This week’s photographs feature the current Portobello Wall Public Art project by Anastasia Russa. Over the summer I passed by most days and saw it come to life during an endless stream of sunshine. On most days you could see the artist, mostly hidden under her customary sun hat, working on the next portrait. It was great to see this work of art build and grow as the project progressed. The mural which spans one entire block along Portobello Rd shows the changing eras and inhabitants of the area. The artist is not from the area but spent months talking to locals as to who should be included.
Among those featured are Piers Thompson who runs Portobello Radio, Khadija Saye, an artist who died in the Grenfell fire and Tim Burke, who was a lovely man and a neighbour of mine, who tragically took his own life at the end of last year. These are interspersed with other locals from both past and present.
I am interested in how art on the streets, whether commissioned or not, affects the inhabitants of the area it appears in. Whether we are consciously aware of it, there is an interaction, a connection, a moment of reflection. Even though art is not technically essential for survival, it is still integral and necessary to our lives. Its presence can uplift and create a fleeting instance of calm in the chaos whilst also providing little pockets of visual pleasure from within the humdrum of the daily backdrop. A lot of art related projects were the first things to be axed by councils when austerity measures slashed their budgets in half as they felt extraneous to living but I think art, of any nature, is vital and can make the difference between being happy and not.
Last week I showed a lot of local tagging and how little it contributed other than to serve as a force for defacement. Maybe I was a little hard on Boner (sorry ;) but signatures used to accompany a piece of work, not be the piece of work and so, when you see actual art in action, as in this mural, you see how it can light up a street and bring colour to the greyness.
To see the full gallery please click on this link: https://babycakesromero.com/photography/artwall/
for more info on this project: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/culture/current-portobello-wall-public-art-project
Have been doing a lot of doorstep documentation recently so going to venture a little further afield..next stop, Paris!