In this dispatch from NoLionsInEngland, noted street art photographer, writer, and Guide-in-Chief at Shoreditch Street Art Tours, we look at 25 of the local street artists currently most “up” in Shoreditch. Many names will be familiar, but some will be new to all but the most diehard of street art geeks. Check them out while the buzz is still an underground murmur.
We define Shoreditch in a loose way totally unrelated to any parish boundary or democratic voting ward, the area embraces Hoxton, Redchurch Street and the Bethnal Green Road, Brick Lane, and a large matrix of streets on either side. It even stretches down to Osbourn Street and West to Whitecross Street and mostly encompasses the London postcodes beginning at E1. It's too large to be covered 100% in a single walk, in a single day, or on a single street art tour.
Wandering around Shoreditch’s streets will reveal new street art on almost a daily basis. It is a rare and disappointing day on Shoreditch Street Art Tours when no new street art appears. The artists chosen here are those who repeatedly provide new delights in the Shoreditch area—those who routinely turn to Shoreditch walls to satisfy their peculiar urges to expose the general public to their artistic creativity without worrying about gallery representation.
Shoreditch’s street art scene supports a gallery system, a tourist business, artist studios, and now the spectator sport of almost daily mural painting. We haven’t included any of the mural painters or the visiting international mega stars who breeze in amidst a cloud of publicity, cherry pickers, video-makers and permission letters. They provide a rich color to Shoreditch but aren’t repeatedly adding to the street art “hang."
Among several people left out of this list, Banksy brought popular appeal and mass media attention to street art, and while some examples of his work survive, he hasn’t been active in Shoreditch for years. His continuing influence on Shoreditch’s street art scene cannot be underestimated.
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