New Street Art Portraits by Dreph

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Toward the end of last year, I posted about London-based artist Dreph and his work around east London. I happened to see him painting the wall on Fashion Street with a portrait of musician and grafitti artist Bunny Bread. I also show-cased quite a few of his murals as he'd been busy painting the area, and I had not featured his work before. (My post about Dreph can be read here.) When I came back from holiday in early January, I discovered that Dreph had refreshed his wall on Fashion Street; he has also recently refreshed his walls on Commercial Road and Star Yard (off Brick Lane). 

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Dreph's work is inspired by 1980s comics and Renaissance painters. His subject is portraits, and he primarily paints black British men and women. Using his style, they become eye-catching works of art and become elevated to great importance. Colour, light, and shadow are the techniques used to create these masterpieces.

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On Commercial Road, Dreph painted Marcus Barnes. The figure is standing in front of a brightly-lit background of yellow, red, and purple tones. Marcus Barnes is a writer, grafitti artist, and DJ. He wrote for "Keep the Faith Grafitti Magazine" and was the first person to be tried for criminal damages based on grafitti; he was eventually cleared. 

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In December, this portrait of Abe Odedina appeared on Fashion Street. Abe Odedina is an architect and painter. His painting style is influenced by African art and story-telling.

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On Star Yard off Brick Lane, Dreph painted Nana Yaa Sakyibea. She is also known as Mary, and she is a fashion and furniture designer based in Ghana. Her muted-tone portrait is painted in striking detail on a red, purple, and yellow background. 

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The attention is drawn to the face and the beautiful detail of the feather necklace and the chain ear-ring (pictured below).

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More posts about Dreph's work on my blog can be found here:

Street Art: Dreph

For more information about the artist, visit his Instagram page where he often discusses the subjects of his work: https://www.instagram.com/dreph_/?hl=en. Also, InspiringCity blog has a nice post and write-up about the artist: https://inspiringcity.com/2017/01/21/dreph-street-art-portraits-appear-all-over-the-east-end/

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