Five London Street Art Hotspots for Paste-ups
London's Brick Lane and Shoreditch are among some of our favorite goto city destinations to see and photograph uncommissioned London street art paste-ups. The area's walls are alive with an ever-evolving collection of paper paste-up art and no two visits are ever the same.
Let’s discover the best locations for London street art paste-ups
The city is constantly changing and so too are the walls adorned with street art and graffiti. It’s the ephemeral nature that brings us back again and again to some of the same walls, hotspots that are frequently refreshed by street and graffiti artists with new original artworks.New layers are added, some removed, others are completely painted over or removed by the local city council and the process starts all over again.
There is no shortage of street art and murals in these neighborhoods and you will see an abundance of it just walking around the main streets from Shoreditch High Street to Brick Lane in East London.
With this post, we are going to share with you five of the best locations for Shoreditch and Brick Lane street art paste-ups in my opinion. For me no visit is complete without visiting each of the five locations featured below, to check out any fresh new additions to the walls.
Large-scale vibrantly coloured paste-up work on Brick Lane, London created by Montreal-based street artist Stikki Peaches. The artist prints black and white large-scale versions of his works on paper and then adds splashes of coloured paint to each one before installing them on the streets.
What are Street Art Paste-Ups?
So what exactly is a paste-up, sometimes referred to as wheatpaste or wheatpasting a term usually used in the US. Essentially it’s sticking up posters to surfaces and walls using a water-based wallpaper glue or a wheat/ flour paste made of flour and water as an adhesive.
Street artists will usually work on their designs in their homes or studio, creating the artwork in advance for installation on the street at a later date. Different techniques, mediums, and sizes vary from artist to artist.
Some artists will create elaborate hand-painted one-off original paste-ups of varying sizes, others use screen printing techniques to create multi-layered multiples of their work allowing them to blanked cover an entire city with their mass-produced work.
Some artists will create elaborate hand-painted one-off original paste-ups of varying sizes, others use screen printing techniques to create multi-layered multiples of their work allowing them to blanked cover an entire city with their mass-produced work.
We have also seen lino and woodblock printing used, artists such as NY-based artist Swoon created large-scale woodblock prints which she then pasted on the cities walls across the globe.
Others will use large format digital printing, allowing them to scale up their artworks cheaply, combining a number of large sheets together to make up one piece of artwork.
Street artists such as London’s Donk, Ireland’s Joe Caslin, Montreal’s Stikki Peaches, France’s Ludo, Levelet, and JR to name a few are all artists well known for their large-scale paste-ups works using large format printing.
The front of the former Seven Star Pub on Brick Lane, London, is now covered in a mix of stickers, stencils, and street art posters from a variety of artists.
01. Seven Stars Yard, London
The first of our five stops in our top places for London street art paste-ups is the Seven Stars Yard, a small side access road located to the left off Brick Lane, between Fashion Street and Fournier Street.
Hand-painted street art paste-up by street artist LT66 on the wall leading to the Seven Star Yard off Brick Lane, London pictured above and below.
The work of street artist LT66 on the wall of the in Seven Star Yard, London.
Layers of paste-ups by Portland-based Canadian street artist RX Skulls sitting alongside the works of London-based street artist SubDude.
Actress Julie Andrews in her role as Mary Poppins pictured here in this paste-up artwork by Brighton-based artists The Postman Collective.
New York based Street Artist Pyramidorcales wonderful large-scale hand-painted paste-ups on Fashion Street. The large posters have managed to survive the elements and have been running since the artist's previous visit to London in 2017 which saw him install a series of large-scale works around Shoreditch and Brick Lane.
London-based artist and illustrator Ben Rider better known to some by his street name Zombiesqueegee is another regular on the cities walls with his vibrant fluoro paste-ups which the artist screenprints himself layering up the images and ink colours to create some unique visuals.
Fashion street is one of the street art locations the artist frequently hits up when he is installing new paste-ups works on the streets, usually seen alongside the work of fellow London street artist Donk.
Artworks from artist Ben Rider and street artist Qwert were pasted to a wall on Fashion Street, London.
