Northumbria invades London’s art world with Pop-Up mural
A Pop-Up street mural launched a full-scale ‘London Invasion’ by Northumbria University, Newcastle, last week as stunning student designs took over one of the city’s central creative hubs.
The street art installation, which showcased current students’ work from Architecture, Art, Design and Media, is one of a series of guerrilla art invasions created to mark Northumbria’s presence at the annual Free Range Art and Design shows held at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane.
Created by Northumbria Fine Art graduate Craig Mayhew, the 8ft by 20ft mural remained in place for one week outside of the Brewery in Corbet’s Place after debuting to coincide with London’s monthly First Thursday art extravaganza.
The 22-year-old from County Durham completed his degree in Fine Art BA (Hons) at Northumbria University last summer, and is now a full-time artist and director of North East community based art group, LUME Projects.
Craig said: “I specialised in print making as an undergraduate so the mural is full of imagery and bold colours – a bit like a comic book but with a lot more packed in. Throughout the day, I layered vivid spray paint and paint markers on top of blocks of basic undercolour, and added to this with hand drawn details.
“In my opinion, art shouldn’t be taken so seriously all the time so it was great to reveal my quirky interpretation of the talent on display.”
Moving projections of past and present students’ work also took centre stage in three East London destinations on the same day after sundown to capitalise on First Thursday’s crowds, Shoreditch high street station, Brick Lane and Horton Square.
20-year-old Richard Tubman, a BA Hons Media Production graduate of Northumbria University from Whitley Bay, provided production assistance on a piece of film footage compiled to capture the creative process and projections in full.
Northumbria University has campuses in both Newcastle and London, and attends London’s art and design show series annually.
The shows offer an unparalleled opportunity for students to present their work to their peers as well as prospective employers with a number going on to secure full time employment with high profile brands such as such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Black & Decker, Mulberry, Samsung, Unilevr and Philips, amongst others.
Other key events which the University exhibits at include New Blood, New Designers and the upcoming Free Range Interiors (11-15 July).
Dr Heather Robson, Associate Dean, Business and Engagement for Arts, Design and Social Sciences at Northumbria University, said: “We have so much talent here at Northumbria and last year, we received over 80 international and national awards for our arts, design, media and architecture programmes. The shows are a significant date in the calendar for our graduating students, providing them with a platform to showcase their work to industry and employers.”
