Street Art Games: From Owens to Moon

LONDON — The 2012 Games’ graffiti-esque logo may have been a nod to the fact that London has the world’s most vibrant street-art scene, but you won’t find any street art at an actual Olympic venue. Every sport takes place within a super-sanitized corporate branding zone. In the East London neighborhoods near Olympic Park, though, artists have been posting Olympic commentary on walls, pull-down gates, billboards and plywood barricades … and SI has been collecting its favorite images.

Last week, the blog looked at prolific street-sport artist #CODEFC, as well as an official installation by graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee. A post on Monday featured Jimmy C’s Usain Bolt mural in Shoreditch. Today’s offering is a 10-piece compilation of Olympics graffiti, paste-up art, stencils and flyers:

1. Ronzo’s Olympic Bird

A metaphor that needs no explanation. Image — as well as the in-progress one above — courtesy of Ronzo, who bills himself as a “Vandal Extraordinaire.”

2. Mr. Fahrenheit’s Jesse Owens

Mr. Fahrenheit, who tags his work as MFH, has also been posting limited-edition Olympic art in a different tube station each morning, with the location revealed on his Flickr feed.

3. Teddy Baden’s Going For Gold

Baden took one of his trademark dogs … and set it loose on Menlock, the Olympic mascot.

4. Mau Mau’s Torch Relay

This piece lasted only six days in Ealing, West London, until it was painted over by local officials. Mau Mau says they told him that “the image was offensive to the public.”

5. Brandalism’s Without-Permission Billboard

Brandalism launched a major billboard-attack campaign around the start of the games, with this one being our favorite:

6. Keith Moon Flyer

These flyers — cocabeenslinky on Flickr — were posted in response to LOCOG’s Keith Moon gaffe. The author is unknown.

7. ‘I’m Lovin It’ Stencil

This counter-branding stencil — Pogorita on Flickr — appeared in a few tube stations before the Games.

8. Everybody Here Hates The Olympics …

… except for the 100 meters. Excellent addendum.

9. Mr. Fahrenheit’s Olympic Ripoff

One more from MFH, via Tatiana Alisova’s Instagram feed. This is what he posts on his off-days from Jesse Owens paste-ups.

10. Official LOCOG Sex Tours

There are no details about this in my media guide, but this poster — once again from Tatiana Alisova — claims the tour exists. Perhaps it’s only in the athlete’s village.