One hundred and thirty feet up in the air, a young Sheffield man sloppily painted a marriage proposal that would go down in history.
Jason Lowe scrawled “I Love You Will U Marry Me” across a concrete bridge at Park Hill estate in 2001. His girlfriend, Clare Middleton, said yes, but the couple never made it to the altar. Clare, who later married someone else, passed away in 2007 at just 30 years old. However, the message endured, becoming Sheffield’s most famous piece of graffiti. “The truth behind the romantic gesture only emerged after a BBC Radio 4 documentary tracked down the original artist,” reported BBC News.
The white-painted declaration caught fire in pop culture, spawning its own beer (Thornbridge Brewery’s “I Love You Will U Marry Me” strawberry blonde ale) and inspiring multiple musicians. Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner wore the slogan on a T-shirt during performances. Hometown artist Yungblud released “I Love You, Will You Marry Me” in 2017, telling the bittersweet story of how corporate interests co-opted a genuine act of love. When developers Urban Splash renovated the estate, they didn’t just keep the graffiti — they gave it the rock star treatment with pink neon lighting and used it in marketing materials.
When maintenance work forced its removal in 2021, the public wasn’t having it. The message returned in 2022.
Previously:
• ‘Radical Graffiti’ posts images of radical street art from around the world
• Some idiot painted graffiti on a Russian polar bear and now the animal likely won’t survive
• Harrowing and grim graffiti discovered in 1,600-year-old prison
• Watch this interview with Lady Pink, the ‘First Lady of Graffiti’
• Trompe l’oeil graffiti vanishes Egyptian military barrier
• Graffiti defaces a Los Angeles Jewish neighborhood and its famous deli
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
