Zagreb/Croatia 2012.
It was fucking freezing when I found this spot in Zagreb (about -10ish) . It looked 'legal-ish' so I went for it... First! It took me 2 hours to paint that 'authentic Balkan graffiti wall' background (so I hope you appreciate that) & then I banged my piece out in about 45mins (give or take 5 mins of frostbite stopping 'hands-down-my-trousers' behaviour) Which seemed to particularly disturb one pair of passing grannies. (Sorry bout that)
At one point the Old Bill turned up. Armed to the teeth & oozing in 'Balkan cop chic'. 1 was particularly large & mean looking. Anyway! Bit of the old Anglo charm & I had these 2 robocops 'eating out me palm' innit...
Well! they didnt exactly build me a bomfire to keep me warm & belt out a few traditional Serb folk songs 'just for my entertainment' (the irony of it) but they did let me finish (which is always appreciated) The exact translation I think was . 'Hurry up you dumb Britisher fool, finish up this nonsense within 10 mins & fuck off coz if you're here when we come back You're nicked'... Touch! 'Ever the anti-establishmentarialist' I took 20, grabbed some snaps & doneeeeeeeeeeee 1.
I'd just like to add . . . I meant to put Odem from Berlin up on this piece. Coz I know he's a Croat & I loved his stuff back in the mid-90's but the incident with the cozzers distracted me & I forgot . . I last saw Odem in Munich in 1993 where we literally had 'a riot'. A top writer & a top fella . . I hope he's OK.