Tag Archives: Street Art Tour

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Nature Is A Whore

“It was 30 years ago today” that Nirvana released Nevermind, with apologies for that inept abuse of the Beatles’ lyrical mastery and the actual facts (release date Sep 24th 1991).  One of the standout tracks on a standout album is “In Bloom”, Kurt Cobain’s lament on the impact of their growing success and within the song is the line “Nature Is A Whore”.  Nature Is A Whore is the tagline anointing some but not all of a collection of naïve and economical artworks appearing around London over the past few months.

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

The smile is often innocent, almost angelic and frequently the curiously four fingered character offers flowers or seems to relish the beauty in a fresh cut flower.  The crossed arms styling is curious as well, is this a dance move or a gangster style vogue?

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

You have got to chuckle when the buff inadvertently facilitates a tinted homage to the original.

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Painting large scale on a couple of currently un-utilised advert walls, the artist is proposing that they are not racist as they have a coloured TV, which at face value looks like a joke available in black and white versions but could easily be a very clever indication of a race blind preference for transvestites.  Rather curious that one version of this has the “British English” spelling of the word “coloured”, the other is wrong! (wink)

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Sometimes the artistic impulse springs from an anonymous mind whose satisfaction would appear to derive from beautification rather than ego gratification.  Thus far, I have no firm idea who these short lived minimalist masterpieces should be attributed to.

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Here is a sample of just a few, guests have report their own sightings of other specimens in other locations.

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Only Fools And Cars Go backwards

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

Send A Ugly Girl Flowers

Shoreditch street art characters with nature is a whore written next to them by unknown mystery street artist

All photos: Dave Stuart


street artist ALO street art female portraits in Shoreditch

The Darling Street Art Buds of May

Shoreditch Street Art Highlights From May 2012

William Shakespeare is rarely the first thing we think of in street art.  Shakespeare’s downer on the month of May was its tendency to be a bit windy so with the low temperatures and  rain experienced in May 2021 London certainly bore some of the weather characteristics maligned by the bard in the sonnet Shall I compare Thee to A Summers Day.

The weather didn’t deter street artists and with outdoor groups of more than 6 permitted from May 17th not to mention of course the reopening of some of our favourite watering holes there was a lot of street art activity around Shoreditch.  Here are some of the highlights we found on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour:

ALO had a prolific month and the highlight was this quintet of females painted without permission at the major intersection between Old Street, Commercial Street and Shoreditch High Street.  See also the featured image at the top of the post.

street artist ALO painting street art in Shoreditch

ALO work in progress

street artist ALO street art female portrait in Shoreditch

ALO, female portraits, May 2021

street artist ALO street art female portrait in Shoreditch

ALO, Moroccan Lady, May 2021

Pablo Fiasco painted some jaw dropping stencils in May, the complexity and skill of this father of street art defies belief almost.  This –on-the-wall guide to selecting caps for spraycans was genius, and the word “was” is used as the piece, as ephemeral as a mayfly, has been written over.

All Caps with MF Doom tribute – Pablo Fiasco

Stencil Street Art by Pablo Fiasco behind the Old Blue Last on the Shoreditch Hoxton Border in London

MF Doom tribute – Pablo Fiasco

One of the great excitements for a street art aficionado in London is to discover a new Jonesy bronze.  One of the tour groups early in May shared my joy as I spotted a brand new Jonesy I did not know existed – from the other side of the main road!

SStreet Art Bronze castsing on top of a pole by Jonesy in Shoreditch London

Jonesy bronze

Street Art Bronze casting on top of a pole by Jonesy in Shoreditch London

Jonesy bronze

Shoreditch’s main purveyor of broccoli, Adrian Boswell hit the streets hard with floret of broccoli presented as bite size angel, devil or 24 carot gold broccoli.

Broccoli street art by street artist Adrian Boswell in Shoreditch London

Adrian Boswell Angel, Devil & 24 Carot Gold Broccoli

3km of string was all it took Perspicere to make this beauty which appeared on the old Shoreditch Tube Station which is on Pedley St just off Brick Lane.  String street art is comparatively rare and London based artist Perspicere is the master of the genre, in fact quite possibly the only street practitioner – yarn bombing is something different.  Sadly this piece didn’t last too long as some thief went to a lot of trouble prizing it off the wall, that’s the temporary nature of street art.

