The Tallest Piece of Street Art in the UK is Highly Political

The renowned street artist Stik has completed the tallest piece of street art in the UK: a 125-foot mural covering the side façade of a soon-to-be demolished block of council flats in the London area of Acton. The enormous work is “aimed at raising awareness about the lack of social housing in the area,” the Independent reports.

The piece, entitled Big Mother, depicts a mother and child in Stik’s signature stickman drawing style. It took a year of planning and one month of painting to execute, much of which Stik spent perched on a crane, 38 meters (125 feet) above the ground.

“The mother and child symbol are a representation of the families that live in this block,” Stik told the Independent. “The figures that I have painted are looking down sadly at their neighborhood which is being developed with luxury apartments and this building is being demolished.”

The mural can be viewed across west London, and is visible from planes departing and arriving at Heathrow Airport. “It’s great that as people arrive in the country they can see the mother and child looking across the expanse of private development,” the artist remarked.

Stik painted Big Mother for free, as part of a project “to get local street artists to brighten up the area,” explained Rachel Pepper, project manager for Acton Arts Forum. “There are some dark and dingy parts on the estate and we now have about 15 or 16 pieces of artwork that people come to see especially,” she told the Independent.


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