Auras by Frank Styles - Swiftie Steps

Positioned on Wembley Park's Spanish Steps, now temporarily renamed the ‘Swiftie Steps’, Frank Styles’ ‘Auras’ is a large-scale anamorphic portrait of popstar Taylor Swift that transforms the steps leading up the National Stadium into an immersive visual experience. Commissioned to coincide with Swift’s series of sold-out concerts at Wembley Stadium in June 2024, this work is part of a diptych celebrating the American pop icon.

Drawing inspiration from over 30 individual portraits of Taylor Swift, the original portrait was created by Frank Styles on the side of a garage in Sunderland, where he resides. The striking 8-foot mural, that captures the enigmatic energy and aura of Swift with vivid detail, was then photographed and digitally transposed onto vinyl by the artist.

This installation is enriched with 'Easter Eggs'—cryptic symbols that resonate with Swift’s penchant for embedding hidden messages in her music. These elements were selected with the collaboration of the local Swift fan community, reflecting a collective engagement that is central to Styles’ practice.

Viewers are encouraged to engage with the artwork from a specific vantage point—20 meters from the bottom of the middle step, optimally viewed at a height of 1.7 meters. This precise positioning allows viewers to fully enjoy the anamorphic qualities of the mural, with various hidden elements revealing themselves uniquely as one ascends the steps. This approach to perspective, a recurrent theme in Styles’ work, reaches new complexities in ‘Auras’, building on his earlier anamorphic mural at the same site.

Through ‘Auras’, Styles not only celebrates Taylor Swift's significant impact on popular culture but also challenges and expands the possibilities of street art within the urban fabric of Wembley Park.