the street is our gallery

Just like the artists who come to paint the walls, Shoreditch is a melting pot of cultures and art styles. Artists use the streets to advertise their solo shows, leave political statements and generally brighten up the street furniture. Every wall tells a story and Shoreditch residents, The Stage, have mapped the area’s artworks including these cheeky pieces that you might not have spotted before.

Jimmy C – Portrait of a Woman

Location Address: Whitby St, London E1

Exit from Shoreditch High street and follow Chance Street until your first right. Whitby Street is one of the quieter streets in the area and here you’ll find not one but two pieces by the artist James Cochran, AKA Jimmy C. The portrait of the woman was painted in 2010, as part of the Girls with Spheres series and the other, of a young filmmaker, Javon Davies, in a hoodie in 2012. Jimmy C’s work is often make up of many vibrant scribbles or hundreds of tiny daubs – pointillism style.

Alice Pasquini: Colourful Female
Location address: 10 Quaker St, London E1 6SZ

Hidden in the doorway of Quaker Street Coffee & Bubble Tea Cafe is Colourful Female. Although protected by of perspex now, the piece initially caused controversy between the buildings’ landlords because they complained, writes Alice, that “you can see her boobs”. Alice’s art quite often depicts women of all ages, capturing their soul and personality in a multi-coloured, stencil. Also known by her street name AliCè, this Italian artist’s pieces are usually small and you have to look hard for them.

Otto Schade: ET
Location Address: 6-8 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3NT

If you’re walking towards Shoreditch, take a moment to look down Fairchild Place, just off Great Eastern Street and you will find a Otto Schade’s piece entitled “HUMF (Hurry Up MotherF*cker)”. This Chilean artist’s work is alway very tongue in cheek. He’s one of our most featured artists on the map and has a very distinctive style; his subjects are either made entirely of ribbon style, surreal shapes or encircled by an orb like frame.

SAKI&Bitches – The Butcher
Location Address: Bacon St, London E2 6DY

Unless you have a moment to really take it in, this buxom butcher might not register to those who pass by. The piece adds a fun nod to Bacon street (geddit) with its close proximity to Roa’s famous sleeping pig. The Tokyo born artist started her career as a make up artist and swapped her the make up for spray paint after feeling bored of the fashion industry. This piece appeared in 2015 and since then she’s covered many more walls with her curvaceous and colourful, often half naked or half animal portraits of women.

Cernesto: Elephants in Love
Location Address: Grimsby Street

To find this piece, you’ll have to look up! As you turn onto Grimsby street you’ll find these two gravity defying Elephants in love above your head, far from the reach of the pasted posters and spray cans. This piece was painted by the American artist Cern in the spring of 2013. Also known as Cern for short, this artist from New York painted his mural in a fly-by visit to London. His colourful and abstract art usually centers around animals, women and abstract shapes. From this location it’s a two minute walk to the next piece, however, just like Cern’s hipster elephant, you may need to get your glasses out for the next one.

As street art is subject to change and at the time of publishing most of these pieces still grace the streets. However, regular repainting and tagging means that some pieces are gone in a matter of days, so we invite anyone who knows of more recent pieces to submit them to us.

Just click the ‘Add a Gallery/ Street Art Location’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the map.