Rare String Art Street Art by Perspicere in Shoreditch London

Perspicere

Finally for this May street art flashback, Ed Hicks produced a spraycan art masterpiece on Great Eastern St, inspired by the apocalyptical landscapes of 19th century painter John Martin.  This truly extraordinary painting lasted about 5 weeks.

Amazing Street Art mural by artist Ed Hicks in Shoreditch London

Ed Hicks

All photos: Dave Stuart


Streer tArt, Graffiti, Virtual TOur, Shoreditch Street Art, from past to present

Beat The Lockdown Blues: A Virtual Street Art Tour

So, now the Christmas frolics with the extended family and their bubbles is 1 day, not the 5 you expected, how can you beat the single household blues on the other 11 days of Christmas?

Do a Virtual Street Art Tour!  Cast your device onto the big screen so that the whole family can watch and enjoy a wonderful slide show highlighting Shoreditch’s street art down the years.

Make it private tour for your family or link up virtually with friends in other households Zoom party style.

“it was a really absorbing seminar enjoyed by all!”

Add fun with sporadic quiz questions (optional) from Dave** and your own pre-agreed forfeits and punishments.

All accompanying a virtual tour of some of the best street art down the years using lots of different techniques.

from a “Lockdown 2” Virtual Street Art Tour

 “Thank you for your fantastic talk [Virtual Street Art Tour] this morning – it was so informative “

Timing, duration, number or participants all totally flexible – email now to book your virtual street art tour party.  Even the content can be customised… ask how.

**due to non arrival of red fat suit and false beard, Dave will now NOT present the virtual tour dressed as Santa


Street Art, Shoreditch, London, street art tour, tour guide, Banksy, Stik, Roa, Dismaland, Dr D, Vermibus, Alo, Clet Abraham,

A Decade of Genius Street Art

As we start a new decade a review of a tiny amount of the amazing street art witnessed in the past decade seemed appropriate.

A Bun In Their Hair, ALO, Shoreditch 2014

Here is a slide show of a number of the images that made the final review of the “wild Wonderous and Inventive” art, which is a rather vague way of saying “stuff that wasn’t mentioned in our mural, sculptural or political street art reviews.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The only way to bring to a close this dredging up of our favourite specimens of wild outdoor art is to look back at what Banksy has been up to. Although Banksy produced far less street art in the past decade than in the noughties, on almost all respects other than quantity he continues to be the most important, brilliant and relevant artist in whatever field he chooses.

Banksy Dismaland, 2015

Banksy’s Better In Than Out in New York saw a month long treasure hunt – “hide and seek” combo which cast Banksy as Bonnie And Clyde against the NY mayor, police and press and the world watched with glee but we already knew Banksy would never be caught.

Better Out Than IN, Banksy, New York, photo LunaPark

He also had a major art triumph staging a group shop with a conscience at Dismaland though we already knew Banksy did extraordinary exhibition/experience fusion.

Dismaland, Banksy, Weston Super Mare, 2015

He created a huge mural in Dover in 2017 but we already knew Brexit was a stupid idea.

Banksy, Dover 2017

My favourite Banksy of the decade however was his Les Miserables in Knightsbridge, London’s embassy land.

Tear gassed Cosette, Banksy, Knightsbridge London, 2016

It has the Banksy signature elements, it had the cleverness in repurposing the iconic image of Cosette, it had the impact in terms of global exposure, right opposite the French embassy it combined perfect placement with the “wow, how did he get away with that.” factor.

We did not however know about the French police tear gassing migrant families in the camps in Calais and this was Banksy’s crowning achievement, bringing that shameful episode to wider international attention.

Cosette v French embassy, Banksy, Knightsbridge London, 2016

This selection of photos a part of the selection reviewed and discussed on the Graffoto blog post 2010 – 2019 Wild Wonderous Inventive Street Art

All photos Dave Stuart except LunaPark where noted

It has been a huge pleasure to write 5 reviews of the street art of the past decade which we personally enjoyed.  The Links to those reviews are at the bottom of the Graffoto review.  A specific review of the street art of 2019 might appear shortly.

 


Shepard Fairey Facing The Giant

Shepard Fairey was in London in October celebrating 30 years of Andre The Giant Art with a two site exhibition hosted by StolenSpace.

