A Museum at Your Doorstep: Discovering Local Street Art
How a walk around your neighbourhood can reveal a hidden street art museum
September 2, 2022
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
Hard to miss yet blended in the urban landscape, street art is integral to our neighbourhoods but we don’t always notice the murals, graffiti and tags splashed across our walls. Diving into the world of street art, however, reveals a historical and cultural treasure-chest worthy of the most carefully curated exhibitions - and completely accessible to all.
Open air museum
Off the beaten street-art tracks of Shoreditch, the roads of West London are vibrant with colour - let’s go for a quick tour.
Our first stop: Believe in Me by Spanish street artist Sr. X, who focuses on pop culture’s impact on society. The mural draws on religious visuals of Mary holding her child, but here, the child in question - the famous Pikachu - nearly upstages the religious imagery and draws our eye towards the famous character. Sr. X participated in the London Mural Festival in 2020 and collaborated with the Saatchi Gallery - but no need to travel so far when it is possible to discover his work while running an errand!
We now head to Royal Oak station via Harrow Road, where a section of Westway bridge is unmissable, covered in graffiti and street art which seems to change every day. However, one piece has survived the test of time.
Commissioned by the council in 1977, to both bring art to a forgotten part of the cityscape and to the local inhabitants, this beautiful mural is dedicated to the working people of Paddington and was painted with the idea of becoming a landmark of the area.
Part of the mural has been covered with elaborate graffiti, seemingly signed CHIK. This simple signature evokes the early beginnings of street art in 1960s Philadelphia. At the time, street art was in its infancy - ‘writers’, as artists were called, would simply sign their names on public property, ideally in daring places. Street art and graffiti are not quite the same: the former is often commissioned, public oriented and image-based, while the latter tends to be an illegal, word-based form of self-expression.
The mural’s placement near the station echoes the beginnings of street art, when writers found that the most daring public space to paint were subways. Subway art became a key part of the street art subculture in 1970s New-York, reaching the UK in the 1980s following the arrival of hip-hop culture.
One last stop; turning back into Elgin Avenue, two blue ladies are unmissable. No written signature is visible, but a bit of digging (and using Google’s handy search-by-image tool) reveals the artist is Fin Dac, and the piece, Splash #2.
The small dragon stencil at the bottom of the mural turns out to be Fin Dac’s signature.
Irish street artist Fin Dac is known for his murals of defiant, empowered women (all donning the signature coloured mask) that oppose the objectification of women still present in much of pop culture today. Ultimately, Fin Dac’s goal is to make art available to all. In fact, Splash #2 appeared in the summer 2022 edition of the local newspaper, as a landmark and notable feature of which the neighbourhood is proud.
This shows a notable change in UK attitudes toward street art since the 1980s. Then, even the most developed graffiti were not perceived as adding value to a city, as demonstrated by the 1989 Operation Anderson, the biggest UK crackdown on street art.
After Bristol opened a space in a youth centre where graffiti could be sprayed legally, police forces catalogued the artwork and matched it to pieces appearing elsewhere in Bristol, illegally. They identified artists and raided 12 houses, confiscating aerosols, notebooks, markers and a diary featuring the contact details of more artists, which lead to 50 further arrests; 46 sprayers were fined and a youth centre worker was nearly charged with organising an illegal network of sprayers. The charges were dropped, but the youth centre’s walls were closed off and illegal graffiti continued. Today, commissioned street art and illegal graffiti coexist in relative artistic peace and graffiti is no longer seen as an epidemic harming cities.
Closing thoughts: how to enjoy local art
Street artists are making their mark in traditional galleries and gaining international recognition and street art has become a key element of contemporary art - there’s so much to do with street art, so here are some tips to enjoy it!
First, make it your own! As was done here, taking pictures of street art is a great way to enjoy the art longer - from there, draw it, edit the pictures, make collages (of course, if posting creations publicly, it’s always best to cite the original artist)!
Second, research! Art can be enjoyed for its aesthetic, but researching the artist and their intentions or diving into the area’s history shows street art is as rich in history as the art housed in museums.
Third, connect with others! Rope in friends or family and spend an afternoon following the art! Everyone perceives art differently and this might spark fantastic conversations - to dive even deeper, there are great street art tours available in London. Happy adventuring!
