- Frank Creber
- All Artworks
- MULBERRY PLACE BOY
Original artwork description
Mulberry Place Boy is a painting rooted in direct observation and long-term engagement with a specific urban environment. It is informed by drawings made from the roof of the Tower Hamlets Council buildings on Mulberry Place, near East India in East London. From this elevated vantage point, the artist was afforded expansive views across the River Thames and the dense architectural landscape that surrounds it. These sweeping perspectives establish a sense of scale and context, situating the painting firmly within the fabric of the city.
One of the most prominent structures visible is Balfron Tower, the iconic modernist building designed by Ernő Goldfinger. The presence of this tower brings with it layers of cultural and architectural history, including the well-known anecdote of Goldfinger’s strained relationship with his neighbour Ian Fleming, which famously inspired the name of the James Bond villain. This reference subtly links the painting’s setting to broader narratives of power, identity, and myth-making within British culture.
At the centre of the composition is a young figure placed deliberately within the urban setting. The inclusion of the youth reflects the artist’s decade-long experience running a youth arts club in Tower Hamlets, working closely with young people on public art murals across the borough. Through this sustained engagement, the artist developed an intimate understanding of the concerns, ambitions, and daily realities of young lives shaped by the streets of East London.
Rather than standing apart from the city, the boy appears absorbed into it. His figure dissolves into the surrounding architecture, suggesting a deep entanglement between individual identity and environment. The painting resists romanticising youth or portraying it as separate from the city’s structures. Instead, Mulberry Place Boy presents the young person as inseparable from the urban landscape, shaped by it and, in turn, quietly shaping it. The work speaks to themes of belonging, visibility, and the subtle ways in which lives are embedded within the city’s physical and social architecture.
Materials used:
oil paint
Details:
- Oil painting on Canvas
- One of a kind artwork
- Size: 101 x 76 x 3cm (unframed) / 101 x 76cm (actual image size)
- Signed on the front
- Style: Impressionistic
- Subject: Architecture and cityscapes
Tags:
#youth#street art#east london#urban life#london life#council building
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Original artwork description
Mulberry Place Boy is a painting rooted in direct observation and long-term engagement with a specific urban environment. It is informed by drawings made from the roof of the Tower Hamlets Council buildings on Mulberry Place, near East India in East London. From this elevated vantage point, the artist was afforded expansive views across the River Thames and the dense architectural landscape that surrounds it. These sweeping perspectives establish a sense of scale and context, situating the painting firmly within the fabric of the city.
One of the most prominent structures visible is Balfron Tower, the iconic modernist building designed by Ernő Goldfinger. The presence of this tower brings with it layers of cultural and architectural history, including the well-known anecdote of Goldfinger’s strained relationship with his neighbour Ian Fleming, which famously inspired the name of the James Bond villain. This reference subtly links the painting’s setting to broader narratives of power, identity, and myth-making within British culture.
At the centre of the composition is a young figure placed deliberately within the urban setting. The inclusion of the youth reflects the artist’s decade-long experience running a youth arts club in Tower Hamlets, working closely with young people on public art murals across the borough. Through this sustained engagement, the artist developed an intimate understanding of the concerns, ambitions, and daily realities of young lives shaped by the streets of East London.
Rather than standing apart from the city, the boy appears absorbed into it. His figure dissolves into the surrounding architecture, suggesting a deep entanglement between individual identity and environment. The painting resists romanticising youth or portraying it as separate from the city’s structures. Instead, Mulberry Place Boy presents the young person as inseparable from the urban landscape, shaped by it and, in turn, quietly shaping it. The work speaks to themes of belonging, visibility, and the subtle ways in which lives are embedded within the city’s physical and social architecture.
Materials used:
oil paint
Details:
- Oil painting on Canvas
- One of a kind artwork
- Size: 101 x 76 x 3cm (unframed) / 101 x 76cm (actual image size)
- Signed on the front
- Style: Impressionistic
- Subject: Architecture and cityscapes
Tags:
#youth#street art#east london#urban life#london life#council building
Frank Creber
United Kingdom
About
Painting is a bit like cooking; you can have complicated ingredients and a simple method, or simple ingredients and a complicated method. You can follow a recipe closely or see... Read more