Irony: Where is street artist's new mural in Southsea? What other artwork have they created, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter handles and what is known about them?

The artwork can be seen on the exterior of the old Debenhams in Commercial Road, Southsea.

It features a woman with glittery grey hair in front of an urban landscape filled with barbwire and has captured the imaginations of many who have walked past it.

Who is the artist behind the mural?

It is a work by Irony.

Who is Irony?

Irony’s identity is a mystery but they have been active for a number of years.

What do they create?

Irony paintings can have consistent themes but also vary wildly with different eye-catching things.

Several different displays including women in various forms, DJs, animals ranging from athletic foxes to dogs, intensely staring roosters, pigeons and insects have all popped up all over the place, primarily in London.

Some pieces are also political, with Boris Johnson being illustrated as a blood-sucking vampire and a clown running a circus in some cases.

What is their following?

An extensive portfolio is on their Instagram account, @whoamirony, and has with over 42,000 followers.

Posts goes back as far as 2012, and a shared screen print dating back to 2009 was shared on their 14,000 follower Facebook account. They may have been creating for even longer.

Where can you find their murals?

Irony has been painting striking images on pub walls, houses, vehicles and shop shutters across the country.

London is primarily where the work is displayed, in places like Camden Town.

As well as Portsmouth, murals can be found in Bristol, Weston Super-Mare, Bangor Northern Ireland and Belfast to name a few.

SEE ALSO: Art project along Portsmouth's seafront to offer 'mental respite' from daily life

Why do they paint?

Many of these paintings are part of festivals celebrating the creativity of local artists.

Irony and others have created murals for Europe’s largest live urban street art festival Up Fest, based in Bristol.

The event which combines food and crafts has been delayed until 2022, but that hasn’t stopped their inspiration.

In it’s place, the organisers commissioned 75 murals in 75 days as part of the #75walls campaign.

Irony’s contribution was an eye-catching landscape of resting pigeons on the Hen and Chicken pub wall.

Up Fest is not the only event festival which Irony worked with.

At Open House festival in Bangor, Northern Ireland, the artist brought life to the seaside town by painting a commanding image of a crab holding a knife in it’s pincer.

Open House is a not-for-profit charity which hosts creative events aiming to devise a positive social impact through the arts.

Whoever Irony is, they have definitely made their mark on Southsea.

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