It’s been a busy year from my art consultancy with Mexican Street Food maestro’s Wahaca – so catching up on our latest installations – here’s one we did earlier…
For the Kentish Town site (above the iconic Underground station) we wanted to support a local artist and at the same time find someone who could work sympathetically with this much-loved former T-shirt Factory space. Our unanimous choice was Goodchild an up-and-coming artist who works on the street and in the studio in a bold iconic style.
Originally from Bristol, having grown up with that cities graffiti scene, Goodchild went on to study illustration in London and has lived in the Kentish Town area for a number of years. The artist describes his work as abstract narratives or wordless stories told through symbols and in this case he tells the story on 5th Column the T-shirt printers, the company that was based there for 30 years and is still going strong but from another location. 5th column was famed through the 80s and 90s for producing protest T-shirts for Peta, WWF and Anti-Apartheid – eventually meeting Nelson Mandela when he visited the UK shortly after his release.
Using limited colours, strong graphic shapes and patterns influenced by underground comics, Goodchild’s murals celebrate this unique space filled with references to this history and the printing process.