In a world on fire, Risky Play Collective celebrates artists, creators and do-ers who don’t play it safe.
Their mission is to connect the artists they love, with the causes they care about. The collective includes international street-art sensations, underground graffiti stars and local artists poised to take over the world. The murals of this series, The Wet Paint Initiative, were inspired by the federally funded main street murals created in the Old East Village (OEV) neighbourhood, with the intention to highlight more areas of London and the beauty found off the main street.
Risky Play Collective X Milkbox The Artist
420 Elizabeth St.
Painted with no budget, this first mural of The Wet Paint Initative features Roxy, who runs “Foxy Roxy At Maymo Fry”, a known neighbourhood icon. Having endured a lot of hardship in her life, Roxy is known in the neighbourhood as one of the most positive people. Not only does she donate her tips to neighbourhood residents that need it the most, but she also creates opportunities for people to earn meals in a dignified way.
Meet The Artists
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Risky Play Collective
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Milkbox The Artist
Stew Kraft’s Service Centre Mural
200 Hamilton RD.
Stew Kraft’s Service Centre is located at Hamilton Road and Adelaide Street; on the border between the Old East Village and Hamilton Road neighbourhoods.
Risky Play Collective had been spotting the very unique rooftop peeking over the busy street corner for months and kept thinking that it needed an intuitive mural placement to make it “pop”. Hence, it made an ideal location for the next “The Wet Paint Initiative”; which uses professional mural craft to “breathe life” in a socially responsible way.
Originally, the thought that a woman looking through a pair of binoculars would appear as though the wall was “peering” down Adelaide Street. Yet, while negotiating permission with the owners to paint the piece, The Collective determined that they could get the same effect out of a read-view mirror, while being more on-theme with the auto garage it’s painted on.
If you look closely, the image doesn’t subscribe to reality, as the woman who was painted actually exists on both sides of the mirror.
Meet The Artist
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Risky Play Collective
Eastside Bar & Grill Mural
750 Hamilton Rd.
Eastside Bar & Grill is a London institution and a key cultural gathering point for the Hamilton Road neighbourhood. Hence, it made an ideal location for the second edition of Risky Play’s “The Wet Paint Initiative”; which uses professional mural craft to “breathe life” in a socially responsible way.
The vibrant rock n’ roll venue has a die-hard following, so naturally, the mural had to be about rock n’ roll! The idea of creating a continuous sound wave that travels from door-to-door was inspired by the diversity of the venue itself. Just as Eastside transitions effortlessly from punk, to metal, to bluegrass, to karaoke; the continues sound wave changes modes repeatedly as it works its way around the corner of Hamilton Road and St. Julien Street, lighting up the block as it goes.
Fun Facts:
- The project was originally supposed to include collective friend Sbu from France, but the collective had to step in when he suffered a season-ending back injury.
- Risky Play’s curator, Ken Galloway, also snuck an EKG image from his firstborn into the mural somewhere. Can you spot it?
Meet The Artist
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Risky Play Collective