AGING teenage rebels and punk rockers Green Day have commissioned 21 original pieces of art inspired by music from the band s new album, 21st Century Breakdown. The paintings will be shown exclusively at Brick Lane s StolenSpace Gallery from today (Frida

AGING teenage rebels and punk rockers Green Day have commissioned 21 original pieces of art inspired by music from the band's new album, 21st Century Breakdown.

The paintings will be shown exclusively at Brick Lane's StolenSpace Gallery from today (Friday) coinciding with the band's UK tour which comes to the O2 this weekend.

The band, who have sold more than 60 million albums world-wide, say that art and music share a common bond.

"We're really excited to be associated with this incredible show," says frontman Billie Joe Armstrong said.

"Seeing the pieces that our new album has inspired is very exciting. We feel a strong connection to that type of creative expression; we think the fans coming out will love it."

The show's curator, artist, Logan Hicks, said that the gallery will feature contributions from an international pool of artists, including New York-based painter Ron English, Amsterdam-based street collective The London Police, French stencil artist C215 and British illustrator Will Barras as well as Eelus, Chris Stain, Sixten, Adam 5100.

Each of the collaborating artists were sent a lyric sheet and asked to produce a piece of art that reflected that song.

"I chose artists whom I felt had a similar visual approach to art as Green Day does to its music," says Hicks, a stencil artist and Green Day fan whose portraits of band members Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt will also be on display.

"Although most of the artists represented are well-established in their careers, they embrace the same emotional rawness with their art, which speaks from the heart and swings with the fist.

"Their subject matter is struggle and injustice - they shoot from the hip and their art is their weapon."

A number of the participating artists were featured with Hicks in Banksy's "Cans Festival" which took place last year in an abandoned taxi tunnel behind Waterloo Station and attracted more than 120,000 people on its opening weekend.

Green Day will perform songs from the three act "rock opera" 21st Century Breakdown at Greenwich's O2 arena both today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).

Picking up where 2005's American Idiot left off, the album follows a young couple, Christian and Gloria, through the mess and promise of the century so far.

- The Art of Rock is at StolenSpace Gallery, Dray Walk, off Brick Lane until November 1. Entrance is free.

- Green Day perform at the O2 tomorrow (Saturday). Tickets cost �37.50 from www.theo2.co.uk or 0844 856 0202.