Multitalented muralist Vic Lee warms up for the London Design Festival, where he will be creating five artworks live at Design Junction, by telling us about some of his favourite examples of the genre.
I would call myself a multitude of things: storyteller, mapmaker, typographer, artist/ illustrator and now a muralist, it seems. My illustration work is very detailed, using type, Victorian prose and decoration. It’s mainly off the cuff – as my work evolves, it seems to have a life of its own and can adapt and change in oder to become a complete piece.
I produce work in my Clerkenwell studio, comfortably tucked under my desk, working nose-to-paper., creating screen prints for my Londonereas Series and working on illustrations for commercial clients. Late last year I was asked to create six murals in offices at Somerset House. I had never illustrated on a large scale, so of course I said “yes, no problem”, and off I went with my Molotow pens in hand and acrylic paints under my arm. The first pen line was nervously applied thirty minutes later, but once I started, it kind of took over – the typography came alive, the ink flowed across in grand sweeping motions, washes of paint spread across the wall’s surface – illustrating on such a large scale, I got completely lost in the process.
Since those first murals, I have been inundated with requests to decorate walls. I get a huge buzz from the interest and the appreciation. My latest murals will be at Design Junction as part of the London Design Festival in September 2014.
Where I live in Peckham, I am lucky to have on my doorstep some of the finest practitioners of wall-beautification in the world. I include three of these artists as part of the five practitioners I have chose below. (Of the other two, one is in London’s mecca for street art and outdoor murals, Shoreditch, and the other has multiple locations). All are very different to my style but I have absolute appreciation and respect for these artists. In the way they use of colour, scale and subject, each have their own statements to make. That's the beauty of large scale works – it takes your breath away. Turning streets and buildings into public galleries that become ownable by their local communities.
Walter Kershaw
Choumert Grove, SE15
I met Walter as he was in the throws of completing this piece in May. What an amazing and humble chap. Now in his 70's, he came down from Huddersfield to create this mural. I love how it captures Walter’s thoughts and era too. There is little edginess here, but it is a joy to view. Walter’s themes are wind, propellers and fluidity in life, as well as his passion for colour.
Conor Harrington
Goose Green, SE22
The first time I saw this, I stopped where I was, mouth open, just gaping. A beautiful mural of Victorian boxers in the stand-off fisticuffs position. There is a respect here, and even though the projected end result is violence, it still manages to be both poetic and romantic.
Ben Eine
Old Street, EC1
Ben Eine is most noted for his alphabet letters, big and bold and, as a typographer, I appreciate anyone who turns letters into art forms; these are everyday things that are beautiful in their own right and should be celebrated as such. Eine has developed his own trademark style, and has almost become sole proprietor of the brassy letter.
ROA
Victoria Inn,Peckham, SE15
My own work is very elaborate, you could even describe it as Victoriana in places, and uses linework to bring what I do to life. My appreciation for Roa is in his restricted pallet, black and white, and the way he manipulates the line to accentuate the piece. There is a darkness in his work, but also a beauty.