Your Space Or Mine

Yinka Ilori

You may already have seen multidisciplinary artist Yinka Ilori’s impressive, huge scale work. He’s the man behind colourful projects like Thassaly Road Bridge and Dulwich Pavilion, both of which he transformed in his unique vision. Combining his British and Nigerian heritage to tell bold new stories, Ilori launched his studio in 2017. His work is contemporary, exciting and uplifting, which is exactly what we all need right now.

The BUILDHOLLYWOOD family have teamed up with Ilori to bring his trademark colour to the street yet again with their Your Space Or Mine project. With a message of “better days are coming, I promise” in 70s-style text against a vibrant backdrop of orange, blue, green pink and yellow, the poster is both uplifting and meaningful.

The piece will be on view in our poster site in Blackfriars, taking inspiration from the sketches for the new A&E department at Westminster Hospital, which Ilori will also be designing. The project is in collaboration with charity CW+, the official charity of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Kensington and Chelsea Art Week, who are creating temporary installations in West London.

Speaking about the thought process behind his work, Ilori told us that, “‘better days are coming, I promise’ is a message that I have been singing to myself and loved ones during the pandemic.” He added: “The message has been my therapist during these tough times and has given me hope when sometimes I feel like this will never come to an end.” The news right now is often distressing and painful, but Ilori wants us to take away positive thoughts from our current situation.

“The NHS staff are working to save people’s lives and I can’t imagine what it feel like for them. They must be also struggling to feel like better days are coming, but sometimes we all need a reminder that they are.” Ilori hopes that his work will contribute to the good mood of both NHS staff and regular people as they go about their routines: “I want the artwork to give people a sense of hope and provide them with joy, bringing them some comfort where they may feel pain and uncertainty.”

He adds, “I pray that when people walk past or look at my message on the streets of London It uplifts their soul and spirit because we are in this together.” We are proud to work with Ilori on this important project – we need uplifting words and images right now, and Ilori’s work is always bound to inspire.