Graffiti News

A 30ft (9m) mural of Freddie Mercury has been unveiled at Wembley Park in London to mark what would have been the singer's 80th birthday. According to BBC News, the work, titled I'm Mr Mercury, covers all 58 of the site's Spanish Steps between Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena, and the face only comes together when seen from a single marked spot opposite the steps. It is free to view at any time and will stay in place until December 2026.

How 58 steps become one face

The mural is anamorphic. BBC News reports that the image resolves only from a marked viewing point about 65ft away; from anywhere else it breaks up into colour and line. Street artist Frank Styles hand-sprayed the piece as four separate works and then composed them into a single image across the steps.

Steps are a harder surface than a wall. Each tread and riser sits at a different distance and angle from the viewer, so the artist has to distort every section differently for the whole to line up from one point. That is why anamorphic technique turns up so often in street art on staircases, pavements and building corners: it makes a picture out of a surface that could never hold a conventional one.

Why Wembley

Freddie Mercury was born on 5 September 1946. According to BBC News, Queen played 10 shows at the venue between 1978 and 1984, when it was still known as the Empire Pool, and performed at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium in July 1985. The band returned to the stadium for two sold-out concerts the following summer.

Claudio Giambrone, who commissioned and curated the work for Wembley Park, told BBC News: "Freddie Mercury's relationship with Wembley goes far beyond a single famous performance. We wanted to create something that gives fans a new place in Wembley where they can come together and remember him."

What the koi carp and the winged figures mean

The mural also refers to Mercury's life away from the stage. According to BBC News, the koi carp in the image reflect his love of Japan and the Japanese pond at his London home. The winged female figures echo his Virgo star sign, a motif Mercury used on the Queen crest he designed himself. Lyrics and quotations run up the steps towards the stadium.

Styles told BBC News: "As a trained graphic designer himself, Freddie was very aware and precise about the visual feel and so I have endeavoured to follow his ethos in the conscious creation of this mural."

A commissioned, temporary piece

This is a legal, commissioned mural with a published end date. Wembley Park organised it, and it will remain until December 2026. Street art has always lived with the expectation of being painted over, but here the removal date is part of the announcement. For fans, the visiting window is the viewing condition.

The other condition is where you stand. The finished face exists only at the marked spot; a step to either side and the picture returns to colour and line. If you photograph it, take one frame from the mark and one from the side. The pair explains the technique better than any caption.

Visiting

• Location: Wembley Park, London, on the Spanish Steps linking Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena (formerly Wembley Arena)
• Viewing point: the marked spot opposite the steps, about 65ft away
• Cost: free, open at any time
• On view: until December 2026

If you visit, or if you find an anamorphic piece in your own city, you can pin it on the Wallscape map. The feed collects similar perspective work from other cities.

Source: BBC News, "Freddie Mercury mural unveiled at Wembley Park"