Come one, come all, you're favorite public art reviews are back for another round!…read more If I was going to be behind bars, or have bars in front of me, I would want them to be this type of bar. The painted, colorful kind. Then, I could be dazzled by the brilliance of your beauty. Yooou are so beautiful, to meeeee; can't you seeeee? You are sooooo beautiful. Having colored bars in front of me, though, might also mean that I'd be in front of this bit of public underpass art. Stretching all along the underpass, tips of painty palms reaching from one end to the other, this plaque of striped colors is a delight, not a Turkish delight, but then again, I would want to eat this. Painted from top to bottom on large clay (or so I imagine) rectangles of canvas and lines in every color that joy ever inspired. The lines vary slightly in width, creating a rhythmic pattern of random. I haven't tried this yet, but if you run next to this art installment really fast, I bet it will all blur together into a mass of infinite color block, like Dorothy when she reaches Oz.

So I continue with reviews of public art. (I must be forging a career path or something. Or maybe…read morenot Fashion reviews or humor columns might suit me better. I am taking all applications from interested employers). The tunnels which connect the sides of E&C stream under the heavily trafficked streets that are more congested than someone with a sinus infection. Lining the inside of every tunnel is a mural. Under water scenes, street carnivals, Victorian daily life - a myriad of themes shouting their lives through a kaleidoscope of infinite color. It's a lovely thing, public art. It certainly makes the walk beneath the streets more refined that than of a rats in the sewers, even though with the smell of stale urine that sometime wafts through the tunnels, you might think you're walking through 'des egouts.' Ii do love the murals, their colors, their joy, but that are no oeuvre of DaVinci-esque art. No Lucien Freud. No Mao Zedong (which is probably a good thing, because as far as I know, he wasn't an artist). From a standpoint of pretentious artistic merit, the paintings lack shading and the face sometime forgot their expressions at home. However, these mural serve to pipe steaming hot color into the lives of passerbys and are, therefore, an appreciated part of my near daily life.

If you happen to be walking along Cable Street this mural is well worth checking out…read more The mural depicts the events of 4 October 1936, when huge crowds turned out to stop a march by Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. Cable Street was near to the southern boundary of the Jewish East End, and was also close to the London and St Katharine Docks. The Jewish East End turned out in force, together with tens of thousands of dockers, socialists and trades unionists. The police tried to clear a way for the marchers, and clashed with the protestors on Cable Street. When these stood firm, the police advised Mosley to call off the march. Mosley and the BUF never recovered their credibility. The 'Battle of Cable Street' was a great victory for popular decency over Mosley's crude politics of hate. The Battle of Cable Street Mural was created by artist Dave Binnington.

Very cheerful mural, on the north side of Dalston Lane close to the junction with Kingsland High…read moreStreet, facing towards the High Street. It was painted between 1983 and 85, but in spite of it's age is still in good condition. I'm not too keen on crowds of people, so a picture of one isn't my favourite subject. But it certainly looks a friendly, fun crowd! Lots of people enjoying themselves. Lots of characters to look at. You can't help but be drawn in the more you look. This page (http://easteight.com/?p=194) gives a better run down of the subjects and history of the mural, but, in brief It contains many familiar images of peace and left wing movements of the time: anti-nuclear, multicultural. Historical figures are included, plus representatives of groups such as miners. This is against the background of a time when Maggie Thatcher was in power, and strikes and riots were recent history. What's nice is that it's not all imaginary, iconic images: the mural is based on sketches of a real peace carnival in Dalston in 1983. It does bring back some memories! It's close to the area where a lot of stuff is currently being demolished to make way for the development of the new tube line, station and 'Dalston Square'. I think it's safe, might even be visible from the new Square! Hope so, as it would be a shame to lose this landmark.

When I wrote a review on Trafalgar Square....I vowed to write a separate one solely on the plinths…read morearound the Square. ... A plinth is the base of ,or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue or monument rests....... There are 4 plinths in the Square...Bronze statues ...stand on three of them. All distinguish British Nationals.... 1st Plinth......General SirCharles Jermac Napier 2nd Plinth.....Major Gen. Sir Henry Havelock 3rd Plinth.......King George !V 4th Plinth......The site that gives everyone the opportunity to present a sculpture...It was once empty from...1841- 1999 ....but when I was there in 2005 there was a marble torso...or bust of a very pregnant deformed woman with no arms and shortened legs....a very disturbing piece of art....Always wondered about it...I went back a couple of times and was really intrigued by the piece and noted the name of the sculptor. It was March Quinn....and the subject is Alison Lapper...a British artist still living in London....born in 1965 without arms and shortened legs. The result of a medical condition called phocomelia. ..was institutionalized for most of her childhood.... moved to London at age 19, got a driving license and a flat,...studied Arts & Architecture and graduated 1st honors degree in Fine Artis in 1994....such a remarkable feat for a woman of her stature...I am so impressed with her achievements ..her guts,... sheer determination...and positive outlook in life and not let her deformity be a setback on her dreams and her art...she uses photography, digital imaging and painting using herself as the subject...she paints with her mouth...she eventually gave birth to a son who is fully formed and they were both featured on the yearly documentary Child of our Time....Looking at the statue...I wondered whether she might not be right about this..Quinn says his inspiration came from the fact that there was"no positive representation of disability in the history of public art" ..Lapper says that she hopes the scupture will "make a difference" It's inspirational, it puts disability , femininity and motherhood on the map..It's time to challenge people's perceptions of these things.. There was a controversy over the statue...i myself was startled the first time I saw it...should there be a statue of a naked pregnant disabled woman in Trafalgar Square? Surely it wouldn't fit in...The Square is such a traditional place. But I always thought it was exactly the right place for a statue like this. It makes a powerful statement about where we are trying to go in the 21st century- a future with truyly equal opportunities for all. Lapper just wrote a book...her autobiograhy, My Life in My Hands..published by Simon & Schuster...It's all in the major bookshops...recalling painful memories from her childhood and shocking facts about he life...... Lapper nude and heavily pregnant occupied the 4th plinth in Sept 2005 to late 2007....