Childhood not found.
Leake Street Arches, London. Spray paint on wall (stencil). Executed 23 April 2024
Childhood Not Found marks a pivotal moment in Miguel Fernández’s artistic trajectory: his first foray into graffiti and street practice, executed in the iconic Leake Street Arches of London. Painted in the early hours of 23 April 2024, this stencil embodies both a formal evolution of Fernández’s visual language and a deepening of his mission to raise awareness about the corrosive effects of technology on childhood, youth, and mental health.
At the centre of the work stands a solitary child, rendered in bold, decisive silhouettes of black and white. The figure is stripped of facial features, their identity obscured by a stark red bar across the eyes, a motif that has become emblematic of Fernández’s critique of screen culture. In their hands glows a matching red device, uniting the bar and the object in a seamless chromatic echo: eyes blinded, vision stolen, and attention captured.
This symbolic alignment between the eye-cover and the device recalls Fernández’s earlier works of 2019, where he first depicted children as colourless silhouettes—ghostly presences absorbed into their devices. In those formative canvases and installations, the devices and eye-covers were the sole carriers of colour, while vibrant, almost chaotic backgrounds symbolised the worlds of play, exploration, and childhood from which the children were absent. By contrast, Childhood Not Found demonstrates a mature stylistic evolution. Here, Fernández adopts heavier lines, dramatic shadows, and bold stencilling techniques, creating a stronger graphic presence capable of commanding attention amidst the layered chaos of the street wall.
The decision to bring this language into the public realm, onto a graffiti-saturated canvas such as Leake Street, reflects a deliberate act of democratisation. The message, urgent, critical, and socially engaged, is placed directly before the urban passerby, outside institutional walls, sparking conversations where they are needed most.
The title, Childhood Not Found, plays on the familiar error message of digital technology, “404: Not Found,” underscoring the tragic loss of innocence, play, and presence in a generation increasingly raised under the glow of screens. It is a work that is at once poetic and brutal, intimate and collective: a cry of alarm transposed into a public intervention.
Significance
This work inaugurates Fernández’s practice of graffiti and street art, marking the transition from indoor, studio-based explorations of his theme to a direct engagement with public space. It stands as a seminal point in his portfolio: the first street work in a body of art that continues to interrogate the unseen consequences of technological saturation on young generations.
By embedding his critique within the raw materiality of London’s street culture, Fernández signals not only an aesthetic evolution but also a profound commitment to ensuring his message resonates with the widest possible audience.