Street art in the making at The Village Underground

 

Stik, whose real name remains a secret, is a well-respected figure in the street art community and counts Bono and Sir Elton John as fans. Almost two years ago he was homeless and struggling to make ends meet, but gained a fast following with his recognisable stick figures around east London and can now pull in thousands of pounds with the sale of a single canvas. Stik gives back to the community by volunteering at local shelters, cleaning up street graffiti and continuing to paint his stick figures around London.

Thierry Noir was born in Lyon, France and moved to West Germany in 1982 where he began painting on the Berlin Wall. He had initially moved to the city to follow in the footsteps of his favourite musicians, Iggy Pop and David Bowie, but soon came upon his true destiny – street art. Though he moved his art onto the canvas, he still cherishes working on the street.

The two street artists collaborated on the larger than life mural across the exterior of The Village Underground. They came to speak at The Courtauld Institute of Art to discuss their work and the genre of street art.

Have a listen:

Here is Stik talking about what drew him to street art, what he does and how he does it:


Here is Thierry Noir talking about painting the Berlin Wall:

By Thea Foslie, Tooba Masood and Sasha Filimonov

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