New York street artist City Kitty is a regular on the London streets from his small-scale stickers that we feature frequently in our Stick it up: Shoreditch Street Art Stickers posts on the blog along with his larger hand-painted paste-ups all featuring his signature cat characters pictured above on Grimsby Street, London.
03. Grimsby Street, London
For our third location, we take a look at the walls of Grimsby Street which have had a long relationship with street art. Before the East London Overground line was extended both sides of the street were frequently covered with street artworks - Graffiti, stencils, and paste-ups before the railway arches to one side were demolished to make way for the new train line extension.
This street even had its own Banksy flying rat back in the early 2000s when the area had enough of the artist's work that you could join a Banksy street art tour and just take in Banksy stencil works.
Artwork by artist Johnnyhowlclub.
Artist RX Skulls and one of artist Paul Insects babydoll heads taken from the It's a Stick-Up: 20 Real Wheat Paste-Ups Book, authored and designed by Ollystudios.
The artwork of London artist Neon Savage on the doors of 33 Fournier Street, London.
'You are the power' - One of street artist Mowcka's one-off hand-painted paste-ups
Screenprinted paste-up by London street artist Donk.
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The front of the former Seven Star Pub on Brick Lane, London, is now covered in a mix of stickers, stencils, and street art posters from a variety of artists.
01. Seven Stars Yard, London
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The first of our five stops in our top places for London street art paste-ups is the Seven Stars Yard, a small side access road located to the left off Brick Lane, between Fashion Street and Fournier Street. As the access road is not on Google maps lookout for the large Pac-Man pizza mural next to the access road painted by London artist Fanakapan.
To the front is the former Seven Stars pub, now a semi-derelict building, and to the rear a small car park where you will find a number of semi-legal walls popular with local and international street and graffiti artists.
To the front is the former Seven Stars pub, now a semi-derelict building, and to the rear a small car park where you will find a number of semi-legal walls popular with local and international street and graffiti artists.
Over the years the walls of the yard have been decorated with works by artists from across the globe and the works eventually spilled over onto the walls of the building itself.
As to be expected with any hotspot the walls of the Seven Stars Yard are frequently changing and it’s very likely the images we featured here may differ from what you will see when you visit.
Layers and layers of posters and stickers have built up upon the venue over the years and there is nearly always something fresh and interesting to photograph, and with the yard to the back secluded from the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane, there are more often than not artists to be found painting murals on these walls.
Layers and layers of posters and stickers have built up upon the venue over the years and there is nearly always something fresh and interesting to photograph, and with the yard to the back secluded from the hustle and bustle of Brick Lane, there are more often than not artists to be found painting murals on these walls.
"Rebel With a Cause - Nina Simone" Paste-up art in Seven Star Yard by London artist Jelly.
Hand-painted street art paste-up by street artist LT66 on the wall leading to the Seven Star Yard off Brick Lane, London pictured above and below.
The work of street artist LT66 on the wall of the in Seven Star Yard, London.
Layers of paste-ups by Portland-based Canadian street artist RX Skulls sitting alongside the works of London-based street artist SubDude.
Actress Julie Andrews in her role as Mary Poppins pictured here in this paste-up artwork by Brighton-based artists The Postman Collective.
Various street artists are pictured here including paste-up works from artists Ben Rider, Qwert, and City Kitty.
02. Fashion Street, London
02. Fashion Street, London
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Our second location can be found at one end of Fashion Street towards Commercial Street - here you will find a building that is frequently covered in posters and stickers.
Like many of the other paste-up hotspots in London, on initial view the wall looks a little chaotic with layers of work that have been added over the years - some pieces are new with others in various states of decay.
A closer look and you will discover some smaller artworks glued to the wall from an international selection of street artists and we frequently see works here from artists Neon Savage, Endless, Aida Wilde, Donk, Ben Rider, City Kitty, D7606, C3, and many more.
The three-eyed characters of paste-up artist Neon Savage in this paste-up glued to a door on Fashion Street, London.
