ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Mohammed Ali, an award winning aerosol artist, first came to my attention in a feature on Newsnight on 21st April this year.
I’ve always loved the big, brightly coloured walls left behind by street artists around the streets when I was growing up or visible from the train as I rode in and out of London. In the late 80s, Southampton City Council even got someone to paint the lower ‘Drab Grey™’ walls of a new multi-story car park – they were fantastic, really bright and cheerful and they completely changed the atmosphere of the car park.
Since pre-history, human beings have used visual media to communicate with each other and to alter their environment. Early cave paintings give us fascinating insights into the way early man viewed the world and his place in it.

Photo credit: Norbert Aujolat, found on www.donsmaps.com

One of the aspects that most intrigues me about modern street art is the way in which it has developed into an established medium for communicating protests and social/political messages. Graffiti is considered an illegal act of vandalism by authorities the world over, so artists often take great risks when painting, risks that are sometimes compounded by the dangerous conditions in which they need to work to reduce the risks of being caught. Yet they manage to create works of art like those below.

Art credit: Jackson Butchart, photo credit: Ngawangchodron, found on flickr

Photo credit: Miss Lila Bird, found on her blog (scroll down)

Photo credit: unavailable, found on the comuni-italiani website

In recent times however, graffiti has expanded from the domain of the disenfranchised, subversive and non-conformist into the mainstream, with artists gaining international recognition. There are even organisations who will devise and execute ‘gureilla marketing’ campaigns, using traditional and non-traditional graffiti techniques.

It’s against this background that Ail finds a way to share his message with the world at large, and specific communities in particular.

Unlike his more famous contemporary Banksy, Ali always seeks permission for the placement of his art. To do otherwise would run counter to his faith, his understanding of good citizenship, and his message. “I aim to use the art that I do to try and bring about positive change,” says Ali. “When I’m working with kids in street corners or when I travel to parts of the developing world, I hope that through my art I may be able to help enhance their condition, perhaps get them to think about things they would not normally think about.”

He has collaborated with artists all around the world, from the USA and Canada to Australia and his native Britain. As so often when you make a statement as bold as these walls are, there are individuals who cannot, or will not, listen to the point he is trying to make. Ali does tackle big issues, war, peace, the environment and racism to name a few. His use of Quranic scriptures and Islamic calligraphy in his work challenges ‘western’ mindset, but he seeks always to share understanding rather than create conflict with his art. He does a lot of work with children and young people, engaging them and teaching the difference between indiscriminate tagging and street art with a respectful message. In short, he is finding a way to use his art to make a positive change in the world, confronting and confounding assumptions and stereotypes, and I hope people stop and listen as he takes his messages of unity, justice and peace to the wider world.

Here’s a tiny selection, there are many more in his official gallery. To learn more about Ali’s work and philosophy, visit his blog