Street art project to brighten up Gibraltar

PERHAPS impressed by the numerous murals painted on the walls of buildings around Estepona and knowing that there will be 10 new murals chosen in a competition later this year, the government of Gibraltar is following suit.

It has announced that it will be introducing street art as part of its urban regeneration programme with the aim of revitalising areas that require redevelopment and attempting to improve the physical appeal of building facades in the territory.

Although it is intended to invite local artists to take part in this initiative, the actual project will be launched by well-known street artist Ben Eine who is currently in Gibraltar and will undertake work on the exterior of the Ince’s Hall theatre.

The artist is known for his alphabet lettering on shop shutters and walls in England, France and Sweden and has had a varied career including a spell as a writer, creator of fashion and screen printer who has worked to produce prints for some of the best known graffiti artists.

He first came to prominence in the ‘commercial’ graffiti scene through his symbiotic partnership with London graffiti artist Banksy; through Eine, Banksy was able to access the underground scene and through Banksy, Eine accessed the commercial world.

Perhaps once he has completed his work, he will persuade the notoriously secretive Banksy to visit Gibraltar and produce one of his striking satirical design comments on Brexit and Gibraltar’s relationship with Spain.