DREPH // Afro artists
Quick walk in Fashion St today to spot this new mural from Dreph. The site is quite interesting cus this wall was previously used by many artists with small tags, stencils or paste-ups. Dreph did a first portrait here in mid-November. When I saw it a few weeks ago it was already trashed probably by other graffiters to protest for his usage of this … kind of … public space. I came today to take a pic and realised Dreph painted over total new portrait. Apparently the subject here is Abe Odedina, a Nigerian-born artist active in London and Brazil. The previous mural was also representing another known artist of the afro-community and in nearby Brick Lane, it’s easy to see Dreph’s portrait of Carleen De Sozer. Another tribute to London black artists and afro community. I don’t know exactly what it is, but Dreph’s works really grew into me, maybe because of the colours, the technique, or maybe because of the expressions. These faces are suspended between fiction and reality and you never know if they are smiling or are serious. For this, they incredibly fit with the urban environment and are true jewels
