Stik paints tallest piece of street art in UK to highlight shortage of social housing

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The UK’s tallest piece of street art has appeared on the side of a condemned council estate in West London.

The 125 ft mural, which was completed last week by renowned street artist Stik, runs up the entirety of the Charles Hocking House council estate in Acton and is aimed at raising awareness about the lack of social housing in the area.

The piece entitled “Big Mother”, uses Stik’s signature ‘line drawing’ style to show a mother and child looking down from their condemned council estate at the luxury apartments being built in the area that surrounds them.

According to Stik, the piece is a comment on the lack of access to social housing in London for those most in need.

Speaking to The Independent, he said: “The mother and child symbol are a representation of the family that live in this block.”

“While I am drawing on the wall; my role as an artist is to draw from society and social issues, and try to depict what is going on. “

“I’m trying to articulate the voice of the people in stylised way to the world.”

The project took a year to plan and a month to complete, and involved Stik using a crane hoisted up to 38.2 metres into the air.

It can be viewed across west London and is even visible from planes leaving Heathrow.

“It’s great that as people arrive in the country they can see the mother and child looking across the expanse of private development.”

Charles Hocking House, the building used for Stik’s artwork, was completed in 1969 with the aim of providing affordable housing for families in the area.

However, Ealing council has now decided to demolish the building.

The 125 ft painting, which Stik agreed to do for free, is part of a wider project by local arts group Manager for Acton Arts Forum to try and bring art to the streets and public spaces around estate.

Rachel Pepper, Project Manager for Acton Arts Forum, said: “We are really excited that Stik has jumped on board of this local artwork.”

“It is part of wider project to get local street artists to brighten up the area. There are some dark and dingy parts on the estate and we now have about 15 or 16 pieces of artwork that people come to see especially.”

You can see Stik's other work here: stik.org