Hey, London Developers: Up Yours!

Big Ben, bobbies on bicycles, a darkened pub flying the Union Jack on its doorpost: Such is London, if you've ever received a postcard from there. But for many residents, those quaint popular images are laughable compared to how the city increasingly appears. A dense forest of cranes looms above the skyline. High-rises shoot up like bamboo. With the population booming and a manic surge of capital (both foreign and native) coming in, long-time Londoners are priced out daily, while mansions on "billionaires row" sit rotting and empty.

Maybe it's time to send the world some new views from the city on the Thames. In a new show of original "postcards" at London's Offsite Gallery, British artist and city native Gram Hilleard captures a growing sentiment in town: "Developers, Up Yours." His photo-montages reflect a new London—a London overrun with development, garish wealth, and bereft of what made the city unique. Hilleard states in a press release: