"Our cities are full of grey tower blocks built for efficiency rather than aesthetics. Public benches are made of cheap concrete, pavements are falling apart, old structures are left derelict. Amid this backdrop of unloved, muted ugliness, a new wave of guerrilla mosaicists are enlivening their cities with beautiful, colourful designs. These artists rarely get official sign-off for their work."
"What makes these installations so joyful is their element of surprise. You walk down a grey street and suddenly there's an explosion of colour, says Ememem, an anonymous Lyon-based artist famous for their flacking work, which involves using materials such as fragmented ceramic, marble and wood to install intricate geometric tiling in cracks on the ground. It's a repair, but also a poetic gesture, he says. In a time when we throw away and replace everything, the idea of repairing touches something deep."
Cities contain grey tower blocks, cheap concrete benches, crumbling pavements and derelict structures. Guerrilla mosaicists enliven these spaces with colourful, often unauthorized mosaics that combine repair and playful imagery. Will Rosie installs Mr Men and cartoon-inspired mosaics in Southampton and involves volunteers to make the art form accessible. Ememem uses fragmented ceramic, marble and wood to perform flacking repairs that produce intricate geometric tiling in ground cracks. Jim Bachor fills potholes with glass and marble mosaics that range from humorous scenes to political statements. These interventions create surprise, restore surfaces and reconnect communities through visible, durable craft.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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