Facing The Giant – Beats Residency space (October 2019)

Facing the Giant – StolenSpace (October 2019)

The exhibition was slated to close at the end of October but actually a great selection of art from the two site display has been consolidated and rehung at the StolenSpace Osbourn St site.

Facing the Giant – StolenSpace (November Rehang)

It looks just as spectacular and is well worth popping in to see if you missed it in October.

Facing the Giant – StolenSpace (November Rehang)

We raved about the exhibition on Graffoto, check it out HERE

Facing the Giant – StolenSpace (November Rehang)

LINKS:

Shepard Fairey Website (subscribe to his email)

StolenSpace Website

Graffoto “Shepard Fairey: Facing The Giant)”  Review


Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Banksy Solo Show in Croydon

For two weeks in October I was exhorting everyone who did our street art tour to make a short trip to Croydon to check out Banksy’s first UK solo show since 2009 and I got feedback from several people who did.

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Banksy created a real world store with items from various departments arranged in a shop window display.

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Gross Domestic Product

Here are a few of my favourites.

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Welcome Mat, in support of “Love Welcomes” (details in Graffoto post)

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Rat Clocks

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

As soon as it closed its shop window display Gross domestic Product opened an online store selling some of the displayed range.

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Early Learning Centre Counting Set

Banksy was very keen that a cross section nof the goods be available at affordable prices to ordinary people, so the sales process depending upon fans applying to buy one piece, then waiting to see if they got luck in what appears to be partially a draw and partially “complete this sentence 12 words or fewer” kind of tie breaker.  At the time of writing I am desperately clinging to the hope that those emails have not yet been sent out.

Street art, urban art, Banksy, Croydon, street art tour, tour guide show, gross domestic product, trademarks

Duck and Cover

On Graffoto, we have a comprehensive photographic survey and appraisal of the items Banksy displayed as well as his motives, check that out HERE

All photos: Dave Stuart


Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude – From Street Art To Gallery

Subdude is a London based street artist whose street art has been intriguing and amusing Shoreditch Street Art Tour guests since 2016.

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude September 2016

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Tangerine Tyrant

Recently sister blog Graffoto got the chance to sit down with Subdude and shoot the breeze about the political landscape, the various projects he has undertaken out on the streets and most notably, a look back over his recent debut solo show..

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude good guys and bad guys in Monty’s Bar

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude’s Little Dude Character in the show

In a fascinating interview the parallels between the art in the exhibition and the various phases of Subdude’s career became apparent.

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude – Fight Tiny Tribal Minds March 2019

Subdude pulled off something you don’t often see in a gallery, the opportunity to vote on the next paste ups and to even propose texts Subdude would use as the foundation for future street art paste ups.

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude Future Social Media Paste Ups? What do you think?

Check out the full interview on Graffoto.

Street Art, urban art, Shoreditch, Street Art Tour, Subdude, Political Street Art, Politicians, Trump, Boris Johnson,

Subdude abstract collage

Links

Interview and review on Graffoto

Subdude Instagram

Monty’s Bar Facebook

All photos: Dave Stuart


Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Beer! Art! Street Art!

Ever wondered if Chicago is anything like Shoreditch? Ever wondered what a craft 5. 9% IPA might taste like? Thanks to a very unusual mural and beer promotion fusion, you can now investigate both of these (terms and conditions and chance apply!).

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Shoreditch Street Art Tour Guests possibly being persuaded to have a beer

To get a free pint of Goose Island beer and possibly win a trip to Chicago, you just have to check out the mural on Ebor Street in Shoreditch where Goose Island have come up with a pretty novel promotional wheeze.  A commissioned mural has been covered with 2500 cans, they giving away 50 cans day for three days.  You take the can down to The Goose Island Brewpub on Shoreditch High Street just a couple of hundred yards away where you exchange the can for a free pint of lager AND you are entered into a draw to win a flight to Chicago.

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Goose: pick a can, any can..

The mural has been executed by the guys at Graffiti Life, known for applying their graffiti skills to painting commercial murals – skills pay bills.   The Graffiti Life guys have awesome skills but in general we don’t gush over adverts on walls where art should be,it is rarely a stop for the tour.  However, this one has novelty and – come on, it’s a free pint of beer!

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Got one

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Reckon this one has “Chicago or bust” written all over it?”

