Liverpool is a gem of the North, culturally and artistically, known for its bustling creative scene.
It’s Alex from the NDF team, and I want you to join me on a tour of Liverpool’s street art, one of my favourite parts of my home city.
The Beatles, of course, Eurovision 2023, and Taylor Swift’s Anfield shows on her Eras Tour come to mind - but this city boasts a diverse mix of creatives, with its art scene often overshadowed. I’ve lived in Liverpool for four years now, and walking through Baltic Triangle - a pocket of the city that all Liverpudlian creatives will be very familiar with - still amazes me; you can’t look down a single street without coming across a vibrant form of street art. Let me take you with me.
As we approach Jamaica Street, we’re met with a building plastered with a vivid mix of logos, stickers, posters and graffiti. This building boasts new designs each time I pass it, which only adds to the magic. The plain, industrial backdrop contrasts the otherworldly feeling that street art creates.
We only need to turn our heads the other way to catch a glimpse of Hobo Kiosk, a bohemian bar that serves local beers, adorned with an Adventure Time inspired piece. Art that ties into the image and tone of the local businesses - the quirkiness, the playfulness, the creativity - further immerses us. Let’s grab a pint before we carry on.
Only a few metres away, there’s a sunlight wall, adorned with some of the most iconic pieces:
A rumoured Banksy piece, poking fun at the removal of the street artist’s previous works in the city
A tribute to the late, great Scouse Queen - The Vivienne
Paul Curtis’s infamous ‘Wings’ (to get an Insta worthy shot)
The quirkiness and the variety on this wall make it a playful, meaningful and symbolic sight of the city.
Below, adorning the side of building, is a mural dedicated to Jurgen Klopp, the beloved ex-manager of Liverpool Football Club. Another very famous, very adored, very photographed corner of the city. Liverpool’s identity as a city divided by two teams, but bound by a unique care and love for the sport, is projected through artworks like this.
Time for a coffee. All this art has got us even thirstier.
Caffeinated? Good, because it’s time to head to the skate park - but just to admire some more art. Arguably the most iconic of Baltic’s street art, this mural reads: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ Like all cities in the UK at the moment, you’ll be lucky to avoid coming across at least five running groups a night in the city centre - so this mural is aptly fitting to Liverpool’s inspiring nature.
The skate park is also home to a range of other pieces - the combination and clash of styles is so distracting that it’s easy to miss the street artist producing a piece, live, before our eyes. The everchanging wonder of street art makes it exciting again, and again, and again.
There is also something interesting about the clash of culture here - youth culture, signified by the skate park as a community hub, in the middle of a thriving creative industrial area, shows the intertwining nature of the city’s communities.
Let’s head down New Bird Street to discover another surge of designs, including one of my favourites, a wondrous mural by Liam Bononi that scales the entire side of The Wedding House. Bononi moved to Liverpool for its thriving street art scene; with the Anglican Cathedral looming over this design, the piece poses questions around the essence of being - a real thinker.
Deeper we go, to find unknown artist Bog Bean’s work, characterised by two cat characters that have been created to guard over the city’s ice cream truck storage (yes, really). As a cat lover, I have a soft spot for these.
Again, the unexciting brick backdrop of many of the Baltic Triangle buildings create a canvas perfect for clashing, thought-provoking and playful street art. Liverpool is a city, bustling with business and industry, but art and creativity prevail in decorating the streets, catching your eye and bringing you back for more. A living gallery, in the centre of a city.
The city’s identity - multicultural, welcoming, bold, chaotic and innovative - is emblematic in the extensive stretch of street art that is celebrated in the Baltic Triangle. Street art and graffiti’s negative stereotypes are entirely forgotten through embracing the identity markers that bring colour and life to Liverpool’s creative corner.
And so our journey comes to an end…who knows what we’ll see next time? I hope you’ll join me again!
That’s all from NDF this week - see you soon!
