Upper Space

Upper Space is a non-profit street art organisation that is comprised of artists; academics; activists and community organisers. We directly support street artist’s practices whilst representing a selection of non-commercial public realm artists that engage with spacial, social and environmental justice issues within the UK and abroad.

Artist expression in public spaces

Graffiti is an important part of urban human communication that is often marginalized. It is a raw form of self expression divorced from regulation, curation, and control, and is a phenomenon evident in varying cultures from ancient cave paintings and Roman bath houses, to the RAR B trains in Paris. Despite most governments’ best efforts to eliminate it, graffiti is innately tied to the human condition and will continue to be prevalent in urban centers, constantly adapting to the realities of nature, economics, technology, and law enforcement.

Street art is an important, and in many cases healthy voice in the public sphere. This is especially relevant in urban centres where the visual landscape is controlled centrally and expression within this is based on economic capability. This is a potentially dangerous situation where local inhabitants have little control on the look and feel of their own streets.

To counteract this enclosure, Upper Space exists to encourage collective intelligence via the combination of creative; public; 3rd sector; academic; and activist networks. The sharing and experimenting of ideas and approaches to address a broad range of environmental, social and community concerns. Our street artists are primarily concerned with the dominance of private interests within the public realm and our projects, interventions and installations aim to push the boundaries of appropriate acts of citizenship at a time of social, environmental and economic austerity.

Visit the Upper Space website to find out more about their projects, interventions and exhibitions.