Now we have seen cans in street art before, notably the brilliant art of Jakuna Melata who came over from Barcelona last summer.

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Jakuna Melata, Soho, 2018

We have also seen spray cans painted by artists and left as a piece of free art.

Street Art tour, Shoreditch Street Art Tour, Street Art Guide, Goose Island Brewpub, Graffiti Life, Free Beer

Savant, May 2017

This wall though really is quite novel. Apparently the team is going to be there one more day, Sunday which at the time of writing is tomorrow, They’ll be there for about two hours or until the day’s allocation of 50 cans has been given away. We don’t know which two hours though, so you’re going to have to take pot luck.

Do say “Same again, thank you very much”

(yes yes ok, I did have one of their free beers but other than that there is no association with any other organisation mentioned in this post)

Links:

Graffiti Life instagram

Goose Island Brewpub website

Chicago website

Photographer: Dave Stuart


England, New Zealand, Cricket, ICC World Cup, Trophy, Street Art Tour, winners,

Shoreditch Street Art Tour In Massive Cricket World Cup Fluke

England are Cricket World Cup Champions for the first time after lifting the trophy in one of the most dramatic sporting occasions ever at Lords Cricket Ground.  England Captain, the Irishman Eoin Morgan followed in the footsteps of Shoreditch Street Art tours in getting his hands on the revered trophy.

Yes, you read that correctly! First, just a little background as it is possible that some followers of Shoreditch Street Art Tours may not be keeping fully up to date on a minute by minute basis with developments in the world of cricket.   The Cricket World Cup has been hosted by England and Wales Test and County Cricket Board and England played New Zealand in the final today.   It was the tensest, most exciting closest game ever, the two teams ended with exactly the same number of runs, so a deciding “Super Over” was played and both teams scored exactly the same number of runs, so then it went to the third method of deciding the game and England were the winners, winning the World Cup for the first time.

England Celebrates with ICC Cricket World Cup – photo courtesy We Are England Cricket

England have reached the final on three previous occasions but for lack of an Irishman as captain failed to win any of those attempts.

Eoin Morgan with ICC Cricket World Cup – photo courtesy We Are England Cricket

This would not have come to pass were it not for possibly one of the jammiest flukes ever seen on any sports pitch.  With 3 balls left the required run rate had sky rocketed and was looking impossible, England batsman Stokes scrambled to make his ground for a 2 when the incoming throw from 60 yards away struck the bat of the diving Stokes and diverted to the boundary for what under the laws of the game was a 4 to add to the 2 already picked up for running between the wickets.  Without those 4 extra runs the cup would have been the Kiwi’s.

If Stokes had not had to dive, if the ball had come in fractionally later, if it had bounced 2 inches higher to clear Stoke’s bat…we would have a different outcome but these things did not happen and a jubilant nation instantly forgot its embarrassment.

So how did Shoreditch Street Art Tours fit in with this excitement?  Well, in May last year, Young People’s Laureate For London Caleb Femi wrote a poem anticipating the international festival of cricket due to visit England, the poem was written up on a wall on Brick Lane by commercial spraycan artists Graffiti Life and the World Cup Trophy was brought to Brick Lane for a photo shoot.

Poem by Caleb Femi, sprayed by Graffiti Life on Brick Lane

At that moment, the Shoreditch Street Art Tour turned the corner onto Brick Lane and found itself in the privileged position of being able to pose with the World Cup Trophy.

Shoreditch, Street art, cricket, London, graffiti life, world cup, tour group

ICC Cricket World Cup meets Shoreditch Street Art Tours Group

Five minutes later, official snaps taken, the trophy was whisked away –we fluked our timing with the finesse of a Ben Stokes dive.

Shoreditch, Street art, cricket, London, graffiti life, world cup, tour group

ICC Cricket World Cup checking out street art

My bike ride to Shoreditch takes me past the front gates of Lords Cricket Ground every day and one sunny day in May I spotted a curious sight, the post box outside the ground had turned blue overnight.   It wasn’t a piece of “Blue period” graffiti however, outside each venue where World Cup games were played a post box was painted blue in celebration.   It qualifies as art on the street rather than street art perhaps.

World Cup Post Box at Lords

World Cup Post Box at Lords

Congratulations to England and commiserations to New Zealand