9 August – 13 August 2010 

LEGENDARY STREET ARTISTS TO TAKE PART IN “SHIFT-WORK” 9-13 AUGUST -
AN URBAN ART EVENT UNDER THE WESTWAY, PORTOBELLO ROAD

Legendary street artists such as Pure Evil, Blek Le Rat, Busk, Bleach, Ben Eine, Stan & Lex, Zadok, C215, T.Wat, Eyesaw, Copyright and Absoluv have been invited to take part in an exciting, live urban art project to repaint the walls under the Westway at Portobello Road. Work starts on Monday, 9th August and will continue through the week until Friday, 13th August. There will be a public view on Saturday, 14th August, when all of the artists’ efforts and the newly repainted walls will be available to see in their entirety.

This exciting project will see street artists from London, and further afield, clock in for their allotted shift to create their works of art in the vast, urban Westway space. This live street art project can be viewed by the public throughout the week and is a fantastic and rare opportunity to see some of the best street artists at work. The area is already renowned for its street art (one of Banksy’s famous paintings is nearby and Mutate Britain held one of its unique exhibitions here last year) and the Westway space is now home to an Art & Design Market every Saturday.  

The “Shift-Work” project is the first exhibition of many which will take place in the urban space under the Westway. The idea was conceived by Keh Hui Ng who is the founder of the newly formed “Portobello Art under the Westway” initiative, which aims to encourage artists to utilise the space to inspire others and regenerate the area.

“Shift-Work” is drawing together not only an array of street artists, but also local businesses and groups who are all keen to promote the area in a positive way. Specialist street art galleries, Graffik London and Pure Evil are supporting the event by providing access to their network of artists. Market Operator for Portobello Green Market, Maurice Nixon, operates the space under the Westway with the Westway Trust, “The Westway space is unique and the “Shift-Work” exhibition is a great way of showing how a large urban area can be used to great effect. I’m very happy to support the event and am certain it will drive people to the area, which will benefit the local community.”

The week-long event will be photographed and filmed, and there are plans for a coffee table book and DVD, which will be sold after the event at the weekly Art & Design Market. Prints from the exhibition will also be available to buy and any funds rasied will be used to help establish the space as a fully functional gallery that nurtures and champions local artists. It is hoped that “Shift-Work” will become an annual event, so that each year established and up-and-coming talent can take part in regenerating the Westway space.