London is full of bright and beautiful murals that can inject a much-needed dose of colour and happiness into your next stroll. From the bold creations by the likes of Camille Walala, who gave Leyton a makeover last September during the first ever London Mural Festival to Yinka Ilori’s latest project on the walls of Harrow & Wealdstone Station, and Gucci’s brand newArtWalls x Ken Scott installation on Brick Lane, upbeat designs are dotted on walls across London. Here are the most joyful murals to plan your next walk around.
Gucci ArtWalls: Ken Scott
To celebrate the launch of its new Epilogue Collection that incorporates the vibrant patterns of American fashion designer Ken Scott, Gucci has adorned an East London wall with a colourful floral design in tribute to “fashion’s gardener.” Scott’s electric, Pop Art-style floral prints were a staple of the Seventies, and have been reimagined by the Italian luxury House in a selection of ready-to-wear, bags and accessories. The latest installment of Gucci’s ArtWalls series sees Scott’s archival designs appearing on buildings in New York, Hong Kong and Milan, with London’s wall depicting a series of bold pink flowers against a deep green background, just in time for spring.
Yinka Ilori’s ‘Love Always Wins’
Just around the corner from his old studio, Yinka Ilori’s latest creation has transformed the red brick walls of the Harrow station into a mutlicoloured display of ice cream cones, rainbow stripes and the uplifting words: Love Always Wins. The maximalist creation exudes pride and is designed to offer a sort of visual therapy with different meanings to be drawn by passers-by. This isn’t the designer’s first mural — he’s also transformed a Wandsworth underpass into a bright technicolour ‘Happy Street’ and created a series of Pop Art-style slogan posters with Jack Arts in cities around the country.
Edward Crooks’ Rosebank Arcade
The artist and designer has upgraded Waltham Forest’s busiest pedestrian thoroughfare with a neon murals celebrating colour, pattern and movement. Covering the walkway for 20 metres, the interlocking shapes and lines in blue, pink and yellow add a burst of energy to the previously drab arcade. Along the surrounding walls, Crooks imitates display windows in matching colours, imagining the fragments of the building’s past.
Camille Walala’s Walala Parade
The London based artist, who we interviewed last September, has created multiple joyful murals that are scattered across London, from her Les Jumeaux pedestrian crossings in White City to her Dream Come True mural in Shoreditch. In September, she unveiled one of London’s largest public art projects, transforming Leyton High Road with a bold arrangement of colour-blocking and various patterns. Striking blocks of electric blue and black diagonal stripes sit next to sections of burnt orange marked by thick black outlines, wrapping around a series of buildings to encourage passers-by to continue to explore.
Luke Smile’s ‘Happy Go Lucky’
The British typographic artist’s two part mural, split across the shutters of two neighbouring shopfronts in Brick Lane, is an artistic take on graffiti. A backdrop of large blue smiley faces is tagged with the words ‘Happy Go Lucky’ in Smile’s signature, three dimensional typeface. The artist has created numerous murals over the years, from the ‘Sky’s the Limit’ display at Westfield to the ‘Shine Your Light’ mural outside London’s Zetland House.
