Turnpike Toscana | Artist - James Straffon. Installed August 2013

Tuscan hills roll in downtown Tottenham.

Completed in 1372, the famous Torre pendente di Pisa, or Leaning Tower of Pisa, leans at a precarious 5.5 degrees. Taking nearly 200 years to complete, this freestanding bell tower is rumoured to be the product of Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano. With the builder most probably Diotisalvi of Pisa.

With a mere 3-metre foundation, the tower is 55.86 metres from the ground on the low side, and 56.70 metres on the high side, meaning the top of the bell tower is nearly four metres off vertical.

Artwork created by James Straffon

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Tape art Artist - Anonymous. Installed March 2015

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All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

J. G. Bollard - Crash Artist - TAG. Installed December 2014

Memphis, Tennessee
Written by Chuck Berry 1963.
This song is often shortened to "Memphis"
Recorded on 12 January 1964 by Elvis Presley at the RCA Studio B, Nashville, Tennessee. 
Released on the Elvis for Everyone! album in 1965

Long distance information, give me Memphis Tennessee
Help me find the party trying to get in touch with me
She could not leave her number, but I know who placed the call
'Cause my uncle took the message and he wrote it on the wall

Help me, information, get in touch with my Marie
She's the only one who'd phone me here from Memphis Tennessee
Her home is on the south side, high up on a ridge
Just a half a mile from the Mississippi Bridge

Help me, information, more than that I cannot add
Only that I miss her and all the fun we had
But we were pulled apart because her mom did not agree
And tore apart our happy home in Memphis Tennessee

Last time I saw Marie she's waving me good-bye
With hurry home drops on her cheek that trickled from her eye
Marie is only six years old, information please
Try to put me through to her in Memphis Tennessee

Check the special Blue Suede Shoes Quadtych artworks > HERE

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And for an authentic, epicurean appreciation of Tennesseean gastronomy…

Elvis Presley's Fried Chicken Recipe
(courtesy of Charlie Ayers, former Executive Chef for Google, who once worked alongside a former cook for Elvis Presley, at the Waldorf Astoria)
1/2 c thyme
1/4 c oregano
1/4 c basil
1/2 c onion powder
1/2 c garlic powder
1/2 c dry mustard
1/2 c paprika
1/4 c chili powder
1/2 c celery seed
2 Tbsp salt
1/2 c coriander
1/2 c cumin
1/3 c kosher salt
1/4 c cayenne pepper
1/2 c ground black pepper
1/4 c ground white pepper

3 gals. buttermilk
3 cases organic free range chicken (roughly 30 chickens, divided into 1.5- to 2-lb. sections)

Mix these amounts of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then whisk in the buttermilk until it's thoroughly mixed.

Pour the batter over the chickens and marinate for up to five days - keep refrigerated, of course.

For frying
Now mix another 4x the above dry ingredients, and add:
2 lbs. cornstarch
8 qts. all-purpose organic whole wheat flour

Dredge the marinated chicken pieces in the dry herbs/flour/cornstarch mixture mix.
Fry the dredged chicken in a large skillet with hot peanut oil @ 375 degrees. Once chicken has reached a golden brown colour, finish cooking it in the oven.

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TAG would like to thank the Proprietor of Tennessee Express, Turnpike Lane, for the kind donation of their wall.

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Artwork created by James Straffon

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Get a lifebuoy!Artist - TAG. Installed March 2014

Occasionally at TAG we like to go overboard. So with a need for more colour and plant life in our streets, why not create some life savers?

With thanks to Captain Cat and Midshipman Simon

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Visit our online gallery shop HERE

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

CouponInstalled September 2013

A vacuous coupon. Which ostensibly has no value. It's an interesting proposition.

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Visit our online gallery shop HERE

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Null the Cull T-shirt

Wear your heart on your sleeve. And a badger on your back...

Hand-stencilled with sponges, and fabric dyes, our urban badger has pride of place on any recycled T-shirt. This the ubiquitous vehicle for personal expression, which spans each successive era.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Stop the cullArtist - TAG. Installed August 2013

TAG supports the coalition to stop the UK Badger cull. Give your support HERE & HERE

www.facebook.com/stop.the.cull

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Mushroom soup

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All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Toasters in Hackney. July 2013.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Ssssh

No. 599 Green Lanes, N8, has a relaxed, door ajar vibe.

Jam in a Jar has only just opened. Yet one gets the feeling, as Hiyal said to us, "It's going to stay". Reminiscent of New York's Lower East Side cafés, this shape-shifting venue's charm is indeed the devilish detail; these the arcadian hints at the unfinished - dusty brick, rusty metal, worn leather, cracked windows, weather-beaten hoarding. Everywhere you look you will find a tangible texture, and consequently some sense of belonging; the best kind of déjà vu. Maybe its the old Underwood Typewriter, that greets your entrance with its smiling set of keys. Or the soft filament-filled lighting, glowing easily. Or the voluminous button-back leather Chesterfield, that makes standing a tricky task. Jam in a Jar is the kind of place you want to keep secret.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Tottenham-en-Provence

You'd be forgiven for thinking this was deep in the Lubéron region of France, lying in the foothills of Mont Ventoux. Mais non, an intense period of sunshine has ignited this swathe of saturated lavender, nestled at one corner of Graham Green, N15.

Chapeau to those who tend this Provencal outpost.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Lane turns into Labyrinth

Commissioned to mark the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, Turner Prize-winner Mark Wallinger's created Labyrinth - a London-wide installation piece featuring 270 unique artworks, one for each Tube station. The network of what Wallinger suggests is "…a mental map, a representation of the orientation and contemplation which are the everyday experience of millions of Londoners," has been gradually introduced across the city, finally reaching Turnpike Lane, with number 224 - located on the left-hand wall, after ascending the escalator, or right, just before you head down.

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All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Placemaking with Muffins

Cries of "Homemade blueberry muffins!" are not to be ignored. Particularly when they emanate from just around the corner. And more so when the offering is organic, and delivered by entrepreneurial children. So TAG visited the enterprising street vendors. And departed with two fabulous Blueberry Muffins.

Whilst purchasing, some fellow cake-lovers also took the plunge. Returning only seconds later to add to their previous brace. With everything homemade - from the patisserie to the signage, such creativity has to be applauded.

"We'll be back next week," was the parting promise. TAG hope so.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

Cunning Mr FoxArtist - Irony & Boe. Installed March 2013

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.

WHY

Over a rousing chorus of "My Banksy lies over the ocean…" residents of North London took to the freezing pavement today outside Wood Green's Poundland, and made their collected opinion heard.

In a protest orchestrated by Alan Strickland, banners, voices and small dogs were raised, this before the cameras and crew of the BBC and Channel 4.

With the artwork in question going under the hammer in only a few hours, it was hoped that some last minute reprieve would see 'Slave Labour' rescued from a collector's wall, and returned to the community version.

In a rolling plot of paradox, it seems wholly appropriate that this trans-atlantic drama should be played out in such situational irony - along WHYMARK AVENUE.

All artwork, text and images © Turnpike Art Group 2022.