Westminster residents who want to see original work by artist Ben Eine – whose 21st Century City painting was chosen by Prime Minister David Cameron as a gift for President Obama – don’t have too travel far. In fact, there’s another great example of Ben Eine’s work on Paddington Green.
Last year Ben Eine collaborated with City of Westminster College students to create original artwork for the hoarding around the £102m new campus under construction on Paddington Green. The artist and his helpers created the lettering ‘Making Magnificent Minds’ – with words chosen by Ben Eine to represent both the College’s ongoing mission and the learning environment inside the schmidt hammer lassen Paddington Green Campus.
The College hoarding, which measures 60m in length and 3m in height, is believed to be one of the largest temporary artworks ever to appear on London’s streets. At the time it was created last July, it was also Ben Eine’s largest ever project.
Like the canvas given to President Obama, the City of Westminster College hoarding features Ben Eine’s trademark ornate lettering. It was painstakingly spray-painted over the course of five days and used around 400 litres of spray paint.
This massive project had plenty of willing assistants, as 14 City of Westminster College students on the Prince’s Trust Team programme helped out with the spray painting – enjoying the chance to collaborate with the artist and learn more about the techniques he uses.
The ‘Making Magnificent Minds’ artwork will be in place until shortly before the new Paddington Green Campus opens in January 2011.