Whenever anyone mentions the word “love”, it does not necessarily mean the ensuing conversation will suddenly turn into a five-minute melodramatic monologue about someone who has recently fallen in head over heels.
In all seriousness, whenever visiting Liverpool, it is incredibly difficult to escape the embrace of love. A city known not only for its unique friendliness but also as a place where you can observe the street artist LOVE’s creative works floating around the city.
Noticing LOVE’s street art (done with spray paint and a stencil) for the first time is slightly peculiar; nevertheless, it is great to see for the mere single fact that it is rare to come across the word on public display, having absolutely nothing to do with advertising or PR campaigns which convince us to dig deep in our pockets.
After unexpectedly bumping into more of LOVE’s street art here and there on Liverpool’s streets, an obsession starts to grow: seeing how many LOVEs you can spot in one day.
The use of the Times New Roman font style makes the letters stand out superbly. In addition, the choice of letters in different dark and light colours blends in nicely on public surfaces. And all of this, consequently, makes LOVE’s street art so obvious to the naked eye; it is hard not to detect their creative expression throughout the city.
A memorable moment a few years back, LOVE showed their appreciation for everything the NHS did during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a well-documented era when the brave NHS staff constantly risked their lives daily under extremely dangerous circumstances.
Yes, the street artist briefly changed their modus operandi and chose not to put the spotlight solely on their already well-established pseudonym: a name that has floated in Liverpool’s communities for several years. And while doing this, they created enough room in their street art to show gratitude and respect for the NHS.
Something that can only be viewed as a selfless act by a street artist, deliberately decentralising their street art to help create space to raise awareness.
Love is a broad term because we all have our own interpretations of what love actually is. For example, one person may love something that another person dislikes. However, overall, it is fair to presume most associate love with positivity rather than negativity.
And therefore, it is a great thing the street artist LOVE is doing, dedicating time out of their own schedule to spread a sense of optimism and positive thinking throughout Liverpool, by using their creativity, which is commendable because we all need something to uplift us now and then during these testing times.
