grew, cherry pickers were hired with a huge volunteer task force who’s amazing help allowed the thing to grow into a world leading festival of art on the street, drawing camera crews from CNN from the USA, Google it. With amazing artist line ups from across the globe, the curation of each years participants tells you a lot about the way street art has developed over the years, covering most aspects of public space art intervention. From situationalists to muralists, wheat paste to spray paint, key artists from the history of the medium as well as show casing the breadth of the techniques happening on the street today.
I did a decade of production and have visited them a few times as an artist over the years, so it with great pleasure to be invited back for this years ‘Intangible’ festival. A back to basics approach to urban mark making. A what you can carry method of production on un sanctioned spaces. Not a mural in sight. I have always been a fan of floor based works that you come across when walking round a town. It all seemed to start with that for me. Over the years people have worked out logistics for larger and larger works. Rollers on poles, fire extinguisher and extendable ladders, anything you could carry on public transport and then over fences but it rarely involved a cherry picker or a scissor lift.
For 5 days i wandered the city with a hi-viz popping up life size works, i used a ladder once… it was lovely. I have a good knowledge of the city built on my years of production of the festival which meant i had a good idea of places i wanted to paint and images i wanted to drop there. What a wonderful week thank you Stavanger, a sea of thumbs ups, Coffee and cake, even two six packs and a packet of fags! Most importantly i didn’t get chased once.
A couple of things didn’t fit the walls chosen, and were painted over, sorry for that. But i think that much of it will stay and brings a certain something to the places chosen, but like all street art it’s councils and maintenance contracts that are the curators of our public space.
So faced with a finite amount of drawers i have gone through a couple of them and discovered a load of old prints that weren’t sold at the time. Some of these i never released myself but were commissioned by an auction house in the states (these are numbered with the prefix HC (Hors Commerce) – French for “For Commercial Use as per their instructions. Most of the others are AP’s (artist proofs) and there are a few of the actual editions on some prints that were overlooked when the sales occurred (don’t ask me why, i can’t remember)
So i have put all these gems from over the years into my shop almost at the original sale prices (ive added approximately 10% for inflation)
So if you missed a edition release at the time here is a second chance to buy visiting the shop. I’ve been a bit slack in posting here so half the stuff is gone, sorry. But to make up i will be adding some more on Halloween. They’ll be some old and rare pieces from years gone by so check the shop out as new things will appear… I still need some more drawer space!!!
