Osch aka Otto Schade: Experimenting in The Streets

"I'm motivated by the idea of producing something interesting, different 

and unique, experimenting with shapes and materials" 

(Otto Schade).

Osch aka Otto Schade  is a multicreative artist with a successful career as an architect and a surreal painter and sculptor, so what the hell is he doing vandalizing the streets of London with graffiti?

Otto Schade, a german sounding name, is born in Chile in 1971 and live and works in London. I've only seen his work in the streets of London, and yes, he have an unique style developed over years and his stencils, somtimes simplistic and sometimes so complicated, both in shapes and colours. He uses warm and bright colours, and therefore easy to spot and recognize.

Surreal street art

A simple and small, but great stencil found in London

 So why do a relative aknowledged and award-winning artist work in the streets? The reason may be in his combined background as architect, painter and skulptor, doing public installations. Doing street art is an environmental act, transforming the the city aesthetics and challenge our minds. Doing street art nowadays is also a great way to get publicity as an artist. In Shade's words "I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but I think the path is the exciting thing and not knowing where my work is going makes me happy. I think recognition from people is an important thing I am looking for,...." On my last trip to London, I found several of his more simple, but ingenious circle formed stencil works which I will call "The Innocence and the man made danger" series of some I post below:

Please visit Otto Shade's website here!

Conor Harrington: The old and the new

Conor Harrington, originally from Cork in Ireland, combines his graffiti background with his training in fine arts. A common theme in his works are conflicts within modern masculine identity in the urban environment. He lives and work in London and have gallery exhibitions and do street art work all over the world. The picture above I took in East London. Harrington's works are not common in the streets, but when you spot one, you'll get surprised and just know it's his work. Last summer he also did work in the north of Norway. You can see more of his work and projects on conorsaysboom. 

Conor Harrington in Dublin

Some years ago I was sitting on a city tour bus i Dublin and had just passed st. stephens green and in a blink of a moment I spotted a painting on a wall in distance. What was that? I jumped of on next stop and went back to have a closer look. It was a mural of a 18th century man sitting in a chair with a sword in his hand and a dead animal in front of him. "Pity!" I thought. "Why have they ruined it?" Well, first of all the the old time figure on the painting seemed misplaced in a modern urban environment. Second, maybe the mural just where old, a kind of sign, logo or commercial for a guest house of some sort, or.... a whiskey?. My next thought was: "Why ruin it in this manner? Didn't look like vandalism. Aha!.., maybe it's not finished. Yeah, It's an ongoing work..... Nah,...this blue colour didn't quite fit in as a grounding colour. Hm... maybe its supposed to be this way? My god! This piece is rare and brilliant!" I was quite astonished and looked at it for a while. A figurative and abstract post-modern piece. It changed my perception of street art as form and what kind of possibilities and themes which are possible to do in the streets. A socio-psychological theme about masculinity, the old and the new, the urban environment as a hunting field or a battleground for archaic male figures. Harrington calls his work for 'post-graffiti'. I think Conor Harrington certainly takes street art in a new and interesting direction. The picture below (from London) is made together with Ronzo and made me laugh.

 Together with this piece I go for Gorillaz with 68 state. (Click on the link or the 'play' button in the box below).




 

Roa: London Calling

I love Shoreditch, the main place for Street Art and Graffiti in east London. Street Artist from all over the world have left their works for us to see in the streets like a big open air gallery. The big bird on the picture is made by Roa. Roa makes big, mostly black and white, art works of birds and fury animals on derelict buildings. Alive, dead or sleeping animals, sometimes slaughtered or "x-rayed". Raw, provocative and weird murals placed very visibly in the city environment. Roa comes is from Belgium and became known in the UK when when the local council wanted his painted Rabbit removed from a wall in the Hackney area in 2010. A campaign by local residents forced the council to change their mind. Read more in The Guardian article here.

I took this picture in London february 2012 and was astonished by this and other art works in the area. Roa has a very distinct and different style in the street art world and reaches a broad audience. Even if his weird and naturalistic figures seems misplaced and sometimes brutally displayed, they are beautiful, graceful and spectacular. They strum archetypical strings burried deep in our minds. See some more of his art work here!

Along with Roa comes "London Calling" with The Clash!  (Click on the link or the "play" button on the box below to play the song).