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Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Best Of Shoreditch Street Art Tours Kiss Of Death

Should this Shoreditch Street Art Tours post start with an apology to the spraycan virtuoso Jim Vision? Perhaps.

Last night we held a short notice online virtual ramble through some of the art that provided great food for thought on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour in 2021.  With the benefit of being able to show slides from the past, we were able to look at the waxing and waning of Jim Vision’s Jerome St mural which concluded with the photograph shown at the top of this post mural taken 2 days earlier on 29th December.  This is the story of that mural and it ends with the dramatic update based on what we found today!

The history starts in 2020 with a curved wall pretty heavily battered with graffiti of varying styles and levels of accomplishment.  The artistic highlight on the wall was probably back in 2014 with a beautiful paste-up from the French street artist Ludo.

Street Art in Shoreditch by French street artist Ludo

Ludo, 2014

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Wild! Featuring Noze, Lap406 Oct 2019

Forward to 2020 and Jim Vision secures consent to paint the wall with permission and has claimed the spot as his since, painting a couple of portraits as part of his admirable “Colourful Women” series.  In the artist’s words this was “celebrating all women of colour with their vibrancy and strength, at the same time addressing an imbalance in the representation of women of colour on walls.  This first dates from early Summer 2020.

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, June 2020

The next portrait on this wall came complimented by a pod of killer whales.  In this next early December 2020 photo we see the mural in great condition with 8 killer whales swimming through, to the right is a cluster of illuminations and the background is an abstract veil of almost luminous vertical streaks.

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, 2nd Dec 2020

Just a few days later the negative spaces in the margins have been targeted with graffiti, including sundry tags and a nice piece by Lap in the background:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, lap406 , 22nd Dec 2020

Things are relatively unchanged by July 2021, a throw has gone over the cluster of lights to the right, a couple of tags and Lap in the background appears to have been painted out.  Still the augmentations are occurring away from the main subject:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision July 2021

By October there is fascinating development in the artistic interactions taking place on this wall, Jim Vision covers up new tags with the creative and playful expedient of adding Orcas where the tags were.  Now the pod has grown to 20 killer whales and something a bit albino, or perhaps a 21st whale with only its white parts turned to us:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision Oct 2021

Halfway through December heavy tagging appears in quite aggressive spots at the centre of the portrait and a green tag close to the front of the face where the white whale was.  Ours is not to cast judgement!

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, tags, 19th Dec 2021

Then, on 29th Dec, a new killer whale appears to be likely to see in the New Year, its placaement jumping through the earring brings to mind the cruelty involved in keeping these beautiful beasts in captivity in sea life parks.  This was the state of play at the conclusion of the timeseries presented in the  “The Best Of Shoreditch Street Art Tours 2021” virtual tour last night (New Years Eve):

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

Jim Vision, 29th Dec 2021

New Years Day, this morning, look what we found:

Street Art in Shoreditch by Spraycan artist Jim Vision

New Years Day 2021 Jim Vision with Slak & Cuso

Gonna take a lot more whales!

Jim Vision instagram

all photos: Dave Stuart

London, Street Art, Tour, Walk, Space Invader, Reactivation, UK Reactivation Team, Art4Space, mosaic

Space Invader Strikes Back!

In our regular street art updates we have talked a couple of times about disappeared ancient Space Invaders reappearing, the so called “Reactivation”.   We were very lucky to secure the first ever interview with the UK Reactivation Team, check my other blog to see how and why these passionate extra terrestrial art restorers are doing what they do.

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LDN_058 Reactivated

Bonus news – back in 2012 I was fortunate to be in a select audience for a one evening only private showing in a London hotel of a 24 minute documentary made by Space Invader.  It was an exciting little movie about his attempt to send one of his Invaders into space and film the result.  This week Invader has finally released the documentary to the public and it is very interesting.

Photos: Dave Stuart

Video: Space Invader

WRDSMTH Comforts Girl With 2 Roses On Her Arse

 

“Liam cheered up Cheryl” according to the headline in a free newspaper in London this morning and it wasn’t how you think!     Popular Holywood street artist Wrdsmth’s large paste up declaration of brimming love suppressed was how singer Liam Payne visiting Las Vegas chose to express to Cheryl how he was missing her back in London.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, artists, guided tour, walk, One Direction, Cheryl, Liam, arse, tattoo, paste up, Las Vegas

The Metro, 26 Oct 16

 

If you are from the wrong generation or country you may not be aware that Liam is Liam Payne from pop band One Direction and therefore pretty important in this country.  Cheryl is sooo mega important that she doesn’t even need a surname though the paper does see fit to keep us abreast of her derriere, which apparently sports a couple of tattoos (photo awaited).

