Rise Gallery owner Kevin Zuchowski-Morrison is on a mission to turn the dilapidated outdoor shopping centre St Georges Walk into a cultural asset by transforming it into Croydon's Arts Quarter. With over 100 street art murals the Arts Quarter extends to the surrounding streets of Park Street, Katherine street and Park Lane. The murals are painted onto shop shutters, brick or rendered walls and wooden holdings. Zuchowski-Morrison aims to change the murals every 3 months to keep up the interest and vibrancy of the area. The art works below are all located in St George's Walk in Croydon's city centre. There is a great variety of street art from realistic jellyfish to the bright bold letters of Lovepusher and Bonzai and abstract pieces from Soma, Eska and Morgazmik.
Gnasher Jellyfish
David Nash or "Gnasher" became involved in the graffiti scene around 1985 when he started seeing well known graffiti artists in his hometown of Harlow in Essex. Initially he concentrated on letters and words but then became inspired by graffiti that had characters with the words and developed his hyper real style of spray can art. He later went on to study art and graphic design, and this became his focus as he abandoned graffiti in favour of graphic design and travelling the world Djing. Then one fateful day in 2009 a friend bought some spray cans and invited him out for the day which reignited his love of graffiti art. You can see more of his work on his website.
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Soma
Soma aka Tony Driver is based in Surrey in the UK. He started out as a graffiti writer after discovering the book 'Subway Art' alongside the documentary 'Style Wars' in 1984. Initially influenced by Dondi and Futura 2000 he later found his own style. The techniques he learnt from' straight letter graffiti would lead to a more abstract style with overlapping shapes and forms. You can see more of his work over at Saatchi Art.
Data
Data aka Rob Wass is a London based mixed media artist. His art ranges from pen and paper inked pictures of cityscapes and flocks of birds to spray painted bright abstract work such as this stained glass effect mural below. His work is amazing- check out his website and facebook .
Kriss Vandali is a graffiti writer from Poland. He began aged 12 taking inspiration from artwork around the world. He describes his work as " a surreal vision of Universal Consciousness. My artistic expression is created from images in my mind. I draw universe speaking to humanity 'unleash , uncover your true potential !!!" He has commissioned work for Barclays, Fashion Finest and Seven Stars Agency. You can see more of his work on VanDali's flickr page and facebook.. Unfortunately someone tagged one of the pieces. The black, brown and green piece is painted on the doorway of an old office block next to the shopping centre of St Geroges Walk.
Synce83 : Lovely Bug
and the IC Shop
Love Pusher: Jesus
Love Pusher is a graffiti artist from London and he specialises in large scale 3D work with a Christian message. He got into graffiti after seeing a large New York style mural near his school. Later on in life while he was on a path of self destruction he managed to turn his life around in a short space of time. He credits God with having helped him during this time. So to thank God and to give back he decided to use his "graffiti talents to spread a positive message in the form of 'Remember Jesus.' "He decided on a new tag- Love Pusher "‘Love’ represented Jesus and the love I have for Him in my life and the word ‘pusher’ represented me as an individual, pushing (spreading) the Love (Word)." His 3D style was influenced by London graffiti artist Insa. Since 2007 his works include a 'lovepusher glow' or an angelic highlight. You can see this on his website and find out more about him in his interview for Source Synesthesia.
Bonzai
Dave Bonzai is from the south coast of the UK but is now based in London. He was introduced to graffiti with the first wave of hip hop that hit the UK, but it wasn't until he was 14 or 15 and saw the photos in the classic book 'Subway Art' that he picked up a spray can and began to paint. Catch more of his work on instagram and facebook . Below are his amazing 3D letters that I could imagine being on the walls of a swanky club.
Morgazmik & Eska Collaboration
Morgazmik
Morgazmik aka Morgan Davy is a painter, printer and poet from south London. His style combines geometric shapes with "techno-organic free flowing formations of . He has worked with Espirit clothing, guitar company Fender, the Troxy theatre, T4 on the beach, LDN Youth games, as well as Leeds festival. Go and check out his colourful art on his website Morgan Davy and on instagram.
Eska is a 3D graffiti artist who is based in London, UK. Originally he is from South Poland. He got into graffiti art when he was 13 by reading Polish and Foreign graffiti magazines and has been spray painting since 1994. He is now known worldwide for his curved but sharp 3D graffiti. He admits that he "was drawing 3d on paper for about 5 years before I decided I was good enough to move on to walls." If you want to see more of his art go to his flickr page and instagram.
Andre Ruiz De Freitas aka DecoLife is a street and fine artist from a small city in Brazil's San palo countryside. As a child he would paint on rocks and stones, graduating to skate parks as a teenager. When he was 13 years old he started painting under the name Decolife. Raised in a Christian monastery, his faith is still important to him and he describes himself as a missionary keen to brighten places with his colourful pieces and his travels enable him to learn about different religions, culture and folklore. He is inspired by dreams, the imaginary world, nature, places, the different culture acquired from his travels and Brazilian popular culture. He admits that many of his paintings are self portraits of his experiences. To see more of his work check out his blog and facebook page.
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