This page exists to display some photographs of Urban Art I recently discovered in the East End of London. The photographs on display her are of three all paintings in the area around Hoxton Square and another painting on a garage door in Brick Lane. I think that all of these images are rather fine and I am showing them here to bring them to the attention of anyone who may not have seen the originals. For the Hoxton paintings I am also including a map to show exactly where I found them. For the Brick Lane painting I cannot remember the exact location. If my memory serves me correctly it is quite close to the building that once housed the Truman's Brewery. It is also on the east side of the street. In other words, if one walk from Whitechapel to Bethnal Green one will find the painting, of two female DJs, on the right hand side of the street.
When I first saw the works on display here I was rather tempted to think of them as a sort of High Class graffiti. However, I believe that such a perjorative term would not be an appropriate description. This is for the following reasons:
The last point appears to me to be the clincher. If graffiti is vandalism; if it represents defacement of property without the owners permission, and if permission was given for the artists to create these works then clearly they are not graffiti. What is more, in the current writer's opinion at least, these works seem to enhance, rather than deface the environment in the region of Hoxton Square and Brick Lane.
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Before I begin my tour let me show you, if I may, a map of Hoxton Square. Four of the five photographs shown below were taken in streets adjacent to Hoxton Square. The fifth photograph was taken in Brick Lane. The first two photographs, which you will see, are of paintings in Coronet Street. The next two photographs are of a single work in nearby Mundy Street. The fifth and final photograph was taken in Brick Lane, near the brewery.
If you look at the map below you will notice that I have drawn two red arrows on it. One arrow points to Coronet Street, the other points to Mundy Street. I have tried as best I can to point to the exact location at which I found the works I am discussing here. Here then is the map of Hoxton Square, showing the location of the paintings:
As you can see on the above map, I have placed red arrows on the map indicating areas of wall space in Coronet Street and Mundy Street. These two areas of wall are where the next four photographs were taken. You will note I have also placed a blue rectangle on the map adjacent to Hoxton Square. This blue rectable shows the location of a very good bar restaurant, named Bluu. The address of this restuarant is: 1 Hoxton Square, London N1 6 NU. The Telephone number is: 0871 223 0810. I am not sure whether or not Bluu have got their web site. However, you can find a review of the restaurant, together with more information at the following website:www.fluidstyle.co.uk. If you got to Hoxton Square, whether to view the art I have photographed here, the art on Display at the White Cube art gallery, or for any other reason, you could do a lot worse than to stop of for a drink and a snack at Blue. Certainly it is the one place I tend to gravitate towards every time I go to Hoxton Square.
Should you wish to view the above area via a mapping website, such as Google's mapping website: maps.google.co.uk, you should be able to do so by searching for the postcode of the White Cube Gallery in Hoxton Square. The postcode in question is: "N1 6PB".
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The first of the photographs I would like to show you is the photograph of a painting of woman's face which I took in Coronet street.
My only regret about the above photograph is that I did not push the rubbish bin out of the way. I think when I took the photograph I was keen to be an observer, rather than a participant in the scene. On further reflection it would have been nice to have taken a photograph of the whole painting, rather than the portion of it one can see peeping over the rubbish bin. It would also have been nice to have taken a close up photograph. However, I regret this is all I have got. I fear it will have to do.
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I said I regret I did not take another photograph of the above painting, without the rubbish bin in the way. I do however have a larger copy of the same photograph, which allows me to zoom in on the lady's face as you can see below:
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