WRDSMTH’s uplifting and oft romantic bon mots have been a pleasure to discover many times in London, as we mentioned just a few months ago.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, artists, guided tour, walk, One Direction, Cheryl, Liam, arse, tattoo, paste up, Las Vegas, Wrdsmth

WRDSMTH, London Phone box, Summer 2015

Liam needn’t have gone to Las Vegas to find WRDSMTH ’s articulation of Liam’s tongue-tied romantic word bloc, for WRDSMTH has already put the same message up in London.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, artists, guided tour, walk, One Direction, Cheryl, Liam, arse, tattoo, paste up, Las Vegas

Photo: WRDSMTH

Photo credit: WRDSMTH

Here is another one that Liam could have used to woo singer, tv personality and serial wedding bride Cheryl if only he had taken the Shoreditch Street Art Tour:

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WRDSMTH, 2015

Thanks to our wonderful guide Esther for letting me know as I returned to the UK this morning that despite refugee camps and airport expansions, British newspapers were still giving the real news the exposure it merits.

Photos: Dave Stuart except WRDSMTH and courtesy The Metro where noted

Awarded Certificate Of Excellence

Shoreditch Street Art Tours is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious and prized Tripadvisor 2015 Certificate of Excellence.

This award is testament to two things, the most important is our wonderful guests who have chosen to share their appreciation of the Shoreditch Street Art Tour activities with the public through Tripadvisor. The second, and we blush here, is down to the quality of the tour.

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Tripadvisor Certificate Of Excellence

At this moment a quick glance at Tripadvisor shows that since its first review appeared in July 2013, Shoreditch Street Art Tours has received 601 reviews and a massive 587 – that’s 98% – of those are 5 out of 5 stars. The other 14 of course are all 4 stars.

The art always changes, the route may changes, the message often changes but the quality of the experience is unwaivering.

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photo: Ron de Vos (guest)

We thank all the guests who have provided feedback through Tripadvisor and the other locations where independent reviews can be placed, here are just a few snippets from recent Tripadvisor reviews:

“I brought along my husband who didn’t have a previous interest in the subject and at the end he said, “This is the best tour I have ever been on in any city”. ” – Annie Y, 16 May 2015

“Don’t skip the Tate. But this is even better. ” – Gutflam5, 15 May 2015

“with Dave’s expertise, we were able to understand and decode the messages hidden in the work” – Maria V, 12 May 2015

Certificate courtesy Tripadvisor

Group photo: Ron de Vos

Shoreditch Street Artists Have Spring In Their Steps

When can we be sure Spring has sprung? When muralists flood the streets? When I can do a whole tour without thermals and a heavy jacket? This Easter Bank holiday weekend saw a great uptick in the art being created on the streets. The graffiti legend GARY of MS (Mad Society Kings) crew and letterform princess Lilly Lou found a damn good reason to go out writing on Braithwaite St on Sunday.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, murals, street artists, walk,tour,graffiti, Gary MS, Lilly Lou

NO good REASON – Gary MSK & Lilly Lou

On Saturday afternoon one of our tours had the pleasure of chatting with Shoreditch’s favourite Chilean street art Otto Schade as he painted a complex ribbon figure in the Old Turman Brewery.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, murals, street artists, walk,tour,graffiti, Otto Schade

Otto Schade

An unknown artist created a couple of quite incredible stencils, the accuracy of the stencil cut suggests perhaps laser cutting and the message is certainly one for the geeks.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, murals, street artists, walk,tour,graffiti, unknown

HTML art

Intellectual criticism of a street artists endeavours can be blunt and direct at times, this “feedback” on Friday night on Bambi’s bikini clad figures painted last December pulls no punches.   (more about Bambi’s piece here)

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Bambi critiqued

In keeping with the Easter theme, Horror painted this drippy chick off Brick Lane.

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Easter Chick

A wonderful tribute to an author whose work we loved appeared on the old Shoreditch Tube Station and Jim Vision’s work received a huge amount of coverage in the press.

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Detail, Terry Pratchett tribute by Jim Vision

London, Shoreditch, Street art, murals, street artists, walk,tour,graffiti, Jim Vision

Detail, Terry Pratchett tribute by Jim Vision

Scale isn’t everything in the world of street art, we loved this tiny mixed media sculpture and sticker piece stuck on a window ledge.

London, Shoreditch, Street art, murals, street artists, walk,tour,graffiti, Cozen art

Cozen art

And it does look like the temperature is climbing into double figures at last so all the signs are that Spring has indeed sprung (but I’m not going to be fooled, warm clothing remains a la mode).

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Wow – You Are Awesome (yes you!)

Wow – you guys are awesome! You’ve only gone and written 500 brilliant reviews on Tripadvisor of Shoreditch Street Art Tours. In doing so you have made Shoreditch Street Art Tours the 3rd best thing to do in London out of 1179 activities! For a while your support even made us No. 2, maybe we’ll get back there sometime.

The thing is, these reviews are the independent opinions of guests of Shoreditch Street Art Tours, we can write all the waffle we want on our website but none of it will ever mean as much as your independent feedback, that’s the beauty of Tripadvisor, it is you folks and your brilliant summaries.

