Street Art: Artwork that is created in a public space, typically without official permission.
definition according to oxforddictionaries.com
Walking around London, there are a lot of different places that have a ton of street art. Street art is illegal in London, however, since there is so much around the city, they have stopped taking it down because it will just continue to happen. In my opinion, it really adds something to the city and some places in London are known for the street art. Art can truly be found anywhere, in museums, through architecture and even on random buildings. Street art is always being redone and replaced by new pieces so even if you think you've seen it all, you haven't.
I came across the most street art in East London, specifically Shoreditch. Brick Lane in Shoreditch is definitely where the majority of the street art is and every foot you walk has at least one piece of art. However, there was also a few pieces in Camden near the Camden Market.
Street Art in Shoreditch
When researching some of the artists I found some interesting information about them. Stik, the artist of the work below, is a british graffiti artist based in London who is known for painting large stick-figures. A local let me know that this piece of art is fairly new and replaced a advertisement that used to be in that location. Stik has been mentioned for his work in newspapers, such as the London Evening Standard, The Independent and on the BBC. You can check out more work from Stik on his website, http://stik.org/.
On Stik's website there is a description of the piece pictured below that says, "Three figures representing the past, present and future of Shoreditch rise high over the former artists’ district, home now to only a handful of artists. The first figure looks longingly back on Old Street where artists once thrived, the second peers out at the encroaching billboards, uncertain of how long the few remaining artists can afford to stay, the third teeters precariously, to succeed or move on is yet to be seen. This mural is intermittently obscured by an advertising hoarding and is visible only on certain weeks of the year."
Street Art by Artist, Stik
HNRX, another artist in London, according to www.isupportstreetart.com, HNRX doesn't consider himself a street artist or a grafiti type of artist. He started painting with spray paint in acrylics back in 2012. "He likes to work on concrete and walls with errors and uneveness. The background in his works are mostly not perfect so he always has to work the best out of it. This makes each work unique and offers it a sense of it being alive. That is the reason he never works on canvas, maybe some carton or other kind of material. Due to the uneveness, cartons are similar to walls and they all have their own story. His art doesn't contain any political statements or what happens around the world. His intention is to transfer pictures with fun, joy and love to the audience, because as he says: ‘the world is beautifull’," says isupportstreetart.com. A piece by HNRX is pictured below! To see more of his work you can check it out on his website http://www.hnrx.at/.
A piece by artist, HNRX
Work by Unify or @UnifyArtist on Instagram
There are even tours that you can go on through http://streetartlondon.co.uk/tours/ or https://www.shoreditchstreetarttours.co.uk/. If you're not looking to go through a specific company then you can just go out on your own and walk around or bike around the city. I highly recommend going into Shoreditch and walking around that area! I was talking to a local and she said that there are even "Instagram Tours" that you can go on, where they show you some street art that is "Instagram Worthy" which is interesting because it's not just a tour of important sights it's something that people are really interested in these days.
