With the build up to the Olympics in London it has been a constant battle between the streets and the government when it comes to graffiti and street art. The government appearing to have a little difficulty in finding the right balance between presenting a clean image to the world and maintaining the culture that draws people to certain areas of the city.  Shoreditch, in London’s east end being one of these locations is a high traffic area for graffiti writers and street artists from all over the globe.

Walking around Shoreditch these days you see more and more work being buffed, even pieces that have been up for years.  Seeing this happen is heart-breaking, as each artist spends time not only in the painting but also the developing of the unique concept for the space.  So it is reassuring to see the writers and artists put more pieces up immediately after a wall is cleared, claiming back these spaces.

Recently one of the most controversial examples of this was while Austrian writer Nychos was in town he teaming he teamed up with Vibes to paint the piece below. 

Only hours after the piece was finished the council came and buffed the wall even though they had been given permission to put these up.  This shocked and angered many people within the art scene, so, days later Vibes went back and put up the same piece in the same location as a dig at the government with the tag line “Freedom of Speech” which I personally thought was a brilliant touch.

After all this happened a friend and I teamed with Nychos and secured another location for him to paint in the area. With a little luck it all pulled together, weather included, so that Nychos could get another piece up in the short time he was in London. Here are some of the shots from the day.

I want to say a big thanks to Nychos for the stunning new work, and also to all those that helped in getting it up.

For more work and updates from the artist click here:

http://rabbiteyemovement.tumblr.com/

All Photos by Doug Sherman