Joseph Ford x Skirl - Impossible Street Art

Limited edition archival pigment photographs printed on Canson Baryta Prestige 340gsm paper. Joseph signs and numbers each piece on the front.

60 x 45cm, Limited Edition of 15
120 x 90cm, Limited Edition of 5 

Skirl is an Austrian street artist known for his distinctive abstract monochrome murals featuring fluid, swirling patterns. His work, often created using freehand techniques, interacts harmoniously with urban architecture, transforming walls into dynamic, almost organic compositions. Skirl’s style is rooted in movement and rhythm, evoking a sense of continuous flow, making his murals both mesmerising and immersive. His art can be found on streets and buildings across Europe, blending street art with contemporary abstraction.

I met Skirl through a gallery and was instantly captivated by his work. I suggested painting Sizewell A nuclear power station in Suffolk - the vast brutalist building seemed ripe for reinterpretation. The site itself is in a restricted zone, patrolled by armed police so painting it for real is obviously impossible, but you can walk along the beach just outside the heavily fortified perimeter. I rephotographed Skirl’s painted photograph on a balmy summer’s evening and thought the photoshoot was over when I saw a patrol car coming past. They blipped their siren and left me alone, to my relief. 

Information about Impossible Street Art

In this project my starting point was to imagine if street artists could work on any surface, not restricted by scale, accessibility, safety or rules. By challenging these conventions I explore the tensions between artistic expression and the restrictions imposed by social norms and governments. I have photographed landscapes that would be amazing for a street artist to paint, but are impossible to paint for real, because they're too big or inaccessible. 

I have chosen some of my favourite street artists and given them large photographic prints, which they have painted to create original, hand-made artworks with no digital manipulation.

I then re-shoot each artwork on an easel in its original location, creating captivating windows into a parallel universe where street artists have been given free rein.