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.
ABOUT THE MURAL
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?
