BELFAST PEACE WALL ART – SEPTEMBER 2018

As a new month has begun, the start of September meant that it was time for my every six month visit to the Peace Wall at Cupar Way to document the Street Art there.

To be honest, if somebody asked me for somewhere to go for Street Art in Belfast, there are a lot of other places I would suggest.

Somehow, it remains a popular destination, when I visited this morning, there were plenty of buses and taxis. And as tour buses and taxi specialise in Belfast, they just park where they bloody well like. Right opposite the murals, denying people space to work with if they want to get photos.

That defeats the whole point of taking people somewhere to take a photo if you’re going to block their view.

And it was in a bicycle lane.

If they must park on Cupar Way, surely it makes a lot more sense to park on the other side of the street, to give people more room to work with in order to get photos?

My last couple of visits have seen me get some photos but there was nothing worth blogging about. I saw some new pieces which is why this article is appearing.

If you don’t hear from me in March 2019, it will be safe to assume there was nothing worth blogging about.

Photo Album

Belfast Peace Wall Art July 2017

Belfast Peace Wall Art February 2017

Belfast Peace Wall Art August 2016

Belfast Peace Wall Art August 2015

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EDINBURGH STREET ART – AUGUST 2018

Even though it is renowned as an arty city, Edinburgh isn’t really a hotbed for Street Art.

On my recent visits, I have headed to New Street, where there is permanently building work, meaning there are canvasses for Street Artists to work with, but there was nothing whenever I visited.

I covered quite a lot of the city but didn’t see a lot in terms of Street Art.

I spotted some pieces at The Meadows, but the first real spot of note came in the University Area, with some new pieces as part of a Community Project called Southside Murals, done by Kate George.

Not getting into any debate about boundaries, but I also spotted some pieces when I visited Leith.

Photo Album

Edinburgh Street Art 2017

Edinburgh Street Art 2015

Edinburgh Street Art 2014

Edinburgh Street Art 2013

BANGOR IS AN ENERGY

AKA …… Bangor Street Art

Making the most of a football free Saturday a few weeks back, I headed to Bangor for the afternoon to Bangor Vintage Market, held as part of Open House Festival.

This gave me an excuse to check out some Street Art while I was in Bangor.

The one I was most looking for was one of John Lydon by Friz, with the caption “BANGOR IS AN ENERGY”, which if you need explained is a pun on the chant “ANGER IS AN ENERGY” heard during Public Image Limited’s hit Rise, which has recently had prominent airplay on the Top Of The Pops repeats on BBC Four.

Why John Lydon? His band, Public Image Limited, came to Bangor towards the end of the month to perform as part of the festival, and “Bangor is an energy” has become the slogan of the festival.

If you’re looking to see it, it’s beside the Marine Hotel. There was a crowd getting photos when I was there. I overheard a man telling his wife “Oh, it’s Malcolm McLaren”. Close enough.

I also took the opportunity to get a photo of a piece by Visual Waste at the entrance of Abbey Dance Studios.

They were the two main pieces I was looking for, but I did stumble upon two other pieces when walking around the town, in High Street, outside Terry Bradley’s Studio, and one just up the street at a Hair Salon called Georgeous.

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DUBLIN STREET ART – JULY 2018

Made a short trip to Dublin over the Holiday Period. I was doing all the usual touristy stuff, but it would have been rude not to go and get some Street Art photos while I was there.

I would usually visit Dublin once a year, so I know where to go in search of Street Art. Despite that, I do enjoy stumbling on pieces.

I got off my bus at Custom House Quay, and immediately spotted some pieces on Tara Street. Unfortunately, there were vehicles parked in font of it, denying me any backlift.

Parked vehicles and smokers loitering about are the two biggest pains in the arse when photographing Street Art, had Dublin had plenty of it.

I then headed to Smithfield, and noticed that the mural of Stormzy has been replaced.

Something that is noticeable is the work of Dublin Canvas, putting paintings on electric boxes. Hopefully, something similar will start to happen in Belfast.

Featured on this are famous people from Dublin such as Ronnie Drew, or Bang Bang, a local character in Dublin in the 1950s and 1960s.

I also visited Tivoli Theatre Car Park and was able to get photos of it, for once, including a 3D piece, which is either a man or a dog, depending on which side of the 3D glasses you view it with.

I also managed to spot a new piece on the lane that leads into one of the entrances to Olympia Theatre, replacing a previous piece.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the picture I wanted of it due to a lack of backlift.

While in Temple Bar, I also spotted a mural of Kanye West. That was one of many pieces I spotted in Temple Bar.

Recently, there have been murals of Bob Marley and Phil Lynott appearing at Dalymount Park. There was a game on while I was there, but I didn’t go to it, so I didn’t get photos of it. Obviously.

Saturday was spent mopping up some pieces I missed in Temple Bar, and walking along Custom House Quay and spotting some pieces.

Photo Album

Dublin Street Art July 2017

Dublin Street Art May 2016

Dublin Street Art June 2015

Dublin Street Art July 2014

Dublin Street Art August 2013

LANDMARKS

I walk past this street a lot of times every week on my way to and from work, but somehow I managed to miss it.

As with a lot of Street Art that appears on this blog, you have Bohoman on Twitter to thank for bringing it to my attention.

It’s on McClure Street, which leads onto Cameron Street. If you’re heading into the City Centre from the Ormeau Road, you turn left just before you reach The Arena Building. It is a long road which leads right outside The Empire, if you want to approach it from Botanic.

