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The 11th Urban Art event in Brixton was blessed with a South London sun to match the magnificence of the local artwork being exhibited.

Phew - What a Scorcher etc.

And that was just my personal fave of the tops up / slightly spooky sexual masks.

The temperature added to the atmosphere around Josephine Avenue and the surrounds. It simply wasn’t possible to roll up, have a brief artistic flirtation and then bugger off to Brockwell Park for yet more sun.

You had to take your time strolling around the outdoor pitches, pondering the work at a leisurely pace to match the lovely, lovely afternoon sun. Art can sometimes be chuffing hard work. Urban Art was as chilled as an Andy Warhol cold tin of soup.

What is great about Urban Art is the organic way in which the weekend event has developed over the past decade. What started out as a little street art to brighten up Josephine Avenue has now become a bona fide Brixton event linking the surrounding streets.

The slight re-scheduling to avoid the Lambeth Show appears to have paid off well. With over 200 artists now exhibiting, the early days ethos of walking through Josephine Avenue en route to the BONKERS-ness of Brockwell Park just isn’t possible now. Urban Art is a stand-alone event itself. Watercolours and Chucklehead Cider were never a heady mix anyway.

As for the art on show in 2013?

With prices from £10 to £1,000, it was affordable for most tastes, unlike some of the nearby Josephine Avenue properties.

Local landmarks featured heavily, giving Urban Art a distinct South London feel. Battersea Power Station, Brixton Windmill and yep - Brockwell Lido all had a strong presence along the Josephine Avenue railings.

New for 2013 was a Street Art area. Any early bird Brixton folk may have seen the bizarre site of a tube carriage being frog marched up Brixton Hill in preparation for a day of spray can action. By the time I rolled up the wooden carriage was almost unrecognisable from a metallic original with the added artwork.

And so the tube has just about come to Brixton Hill, but for one weekend only. Handing over Josephine Avenue for a weekend of arts has the added bonus of calming down the nearby traffic and pedestrianising the streets. The only transport woe was the lack of bicycle parking spaces with all the railings adorned with art.

That’s the price you pay for art, dahhhhling.

Come the close of Urban Art on Saturday evening and most exhibiters commented on a successful day of trading. 10% of all sales went to the Urban Art charity partners who this year are Jubilee Primary School, Holy Trinity School, Southside Rehabilitation project and the Josephine Avenue Group.

Selling like very hot cakes, etc.

Phew.

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