Paint Jam in East London as Street Artists Give Building A Whole New Lease of Life

I’ve always been a little unsure in terms of how best to describe a group of street artists on the hunt for wall space. A cohort perhaps? A motley crew? Sometimes maybe, although I suppose, as with anything, it depends on whose in it. The term of endearment I’ve chosen though is a gaggle! A gaggle of street artists has a nice ring to it and it is with such a gaggle that Inspiring City met up with on a crisp morning in February in order to transform an old abandoned and utterly derelict former office block in East London into a joyful canvas.

Now street artists are always looking for spots to paint and sometimes a building comes along which is just too tempting to ignore. One such space, is a soon be demolished office block which will soon make way for gentrified regeneration. Presently it is an eyesore, it’s windows mostly gone and debris scattered along the floors. The likes of Sweet Toof, Rowdy and Paul Insect have already left their mark and the building has become quite an iconic landmark in it’s own right for all the wrong sorts of reasons,

Kef, Amara Por Dios, Hannah, Thieu and Vlong in front of an epic work from Amara

It was here that we chose to meet armed with rucksacks full of paint, suitcases on wheels and lattes. The group would more likely be confused with lost holiday seekers than street artists getting ready for a paint jam.

Of the artists involved, French artist Thieu and Sweden’s Amara Por Dios have a show as part of the Femme Fierce series of events exhibiting shortly at the Cre8 Gallery in Hackney Wick. The UK’s Hannah Chloe, is currently preparing to showcase at the Fousion Gallery in Barcelona. Germany’s Kef will be heading over to Tel Aviv in order to complete a commission in his unique style and Argentina’s VLong, a relative newcomer to the world of street art, has been steadily building a name for herself since starting a mere two years ago.

In short, this gaggle is a highly talented one and features a number of artists that this blog likes to promote. All London based and all deserving of more exposure, the paint jam promised to be a special event and indeed it was so for this post I thought I’d try and capture the art of creation from beginning to end so you can see first hand some of the great talent on display.

Hannah Chloe