Street Art Tour, east end of London - summer 2017

I took part in a walking tour on street art and graffiti in London's east end. This was the second time I took this tour. The last time was in 2015. The company I chose both times was Free Tours by Foot. They offer tours on many topics in London (and other cities worldwide). Professional guides lead you interesting places. For their work you pay as much or little as you like at the end of the tour. Our leader this time was Colin. He was highly energetic and entertaining as he led us around the east end looking at art on the street. He was very knowledgeable about the subject.

On the tour we learned about the many forms of art on the street and the various methods involved in making the art. There are works that are painted using spray cans, paint rollers and stencils. Other forms of art involve small and large sculptures made of bronze, plaster or polyurethane, for example. Vinyl stickers are sometimes slapped on surfaces (even street signs). "Paste-ups" are often posters made at home and pasted on surfaces. Sometimes real objects are used, such as the famous cars of the artists D*Face and Banksy near the old Truman brewery. 

In this post I will show you the highlights of our tour. Most of the art I saw this year was different from the art I saw in 2015. That is not surprising. Street art is very temporary. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see a few pieces that are still around from 2015. This post focuses on the new art I found this year.

This is a photo of a mural on Hanbury Street, off of Brick Lane, in the east end of London. The artist is Sam Worthington, aka "Wasp Elder". He is from Cardiff and is now based in Berlin. He comes back to the UK to make street art and occasionally has solo shows in art galleries. This piece is called "Manufacturing Consent" and is obviously influenced by Noah Chomsky's book of the same name. Both Chomsky's book and Wasp Elder's mural are a commentary on mass media. Wasp Elder took 3 images from the news media about recent protests in the Ukraine and created this pastiche of characters for this mural. Wasp Elder's solo gallery exhibit from April 2017 in London ( called "Victims of Circumstances") contains the individual paintings of these three characters. From what I have seen on the Internet, Wasp Elder gravitates towards political themes in his works. His work is thought provoking. His website is www.waspelder.com

Another politically-based street art commentary is seen in this next "paste-up" on Spital Street. A "paste-up" is street art that is created at home and pasted on an outside surface. The inspiration for this piece came from Barack Obama's presidential campaign poster from 2008, designed by artist Shepard Fairey. The campaign poster was a drawing of Obama's head and the word "hope". In 2010 during the U.K.'s general election the British newspaper the "Sun" came out with the image of conservative leader David Cameron's head and the word "hope", borrowed obviously from the Obama campaign. The artist in the street art below is spoofing the Cameron poster by superimposing Cameron's head on Obama's head and writing "no hope".  This is in reaction to Cameron's departure as prime minister after the pro-Brexit vote won in 2016. He was clearly for remaining in the European Union.

"Un Kolor Distinto" is the name of the Chilean duo street artists Sammy ("Jekse") Espinoza and Cynthia ("Cines") Aguilera. They are based in Valparaiso, Chile and have been commissioned by the local government to create public works of art in that city. Their works have spread to other cities in Chile as well as international locations. Their tools are spray cans. The style is very "distinct" with bright colors (hence the duo's name "Un Kolor Distinto"). The figures represented in this art have been called by some as reminiscent of those in surrealistic art. More information about the artists can be found by doing an Internet search (though much is in Spanish with little or no English translations).

Jose Sabate (aka "el Pez") from Barcelona has a very distinctive artist signature on his street art - a smiling fish. The fish signature has overtaken many of his pieces of art. The fish figure evolved from a drawing of the letters "Pez" (fish in Spanish) to a combination of those letters and a fish-shaped figure. Eventually the fish figure survived on its own without the word "Pez". The artist wanted to spread happiness so he made the smiling fish. In addition to fish, the artist has incorporated monsters, demons and other creatures into his work. He is known internationally. This work below was created in 2015 for a project to beautify east London. It is located off of Brick Lane, in a cul-de-sac area called "Seven Stars Yard". Note the crossed out word "peace", replaced by "Pez". Also the words "Montana Colors" in the upper left hand corner refer to the artist's preferred brand of spray paint from a Barcelona-based company.

East London based street artist Jim Rockwell, aka "Jim Vision", has produced some wonderful art mostly based on the world of fantasy. In 2015 when my husband and I did a street art walking tour of the east end of London we were shown a huge tribute mural to the British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. Unfortunately the work has been painted over, as happens to most street art. My guide this year showed me a smaller work by the same artist. The subject is an owl. I have seen many pieces with owls done by this artist. He must like that bird!

Jim Vision heads an artist collective called "End of the Line". Among some of their activities they paint huge murals for businesses who want outdoor advertising. Jim also heads up an annual art festival in the east end of London called "The Meeting of Styles", where artists of all sorts come together and create art. 

The east London street artist "Stik" has created a unique stick figure of 6 lines and 2 dots to convey messages of unity during troubling times in communities around London and the world. He is based in Shoreditch, an area in the east end of London. He started making street art in 2002. For a period of about 10 years he was homeless and living on the streets or in homeless shelters in east London. His works range from smaller pieces to murals - some authorized to be painted, others not. He leaves us with social commentary about the state of local communities. It is amazing how he can express so much with a simple stick figure. He is the social conscience of the community.  With his art he has spoken out in support of public health services, the preservation of communities in the face of urban development and other topics. This piece of Stik art is located on Princelet street in the east end of London. I am not clear what the topic is. I can guess it may be unity in diversity. I think someone added the elephant in the piece, as I have seen photos of this work without the elephant. For more information on the artist do a search on the Internet.

