Street artist Angry Dan introduces his new interactive show at 1B Gallery in Walthamstow
If you’ve ever happened upon a colourful poem painted on the streets of Walthamstow, the chances are you were looking at one of my artworks.
There are seven dotted around the town, and together they make a treasure hunt, intended as an amusing, inspiring, and informative activity for the child inside all of us.
These poems are all examples of limericks – a variety of short form verse that I have spent five years writing, illustrating, and painting on walls across the UK and overseas.
During this time, many people have generously sent me their own compositions. This always brightens up my day – both for the sheer joy of receiving something so thoughtful, and for their often ingenious rhymes, inventive wordplay, or absurd humour.
This has inspired the premise for my next exhibition – an open call to all budding poets to collaborate with me on a unique artwork.
Throughout August, I will be at the 1B Window Gallery, inviting you all to submit your own limericks. The most commendable entries will be displayed in the gallery for the first two weeks of September, alongside the winning poem, which I will illustrate in my bold, colourful style, creating a one-of-a-kind collaborative artwork, to be presented to the winner on Friday 15th September.
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The competition is open to all ages and you can enter as many times as you like. Your entries must be your own original compositions, unpublished anywhere before 1st August.
So, how do you go about writing a limerick? They must have five lines written in anapestic meter, which means they bounce on every third syllable – think of We Went to the Animal Fair.
The first and second line must rhyme, and typically introduce a character, narrative, or concept. The third and fourth lines are a little shorter, rhyme with each other, and often develop the idea to a point of intrigue or suspense. The last line is the most important. It’s the closer, the punchline, the resolve, or the reveal – and it always rhymes with the first two lines.
This sway of the rhyme scheme, over to the third and fourth lines, then back again, is what gives a well-written limerick the feeling of reaching a satisfying conclusion.
I’ll be in the gallery every day from the 1st to the 28th of August – do come and say hello. I look forward to reading your poems.
You can follow Angry Dan’s activities on his Instagram: @Angrydan
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