Street Art in London: 8 of the Best Locations and Artists

The graffiti phenomenon began in New York City in the 1970s; but it wasn’t long before it crossed the Atlantic and the history of street art in London began. Initially the movement had strong ties to punk music, with anarchic slogans and politically charged murals at its heart. Today, the city’s urban art scene is hugely diverse, with artists travelling from all over the world to depict everything from animals to fantasy scenes and human portraits. There are a lot of guided street art tours to help you discover this alternative artform in all its glory. Want to explore on your own? Start with the top locations listed below.

Because street art is generally illegal in London, pieces constantly come and go as local councils paint over them and new developments go up. Even in private settings where it’s permitted, the genre is ephemeral by nature – masterpieces are created, appreciated and then replaced by the work of other artists. So, directing you to specific artworks is difficult, although there are some famous ones that have stood the test of time. But there are street art strongholds all over the city, including Brick Lane, Shoreditch, Camden, Brixton, Penge and Hackney Wick.

In an area defined by its bohemian creativity, Brick Lane graffiti is some of the best known in London. Exquisite murals and political tags are a hallmark of the main road and the many streets that intersect it. Hanbury Street is one of the most colourful, with an ever-changing line-up of works by top artists running its length from Spitalfields to Whitechapel. Gracing the brick façade of one multi-storey building is ROA’s giant, greyscale crane, rendered in the Belgian artist’s famously detailed style.

Another unmissable hub for street art in East London is the yard at the back of Brick Lane’s now-derelict Seven Stars pub. To get there, take a stroll along an alley leading off the main street, whose walls are a colourful patchwork of paste-up street art. The yard itself is mostly the domain of freestyle spray paint artists, with pieces by London favourites including Mr. Cenz, Fanakapan, Artista and This One all gracing its walls at one point or another. You never know what you might find!

Touring the street art in Shoreditch, London is a natural extension of your visit to Brick Lane, which is part of the same area. Among the most cohesive displays are those on Chance and Whitby Streets, two adjacent thoroughfares located within a stone’s throw of Shoreditch High Street station. Together, they’re synonymous with some of the largest and most impressive murals in the East End, many of which are the work of international artists including ROA, Germany’s MadC, and Australians Reka and Jimmy C.

Shoreditch is also synonymous with iconic UK street artist Banksy. To spot authentic Banksy art in London’s streets, head to the former Cargo nightclub on Rivington Street. The entrance is underneath a railway bridge, a venue that hosted Banksy’s first exhibition in the capital. Two original pieces are still on display in the courtyard around the corner: the HMV dog and a guard with a torch known as “Designated Graffiti Area”. The quirky ibis London City - Shoreditch is a great base for discovering the rich Shoreditch graffiti scene.

The area around Camden Town is the epicentre for street art in North London. Camden graffiti artists are supported by The Real Art of Street Art, an organisation that provides legal wall space including the one that runs along the back of the houses at Hawley Mews. Mural-adorned Hawley Mews becomes Hawley Street, another popular spot for top artists including Fanakapan, Irony and Otto Schade. Look out for Schade’s famous memorial portrait of Camden icon and former resident, Amy Winehouse, which has remained untouched since 2012.

South London’s Dulwich Outdoor Gallery is a fascinating project that began when street artist Stik met Dulwich Picture Gallery curator Ingrid Beazley. Together they came up with the idea of a collection of legal urban art pieces located on a walking route through the neighbourhood – each one a modern reinterpretation of one of the gallery’s collection of Baroque Old Masters. Pieces by graffiti legends from around the world include Stik’s recreation of “Couple in a Landscape” by Gainsborough, and Mear One’s modernisation of Murillo’s “The Madonna in a Rosary”.

Also in South London is Brixton graffiti hotspot, the Stockwell Hall of Fame. The former sports pitch on Aytoun Road provides abundant wall space for established and emerging urban artists and is a great place to see the big names of tomorrow before they get famous. If you’re planning on travelling to Brixton by tube, take the time to visit one of the city’s best memorial pieces en route – a portrait of David Bowie by Jimmy C, an artist known for his Pointillism-inspired style. It’s located just across from the station on Brixton Road.

The longest legal graffiti wall in the capital can be found at Leake Street Arches, a collection of eight former railway tunnels situated beneath Waterloo station. Anyone can test their prowess with a spray can here, so there’s nothing to stop you from expressing your own artistic ability in between checking out the rainbow tapestry of murals, tags and paste-ups left by other artists. This trendy venue is also home to several independent restaurants and bars, while Novotel London Waterloo offers a convenient place to stay within a few minutes’ walk.

Because it changes constantly, it’s difficult to identify a single piece as the most famous street art in London, although some have definitely been preserved longer and drawn more attention than others. Examples include ROA’s Hanbury Street crane, and Jimmy C’s Brixton memorial to David Bowie. Others went viral when they were first revealed, such as Irony’s mesmerising large-scale depiction of an aerosol can doubling as a flamethrower.

But if there’s a single artist that stands out from the crowd it’s Banksy, the anonymous Bristolian whose political stencils are now worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. In addition to the two Cargo pieces mentioned earlier, you can see Banksys in situ throughout London, including on Portobello Road, Clipstone Road, Bruton Lane and Essex Road. Discovering their precise locations for yourself is half the fun. Explore other top artists across different street art genres below.

The most iconic of all London graffiti artists and the king of stencils in particular, Banksy’s career began in Bristol in the 1990s. His fiercely political, anti-establishment pieces are hugely popular and often credited with shifting the public’s perspective of graffiti from a nuisance to an art form.

Stik’s simple stick figures started popping up around Hackney in the early 2000s, and have become a much-loved sight in many areas of the capital ever since. As co-founder of the Dulwich Outdoor Gallery, he’s done a lot to promote London’s street art scene.

Welsh artist Pure Evil has one of the most distinctive styles in London, using stencils and spray paint to render Warhol-inspired portraits of celebrity icons including Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Each one is defined by a teardrop-like run of paint under one eye.

Eine’s career began over 30 years ago, with large, colourful letters spray painted onto shop shutters. He’s now a hugely successful letterform artist who’s collaborated with Banksy and Louis Vuitton, and has works in some of the world’s most iconic contemporary art museums.

You’ll have to have a keen eye to spot artwork by the “Chewing Gum Man”, who paints his pictures on blobs of discarded gum left on the city streets. Most are inspired by the requests of passersby, and the biggest concentration of them is on Millennium Bridge.

Some of the best street art in London belongs to Irony (of aerosol can/flamethrower fame), an artist who specialises in industrial scale, freestyle portraits of people and animals. He’s especially known for painting life-like women with gorgeous looks and an alternative style.

If you’re looking for 3D street art in London, you won’t find better than Fanakapan’s “Balloon Graff” pieces, which feature foil helium balloons spray-painted with such clever use of shadow and highlight that you’ll have to touch them to convince your brain they’re two-dimensional.

Anonymous French artist Invader is known for his ceramic mosaics inspired by the characters of '70s and '80s video games including Space Invaders and Pac Man. He has “invaded” London many times since his first visit in 1999, with more than 150 pieces to be found here.

While we can’t guarantee which of the street art pieces mentioned in this article will still exist by the time you go looking for them, we can promise there will be many other beautiful, thought-provoking, humorous examples to find along the way. The ideal base for your adventure is the East End, where contemporary design hotel Mama Shelter London Shoreditch holds court in a neighbourhood full of ethnic restaurants, tattoo parlours, indie galleries and, of course, street art.