So, thank you very much to all of you who have shown unanimous appreciation of the passion and dedication put into making Shoreditch Street Art Tours such a memorable and powerful experience.

There are over 200 super photos taken by guests on the tour have been uploaded to the Shoreditch Street Art Tours Tripadvisor profile and as a tribute to you, we have created brief slideshow of a selection of those pictures. The guests whose photos feature in this selection are acknowledged in the picture captions and of course we thank all other Tripadvisor reviewers who have also uploaded a selection of their photogenic memories of the tour.

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JeSuisCharlie

Shocked by the tragic events in Paris this week, street artists have been quick to respond.

In France: Jef Aerosol

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photo: Jef Aerosol

London, Shoreditch,Street art,graffiti,walk,tour,walks, tours,jesuischarlie,artists, Jef Aerosol

photo: Jef Aerosol

In London:

London, Shoreditch,Street art,graffiti,walk,tour,walks, tours,jesuischarlie,artists, Cept

je suis charlie

London, Shoreditch,Street art,graffiti,walk,tour,walks, tours,jesuischarlie,artists, Cept

je suis charlie

London, Shoreditch,Street art,graffiti,walk,tour,walks, tours,jesuischarlie,artists, Pure Evil

Pure Evil je suis charlie

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je suis charlie Graffiti Life

More details on Graffoto blog

London, Street art, Shoreditch, tour, tours, walk, walks, Dan Witz, PETA,” People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals”, “Empty The Cages”, sculpture, installation,cow,pig,chicken,rooster

Dan Witz street art in London

New York based street artist Dan Witz has recently visited London to create a politically charged emotive street art campaign. Dan WItz started painting delicate realistic hummingbird on the streets in the 1970s and is now known for eerie street art featuring despairing oppressed humans incarcerated behind doors and gratings.

 

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Danger of Death

Empty The Cages is a new PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals) campaign for which vegan Dan Witz aims to raise awareness of the cruelty inflicted on animals in the quest for more efficient and cheaper meat production to feed the worst parasite this planet has ever witnessed – mankind.

London, Street art, Shoreditch, tour, tours, walk, walks, Dan Witz, PETA,” People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals”, “Empty The Cages”, sculpture, installation,cow,pig,chicken,rooster

These pieces have been placed mainly in the Kings Cross and Clerkenwell areas of London. The pieces stand out for their accomplished finish, their coherent message and the daringness of their placement.

London, Street art, Shoreditch, tour, tours, walk, walks, Dan Witz, PETA,” People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals”, “Empty The Cages”, sculpture, installation,cow,pig,chicken,rooster

A full description of the merits and meanings of this street art campaign can be found on our sister blog Graffoto

 

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All photos: NoLionsinEngland

London, Shoreditch, Street art,tour,tours,walk,walks,guide,guided, street artist, spraycan,paste ups, paper, Skeleton Cardboard

Street Artist Skeleton Cardboard Brings Day Of The Dead Early

A burst of activity by English street artist Skeleton Cardboard resulted in the discovery of a number of new nuggets by several Shoreditch Street Art Tours over the weekend.

 

We found the above painted doors yesterday morning on a route which we hadn’t explored since Saturday morning. A pair of skeletons exhort us to abandon various false media, perhaps we have to learn from their example, look where too much TV, too much responding to the junk mail, living on the never never got them!
Skeleton cardboard is not one of those globe trotting street art mega stars who gets high profile permissioned murals where ever he goes round the world, he has been doing small and generally witty pieces on Shoreditch walls and we can see a clear trajectory of improving street art over the past two years or so.

 

Just a couple of weeks ago Skeleton Cardboard had a solo show in Monty’s Bar on Brick Lane. The walls were peppered with dark, day-of-the-dead skeletal characters who mocked those stern proclamations prohibitions issued by various authority figures or found on product packaging which we are expected to read and heed. “Nothing of value stored in here” or “invalid if opened” takes on a darker meaning when juxtaposed with a grinning skull on a dancing skeleton.

London, Shoreditch, Street art,tour,tours,walk,walks,guide,guided, street artist, spraycan,paste ups, paper, Skeleton Cardboard

A couple of tour groups over the weekend also found new paste ups of skeletons painted on found vintage magazine paper. The magazine in question was a supplement to Amateur Gardening, a respectable gardening periodical it seems and the content was Percy Thrower’s picture guide, to what isn’t stated but we guess gardens. There is no date on the paper but Percy Thrower passed away in 1988, he bestrode the worlds of TV and horticulture like a garden centre goliath but those were days when a man mimicking various bird calls was prime time TV.

London, Shoreditch, Street art,tour,tours,walk,walks,guide,guided, street artist, spraycan,paste ups, paper, Skeleton Cardboard

Good street art pops off its background and Skeleton Cardboard has certainly found a couple of gorgeous locations for placing these paste ups.

We have previously found free art by Skeleton Cardboard on the streets, see here