Last summer, Los Angeles-based artist Kalen Ockerman painted a mural on Hanbury Street, off of Brick Lane. The mural depicts bankers (ruled by the green all-seeing pyramid eye, which appears on the US banknotes) playing a game of Monopoly. The Monopoly board is held up of faceless individuals while others suffer and protest against a corporate machine. (This is my impression of the artwork, but others felt that the mural was offensive, and the number of complaints made against it ensured that it did not last long.)
The artwork did not have a long life on the popular street art Hanbury Street wall as it was removed for being controversial (and offensive to some). The bold and bright colours of the artwork and the cartoon-like figures (and overall message) made this one stand out. The artwork has since been replaced by uncontroversial street art.
While everyone has a message, I do tend to prefer my street art to be less "protest", at least not so blatant, but I am posting it because it is street art and artwork nonetheless. It was just unfortunate for the artist that its message was unintentional.
"Freedom for Humanity" by Kalen Ockerman.
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