On Thursday last week, Shok-1 finished painting "Elvis" on a gate on Hanbury Street that leads to the entrance of Ely Yard. Shok-1 is a London-based artist who has been painting in London for many years, and his technique is to create an X-ray effect of bones or skeleton using spray paint. The can of paint is held at varying distances in order to create a "mist" effect to be placed onto the wall, and this gives the effect of semi-transparency.
The gateon Hanbury Street (off Brick Lane) was being painted silver the week before, and I was excited because I knew something new must be coming up. My hopes were confirmed on Tuesday when I saw Shok-1 in the early stages of painting in his signature X-ray style. I watched him add the texture with the spray paint for the effect for a minute or so. When the work was not progressed much by the next morning when I arrived at work, I thought that perhaps it may be another artist copying his style. That evening when I left work, the art was progressing more. I had a half day off on Thursday, so I was not able to see the progress in the evening. On Friday morning, I was happy to walk by to see the finished piece, complete with Shok-1's tag and a title for the new work.
The new artwork features an X-ray skeleton of the pelvis area. It is named "Elvis". The work has been completed using black spray paint, and it is painted on a silver wall.
I photographed the progression of the work on Tuesday night and Wednesday night, respectfully. On the first day, I thought that the work was Shok-1 due to its style. I'm happy to see a new wall taken over by Shok-1 and hope that it continues to be used for his artwork and the works of other artists.
For more information and work from Shok-1 in my blog, see the following links:
Shok-1 'MasterPeace' Street Art
Street Art: Shok-1
Street Art Round-up: Spring & Summer 2015
Street Art Round-up in Early Spring 2014
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