Leeds based arts organisation, East Street Arts teamed up with Hammerson PLC to provide a unique print making space in the city of Leeds. The newly refurbished building resides on Vicar Lane and will be occupied by Leeds Print Workshop, a print co-operative hoping to extend the local printmaking community and give people a place to create and connect with other artists.

130 Vicar Lane is the next step towards the bid for Leeds to be capital of culture in 2023. Myself and an art collective I am heavily involved in (GOAT) were commissioned to produce and install a mural on the facade of the building, and responded to the brief by deconstructing and reimagining aspects of the neighbouring architecture. The mural is a collection of graphic motifs and symbols taken from a physchogeographical perspective of Vicar Lane. 

The architecture, road markings, type and symbols found throughout the lane have been reworked into more contemporary imagery, attempting to display the history of the area within one small space. The concept runs from the idea that Vicar Lane’s history lies in what was there from the beginning, the architecture. The architecture is the one consistent element of the lane itself. Even when new things are built, they are the only things there that will stay the same for a long period of time. The shops and trade inside, the people who live and work there change, but the buildings remain. 

The aesthetic celebrates the development of this area of Leeds as a whole and it’s history, while the use of the space looks towards the future of artistic creation and collaboration, and the evolution of culture within Leeds.

To celebrate the launch - we then created a series of screen printed tote bags

based on the design used for the mural.