It is by Kev Largey, regularly featured on this blog, of landmarks of Belfast – The Chronicle Of Narnia, Samson and Goliath, A DeLorean, and The Big Fish.

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YORK STREET ART

To clarify, this is Street Art in York Street in Belfast and not Street Art in York in England. Although, there might be a blog about Street Art in York in a few months time.

I’m going to Manchester to see United take on Burnley in January 2019, Tuesday to Thursday. If the match is on a Tuesday, I might head to a city nearby in the North of England such as York or Sheffield. Naturally, I would be keeping an eye out for any Street Art where I visit.

Back on topic, John Luke Gallery, AKA the offices for Arts For All recently had their shutters repainted as part of North Belfast Connumity Festival recently.

I didn’t get photos of it as a work in progress, just the before and after.

If the location looks familiar, it’s because it has been covered on this blog in 2013 with some Street Art on the shutters of the building next door, which is still there, as well as a mural on the side of the wall in 2012, which is also still there.

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WARDROBE JAM

Sometimes in life, your plans can change, and sometimes, it can work out for the better.

Originall planned as part of Belfast Arts Weekender in early March, Wardrobe Jam was cancelled because of the snow. It got given a new date for Bank Holiday Monday at the end of May. Thankfully, the weather was a lot better, at the other extreme of the temperature gauge.

The postponement worked out well for me, as I was due to missing as I would be going to a football match that afternoon.

The concept was simple, a group of Street Artists paint some wardrobes on CS Lewis Square. The reason as to why it would be wardrobes on CS Lewis Square is self explanatory.

There would be some murals painted as well on nearby walls. This was to compliment pieces that were painted in East Belfast during March, as well as existing Street Art painted last Summer as part of Hit The East.

The event took place from 2pm to 5pm. I arrived at 3pm. I didn’t think I would have missed much but a lot of the artwork was already advanced. If the event happens again in the future, i’ll make sure i’m there from the start.

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the work of KVLR, Friz and Emic, who have all feature regularly on this blog.

It shouldn’t be too hard to work out which pieces are done by them, as they were all done in their own individual trademark style.

I left just before 5pm on the Monday, with some of the walls not yet quite finished. I returned on the Tuesday evening to photograph the finished pieces.

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BRUCE STREET ART

If you’ve been checking out Bankmore Square Street Art recently, you couldn’t have not noticed Street Art across the road on Bruce Street.

If you’re familiar with that part of Belfast, it is a construction site where there used to be a car park outside IBM. The building is now being used by the Civil Service.

I got some photos of it on the Wednesday evening, but decided to wait until things were quieter on the Sunday morning as there would be less cars blocking a photo.

So, I waited until Sunday morning to get some photos.

In the time inbetween, the story got covered by the BBC, revealing that the Contractor gave permission for the artwork.

There is still some blank spaces, so there may be an update to this blog in the near future.

You can find the BBC report here.

In other Street Art news, the murals at Bank Square I covered a few weeks ago are now gone, while London Evening Standard did a piece on Dreph, who operates in the city, and featured on this blog when I went to London in January.

You can find the London Evening Standard article here.

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SALFORD QUAYS STREET ART – MAY 2018

As pointed out in the last update, it should probably be called Pomona Wharf Street Art, but it leads to Salford Quays. so i’m sticking with this title.

Whenever I travelled by Tram between Old Trafford and Manchester City Centre, I always noticed this from outside the window, a constant row of walls of Street Art.

Eventually, I decided to investigate this for myself, getting off at Cornbrook Metrolink Station, and found it on foot, getting as many photos as I could.

Every time I have travelled over to Manchester since, I have always made sure I visit here to get photos.

Over to see United play Watford recently, I spent the morning of the match in Manchester City Centre, so that I could make a short tram ride to Cornbrook to then walk to Salford Quays, and then on to Old Trafford.

The weather was nice, which meant I had a lot of daylight to work with.

Another stroke of luck was that I took a wrong turn, and stumbled upon a new piece with a swarm of worker bees with the caption “WE (HEART) MCR”.

I walked along Pomona Wharf and got photos of the new pieces I hadn’t seen before, as the walls had a mixture of old and new pieces.

Photo Album

Salford Quays Street Art December 2017

Salford Quays Street Art January 2017

Salford Quays Street Art November 2016

Salford Quays Street Art May 2016

MANCHESTER STREET ART – MAY 2018

I was in Manchester at the weekend, so I decided to go out and get some Street Art photos.

I didn’t have much time to work with, so I had to make the most of what I had.

The plan was to go to Northern Quarter and Ancoats where I normally go.

My last visit to Manchester was in December 2017, five months ago. To my surprise, there was still a lot of work that was still there from my last visit.

That included Stevenson Square, which usually has a high turnover of Street Art.

I managed to stumble on a piece in defiance against the bomb attack in the city in May 2017 in Dale Street which I had previously missed, as well as spotting an owl in Ancoats.

When you go in search of Street Art, you have to keep an eye out for things.

On the Sunday afternoon, I thought I had seen as much Street Art as I could, until I stumbled upon a mural of Muhammad Ali just off Portland Street

Photo Album

Manchester Street Art – December 2017

Manchester Street Art – May 2017

Manchester Street Art – February 2017

Manchester Street Art – November 2016

Manchester Street Art – May 2016

Manchester Street Art – January 2016

Manchester Street Art – November 2015

Manchester Street Art – May 2015

Manchester Street Art – November 2014