One Swinton business sick of the “scruffy graffiti on the side of his chippy”, decided to take matters into their own hands- commissioning a mural from Evan Barlow Art, to put Swinton on the map.
Painted on the side of Mr Chips takeaway, a ‘family run English Fish & Chip Shop’ in Swinton, ‘Evan Barlow Art’ has created a mural to celebrate the heritage of Swinton and Manchester as a whole.
The mural created in collaboration with Evan Barlow Art and Kelzo, two Mancunian artists- pays homage to iconic ‘Manchesterisms’ with a range of recognisable landmarks and small personal references such as: Acme Mill, Salford Lads Club, Oasis, the Manchester bee, and a young girl with her pet bulldog who lives down the same street as Mr Chips’s takeaway.
The pair tried to include the community within their work as much as possible, and if they missed any landmarks out, the local community weren’t afraid to tell the artists:
“I’m from North Manchester, I don’t know much about Swinton, so when I was doing it, I had all the locals coming up to me going ‘oh you haven’t put this in’ or ‘where’s that’” said Barlow.
Painted slowly over the period of several weeks, the mural incorporates Evan Barlow’s and Kelzo’s personal styles, including their own material in the form of sunsets and colour pallets for a personal twist, and L.S Lowry inspired material in the background to add depth to the painting.
Barlow told how well-received the mural has been from the community:
“We’ve had a great response from the community and people online, cars would stop, people would take pictures, it brought the place up a little bit.”
The only criticism they have received was small comments such as “Oasis aren’t from Swinton”, but Mr. Chips wanted the piece to honour Manchester as a whole.
Evan Barlow laughed:
“Those who live in immediate view of the street loved it, I became a fully-fledged member of the community by the time I finished, they kept saying ‘Do you want a can of beer? Do you want this? Want that? It’s the middle of Salford so I won’t elaborate exactly on what was offered, but I was offered a lot”.
It is clear how this colorful mural has evoked a sense of community spirit for the residents of Swinton, those wanting to visit the mural can see it on the side of Mr Chips’ takeaway on 354 Bolton Road, Salford, M27 8UX.
Evan Barlow’s artwork can be found on his social media sites @artistlad
Kelzo’s artwork can be found on his social media sites @kelzo1984
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