Entertainment Swindon was out around Swindon today checking out some of the street art that is currently being worked on by artists from literally around the globe!
We first hit Corporation Street to meet up with ‘7th Pencil’ & ‘STOCKE’ who were already on day two of working on their amazing pieces of art. Speaking to 7th Pencil about her art and what inspires her, she said “I love floral motifs and use my art to spread positivity, inclusivity and support mental health awareness in my art” 7th Pencil went on to say “it really inspires me to produce more of my art when I hear people say how my art has changed their lives, a woman from Swindon told me a previous piece I worked on in the town really helped change her community, lowering suicide rates in her community”.
Checking out 7th Pencil’s artwork on her official Instagram @7th_pencil shows real vulnerableness, emotion and beauty in her stunning work.
A few steps away we caught up with STOCKE, who’s art jumped out with an abundance of influence from Pop Art, his vibrant work which we saw taking place before our eyes showed an amazing use of colour, with a bit of a Marilyn Monroe vibe to it. Speaking to STOCKE from London about his art, he said “I just love using colour and shapes in my work” STOCKE was definitely a man of few words and all about the art, talking to him about spending so much time and effort on his stunning artwork on the hoardings hiding the work going on behind, knowing that at some point his art would be taken down to reveal a new office building, he said “I happens, you can paint where Im from in London on a wall one day and walk past it the next day and a new piece of art is being worked on over the top of yours. Thats street art, forever changing”.
Check out STOCKE on Instagram @stockeartworks
From Corporation Street, we moved onto the Tented Market where a huge piece was being worked on by street artist Mr Cenz, another street artist from London who has been scribbling on surfaces since 1984 when he first discovered hip-hop culture and graffiti art.
Since then he has been commissioned to produce murals since the age of just 11yrs old, leading him to a hugely successful career as a professional graffiti artist. By the time we caught up with Mr Cenz on Tuesday afternoon, he was already two days into his work on the side of T4 Cameras in Market Street next to the Tented Market and the work of art taking up the whole side of the building was stunning. When we asked what the inspiration was behind his work of art in the town, he said “Its about looking up to the future”.
Check out Mr Cenz on Instagram @mrcenzone
We finished our little tour of Swindon along Princes Street, where an international flavour was transferring the wall leading up the Pride Steps. Two pieces of art were being worked on by a couple of artists, to the right was a woman holding what looks to be a golden glass, but it was too early to tell being only day one of the art taking place. The artist responsible for the work is Liam Bononi, all the way from Brazil, influenced by exaggerated, dramatic and theatrical expressions. Really looking forward to seeing the finished work.
Check out Liam Bononi on Instagram @liambononi
Next door, on the same wall was Leonidas Giannakopoulos all the from Greece who was working on what we think could be our favourite piece of 2024, on Tuesday it was very much in its very early stages with just white blocks of paint on the all, but looking at the image on a large printout, the artist showed us was an unbelievable image what we called Space Crab, a huge, giant crab with what could only be described as spacecraft shell looking up to space. What we saw could never be described in just words, we can only say, go check it out at the weekend, as we are sure it will be a sight to be amazed at!
Check out Leonidas Giannakopoulos on Instagram @leonidas_giannakopoulos
Swindon Paint Fest kicks off on Saturday 31st August and runs through to the end of 1st September, a great excuse to get out and have a wonder round Swindon on foot before the Summer ends and Autumn sets in.
You can check out all the details for Swindon Paint Fest on their website https://swindonpaintfest.weebly.com/
Entertainment Swindon 
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