Brixton basketball court transformed with artwork inspired by area

This was one time mazy dribbles were banned on a basketball court.

An art crew has reclaimed its neighbourhoods with paint transforming a community space with art inspired by the people and the surroundings.

The project, on the Canterbury Estate basketball court in Brixton, is part of an initiative to make the court more user friendly, and was led by local crew, L.N.i.P. (Last Night in Paris), a collective of musicians, artists, fashion designers and tattoo artists from the surrounding areas.

The inspiration for the mural came about through street interviews and community meetings, where the art collective spoke with residents and neighbours about the culture of their district, translating it directly into an art piece.

The main structure of the Brixton mural, commissioned by L.N.i.P, is made up of the letters spelling out ‘Brixton’, accompanied by subtle nods to the South London community.

Within the piece, a cyclist performing a wheelie and a football pitch represent the strong sporting presence in the community.

Brixton Tube station is an essential part of the area, a vital organ of London that connects people, and this is represented by a child playing with an Underground train.

On top of the letter ‘T’ is a boy picking an apple from a tree. The ‘T’ is representative of the teamwork required to maintain and preserve the nature around us for future generations.

Brixton is known to many as ‘Little Jamaica,’ and to pay homage to the Caribbean culture present in Brixton the art crew featured the Jamaican flag.

Taurean Roye, L.N.i.P co-founder, said: “We’ve really enjoyed working as a team and collaborating with Foot Locker and Adidas to create this bespoke mural for the Brixton community.

“It was inspiring meeting and speaking with members of the Brixton community, hearing them talk about the neighbourhood, creativity, landmarks, insights and what Brixton means to them.

“Brixton has a very prominent community, and so we really wanted to capture this tightly knit community spirit, by centring our design around a townscape.

“It’s great to see our final artwork on display in the heart of the Brixton community, and we’re looking forward to seeing the full refurbishment of the basketball courts, which will help sports lovers in the community to come together.”

Pictured top: Some of the artists on the Canterbury Estate basketball court in Brixton