On Hanbury Street in the east end of London are several murals, including the first one I wrote about by Wasp Elder. Here is another by "Senzart 911", South African artist Senzo Nhlapo. There is little information about him on the internet. He has a Facebook page (Senzart 911) and blog on Wordpress.

His art is very colorful and African-influenced.

Another artist with work on Hanbury Street is the Brazilian Alex Senna. He is known for drawing black and white silhouette figures. He often portrays the neglected in society and shows their humanity in scenes of love and solitude. His work appears worldwide on streets and in art galleries. Here is a solitary figure and his shadow on Hanbury Street. There is more information on the artist and his art online.

The London artist "Stedhead" (aka Meagan Hindley) has a background in illustration. She is inspired by body contour and motion. In this street art in the Seven Stars Yard area off of Brick Lane she shows her love of those things plus music. Her art is seen all over - on walls, in shows and festivals, and even on bodies as tattoos. More information about her is on Facebook under "Stedhead Art".

The British born Ghanaian artist Neequaye Dreph Dsane (aka "Dreph") is based in London. He has just completed a series of 10 large scale outdoor portraits of notable local African/Caribbean women who are making significant contributions to improve the lives of the young and underrepresented. The portraits are in various locations around London. This particular portrait below is of Myvanwy Evans from Shoreditch. She helps mentor young disadvantaged people in the area. This portrait is also in the cul-de-sac Seven Stars Yard, off of Brick Lane. The series of paintings is called "You are enough". All of the ladies featured have shown remarkable courage in helping others.

"Mr. Cenz" is a London-based artist. He paints in several styles -from graffiti style letters to human forms. His latest projects have been women's heads. He paints in an abstract and flowing manner.

This piece below is on a garage door in Seven Star Yards cul-de-sac off of Brick Lane, east end of London. His other portrayals of women are in a similar style.

If you look up on the top of buildings in London, Los Angeles, Queens NY, Cracow or even Berlin, you might find a colorful mushroom perched on the roof. That is the work of South African Christiaan Nagel. He is based in London and travels worldwide to spread his mushrooms. They are made of polyurethane ("surfboard foam"), fiberglass and stainless steel. Christiaan spent a lot of time surfing as a kid, so he was familiar with polyurethane.The mushrooms come in bright colors- blue, yellow and pink. He came upon the form of a mushroom while he was experimenting with those materials. He noticed the materials made a fine mushroom cap. Christiaan started putting up mushrooms on his own (in the middle of the night). He now receives commissions for many of his mushrooms. This mushroom I photographed is on Brick Lane in the east end of London.

Christiaan also paints pictures and his works have appeared in exhibitions. 

D*Face, aka Dean Stockton, is a London-born artist. He has a background in illustration. He grew up riding skateboards and was interested in the stickers pasted on skateboards. He was introduced to subway graffiti in NYC by looking at pictures in publications. His art is influenced by pop culture. He is a fierce critic of the evils in the modern world, such as consumerism. The Stolen Space Gallery in London often features his solo shows. His art has been featured all over the world in shows. Below is one of his street art pieces, located off of Brick Lane near the old Truman Brewery. The round head with wings is apparently his artist's signature. It appears on many of his works.

Clet Abraham is a French artist, trained in sculpture and oil painting, who lives in Florence Italy. He is known all over Europe and Japan for his stickers that he applies to street signs. These stickers provide an amusing modification of the sign without defacing the sign. He wants to draw more attention to the traffic signs. They are often overlooked and ignored by drivers.

This sign is on Brick Lane. 

Clet has received mixed reactions from local authorities over his stickers. Some go along with it and even collaborate with him on further projects. Others find it inappropriate. His main opposition came in Japan, where his girlfriend was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned for helping post Clet's stickers in Japan.She was picked up by local Japanese authorities after he had left town. She was eventually released. He has been fined in the past for "defacing" street signs.

"Jonesy" is a Welsh artist based in London. He is a multi-faceted artist with activities in sculpture, painting, jewelry and musical instrument making. He is an environmental activist. That is often reflected in his art. In London some of his contributions to street art comes in the form of small bronze sculptures placed high on top of street signs or on walls. Here is an example of a decorated sign post in the east end of London.

Gregos, a French artist, has been plastering his image on walls worldwide for quite a while. He makes a 3D cast of his face with various expressions and puts them up all around. Some are big. Others are small. Some have a tongue sticking out. Others don't. Happy, sad. You name it. He is a self-taught artist. He experimented in different mediums before coming to sculpting. He encourages you to send him selfies with his sculpted masks. See his Facebook page for that activity. Below is an example of a Gregos mask from the east end of London. It does tend to startle you the first time you see one!

This concludes my blog post on street art from the tour in August 2017. I plan on taking this tour many times as there is always something new to see and a new artist to discover. I highly recommend this tour and this tour company, Free Tours by Foot.