Darren Cullen (graffiti Artist)
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Darren Cullen is a London-based professional
graffiti art Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
ist who is commonly known by the tag name SER. Cullen emerged as an artist from the British graffiti art scene in the early 1980s.


Overview

Cullen grew up in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
where he became active in the graffiti and street art scene in 1983. His current graffiti name "Ser" was originally a crew name, which stood for "South East Rockers" – an unorganized crew name used by other graffiti artists in the south east area of London. When other graffiti artists stopped using the name "Ser", Cullen adopted the name as his own. In July 2012, Cullen spoke to Rebecca Cafe of
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
and said he was confused as to why the graffiti walls in East London were all of a sudden being cleaned. The walls in East London "the mecca of graffiti" had been there for years, but with the Olympics about to start the authorities wanted to clean the streets. In November 2013, in an interview with ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'', Cullen said that in his view graffiti had become respectable. Cullen went on to say that graffiti had evolved due to a number of factors. Magazines and documentaries documenting good graffiti art and spray paint had been produced especially for graffiti. The paint now gave the artist more control over his artwork, he said.


Artwork

In 2012, Cullen worked for the
London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, painting the stage sets for the opening ceremony. Cullen created a Hyperrealist
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
of
Kate Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...
and royal baby on a wall at Brookland Lake,
Snodland Snodland is a town in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It lies on the River Medway, between Rochester and Maidstone, and from central London. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 10,211. History "Snoddingland" ...
, Kent. Cullen also donates pieces of artwork to non-profit organizations for underprivileged children. Rockmount Infants School in Upper Norwood received a council community grant to commission Cullen & fellow artist Paul Barlow to paint two sea murals on the classroom walls. Cullen has given credit to street artist
Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...
saying: "If it wasn't for Banksy, graffiti would still be about vandalism".


Graffiti Kings

Cullen founded ''Graffiti Kings'', a commercial graffiti and street art company based on Leake Street in London. The company provided spraycan artwork and branding to major international brands. They have also appeared on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
TV programme '' Young Apprentice''. Graffiti Kings represents around 30 artists.


History

Graffiti Kings was founded in 1999 as a movement by Cullen. Graffiti Kings became an organised business in 2007.


Graffiti Vehicles

Graffiti Kings gave the
London Tonight ''ITV News London'' is a British television news service broadcast on both ITV London and the ITV Hub. It is produced by ITN. History London News Network The programme launched on Monday 4 January 1993 as ''London Tonight'', after Carlton ...
Olympic cab a new look with vibrant colours. The cab was used by London Tonight presenter Ben Scotchbrook to interview the public and get their views on the 2012 Summer Olympics. Ben Scotchbrook says the "Graffiti Kings are artistic royalty" Green campaigner Mr Peg from Croydon commissioned the Graffiti Kings to paint his chip fat powered eco bus in return for a pallet of Tangy Toms crisps before it went on a worldwide tour to help promote low
carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
use.


Live Performances

Graffiti Kings take part in a live online hashtag campaign that was featured on the
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
Facebook and Twitter social media sites. Graffiti Kings produce a live piece of art in front of shoppers to help launch the opening of a new store in
Trinity Leeds Trinity Leeds is a shopping and leisure centre in the city centre of Leeds, England, named after the adjacent 18th-century Holy Trinity Church. Developed by Land Securities and designed by Chapman Taylor, it opened on 21 March 2013, with over ...
.


Graffiti Workshops

Students from
South Worcestershire College Malvern Hills Arts and Community College is a non-profit company set up in April 2021 to manage the bid to save the site of the former Malvern Hills College / Malvern School of Art from being sold to developers by its current owners who received ...
England work with the Graffiti Kings to paint a colourful graffiti art mural in their college
youth centre A youth center or youth centre, often called youth club, is a place where young people can meet and participate in a variety of activities, for example table football, association football (US soccer, UK football), basketball, table tennis, vid ...
. Graffiti Kings help the visitors at the
National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...
in
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
England to produce graffiti art murals over a 2-week period. Graffiti Kings hold weekend graffiti workshops at the Banksy Tunnel in London to explain the distinctions between graffiti and street art.


Community work

Cullen has admitted to engaging in vandalism and tagging while growing up in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, but after later turning his work into a legal, commercial activity, Cullen was commissioned by Merton Council to run graffiti workshops for young people. The workshops aimed to reduce vandalism and to foster an understanding of graffiti art and its positive uses among at-risk youth in Croydon by offering opportunities for graffiti artists to practise their art legally on designated walls. In 2000, Cullen worked with
London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croy ...
to paint graffiti murals on 19 shop shutters to help reduce graffiti vandalism.
Val Shawcross Valerie Shawcross is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2016 to 2018. A member of the Labour Co-operative parties, she was Member of the London Assembly for Lambeth and Southwark from 2000 to 2016. ...
from the GLA's anti-graffiti committee visited Cullen while he painted a 300-yard-long subway. Local youths from
South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...
London helped Cullen paint the
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
, which was part of the Croydon Council Smarter Croydon initiative. Cullen has received the backing of the British Government for his work to prevent graffiti on trains. Cullen has painted 15 train stations, the first being Wallington Train Station in Sutton south London. The Wallington project had more than fifty young people taking part and around 300 more arrived to watch the event.


References


External links


Artist website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Darren 1973 births Living people People from Croydon Artists from London British graffiti artists Graffiti in the United Kingdom