Yesterday the BBC news braved the Stockwell estate to interview Paintshop friends Solo and Bonzai, also featured this week in the Evening Standard and Metro. There seems to be a bit of a buzz at the moment about the Stockwell Park Estate 'Hall of Fame' which has been the home of London graffiti for decades.
Stockwell Park Estate, in London, was completed in 1974 with the ambition to be a prime example of modern living, but very quickly the estate showed its weaknesses with seeping water, insect infestations and major safety and security concerns with the high walk ways and dark garage areas on the ground floor. The high smooth walls of the sunken ball court in the center of the estate soon attracted your typical 'Tracy loves Nigel' and 'Westham FC' type graffiti, but over the years the graffiti art form developed and gained popularity the walls became more of an urban gallery attracting visiting artists from around the world.
This year more than any other I've know, has seen the standard of work increase to a new level but at the same time the talk of the council closing it down has also become louder.
Solo's aim is to raise awareness for this amazing, organically grown creative space which has, and still has buried under the many, many layers of paint, seen the work of some of the best graffiti artists in the world and a history of London's graffiti art.
Its not glamourous, comfortable or really all that safe, but its still our favorite place to paint and would be a massive shame to see it closed down like most of the other legal sites in London over the last few years.
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