Seeing as we had so many additional pictures that didn’t make our Meeting Of Styles 2016 review (covered here) we thought we would take a look at some of the highlight pieces for us here at London Calling Blog in a bit more detail. With this in mind this work below is one we certainly feel deserves a more dedicated account, an excellent collaboration from London’s very own Fanakapan and Louis Masai who for us hit out the highlight of the event. Going all out and working the largest space in relation to size and detail of the weekend, this pair spent some three days prepping and executing this visual delight, something which reflects (no pun intended) on the result of the effort involved.

The theme of this years Meeting of Styles event was ‘Absolute Freedom’, so the duo decided to collaborate on this work entitled ‘Freedom?’ which features an overwhelming number of large ocean creatures crammed into a fish tank. Depicting a number of creatures all piled in to this artificial setting, including dolphins, a killer whale with a curved fin – suffering from Dorsal Fin Collapse, a symptom of captivity – and a great white shark leaping from the tank. All of the animals within the piece are either hunted for meat or captured for display in captivity, with the idea of the work questioning notions of such creatures ‘freedom’. A fantastic idea, one very much at the root of all of Louis Masai’s output, superbly executed and showcasing two beautiful and contrasting styles with Fanakapan’s mettalic overtones and the many colours of Masai’s creations sitting so harmoniously together. We also love the design of the fish tank by Fanakapan who has painted this wall many times in the past now and decided to incorporate the design into the walls features, with the central vertical bar of the fish tank aligned with an arch in the wall and the misty effect added to compliment the glare that can be such a pain when trying to photo this wall.

 

The initial sketch-lines laid down on the Friday before the event.

Fanakapan & Louis Masai at work Saturday morning.

Louis Masai at work.

Fanakapan & Louis Masai at work.

Fanakapan & Louis Masai at work.

Louis Masai at work.

Louis Masai at work.

The many colours of Louis Masai’s work.

Fanakapan at work.

Fanakapan & Louis Masai at work.

Louis Masai at work.

Fanakapan at work.

Louis Masai & Fanakapan at work.

Louis Masai & Fanakapan at work.

Louis Masai & Fanakapan at work.

Louis Masai at work.

Louis Masai & Fanakapan at work.

Louis Masai at work.

Louis Masai & Fanakapan at work.

Fanakapan at work.

Fanakapan & Louis Masai at work.

Fanakapan at work.