New York based Street Artist Pyramidorcales wonderful large-scale hand-painted paste-ups on Fashion Street. The large posters have managed to survive the elements and have been running since the artist's previous visit to London in 2017 which saw him install a series of large-scale works around Shoreditch and Brick Lane.
London-based artist and illustrator Ben Rider better known to some by his street name Zombiesqueegee is another regular on the cities walls with his vibrant fluoro paste-ups which the artist screenprints himself layering up the images and ink colours to create some unique visuals.
Fashion street is one of the street art locations the artist frequently hits up when he is installing new paste-ups works on the streets, usually seen alongside the work of fellow London street artist Donk.
Artworks from artist Ben Rider and street artist Qwert were pasted to a wall on Fashion Street, London.
New York street artist City Kitty is a regular on the London streets from his small-scale stickers that we feature frequently in our Stick it up: Shoreditch Street Art Stickers posts on the blog along with his larger hand-painted paste-ups all featuring his signature cat characters pictured above on Grimsby Street, London.
03. Grimsby Street, London
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For our third location, we take a look at the walls of Grimsby Street which have had a long relationship with street art. Before the East London Overground line was extended both sides of the street were frequently covered with street artworks - Graffiti, stencils, and paste-ups before the railway arches to one side were demolished to make way for the new train line extension. This street even had its own Banksy flying rat back in the early 2000s when the area had enough of the artist's work that you could join a Banksy street art tour and just take in Banksy stencil works.
Another paste-up work by London artist Neon Savages on Grimsby Street, London.
Sadly the Banksy rat on Grimsby Street was lost when the railway arches were demolished, but this street has remained a popular spot for street artists and there are frequently fresh paste-ups glued to the walls along the street.
Further along on Grimsby there are a number of smaller murals and walls featuring works from graffiti crew The Rolling People and a long-standing piece by London street artist Stik.
Street Artist Mowcka's large-scale hand-painted paste-up works on the corner of Grimsby Street and Brick Lane, London
Further along on Grimsby there are a number of smaller murals and walls featuring works from graffiti crew The Rolling People and a long-standing piece by London street artist Stik.
Street Artist Mowcka's large-scale hand-painted paste-up works on the corner of Grimsby Street and Brick Lane, London
04. Buxton Street, London
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Where Buxton street and Brick Lane intersect you will find our fourth hot-spot recommendation for London paste-ups. Buxton Street leads to the Allen Gardens where in recent years the walls surrounding one side of this green space have become a semi-legal spot for street and graffiti artists to paint.On any given day you will find artists working on their creations on these walls and the location sees a high number of artists passing through painting and installing artworks.
The artworks have, of course, spilled out beyond the walls of the park, and the large Buxton Street wall pictured above and the former Religion retail shop opposite it are both covered with an array of stickers, sculptures, tags, graffiti, and of course paste-ups making this one of the must-visit locations.
Brighton-based artist The Postman's colourful paste-up featuring musician Paul McCartney on Buxton Street, London.
The everchanging wooden doors of 33 Fournier Street, London pictured above.
05. Fournier Street, London
About halfway down this picturesque street of 18th-century houses in Spitalfields, you will find a set of double wooden doors at 33 Fournier Street, completely covered with street art paste-ups and stickers.
Brighton-based artist The Postman's colourful paste-up featuring musician Paul McCartney on Buxton Street, London.
The everchanging wooden doors of 33 Fournier Street, London pictured above.
05. Fournier Street, London
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About halfway down this picturesque street of 18th-century houses in Spitalfields, you will find a set of double wooden doors at 33 Fournier Street, completely covered with street art paste-ups and stickers.These doors on Fournier street have long showcased the paste-up works of street artists from London and beyond.
Towards the Brick Lane end of Fournier street there is another set of doors also covers in various street art posters. The works at both of these locations change frequently.
Towards the Brick Lane end of Fournier street there is another set of doors also covers in various street art posters. The works at both of these locations change frequently.
Artwork by artist Johnnyhowlclub.
Artist RX Skulls and one of artist Paul Insects babydoll heads taken from the It's a Stick-Up: 20 Real Wheat Paste-Ups Book, authored and designed by Ollystudios.
The artwork of London artist Neon Savage on the doors of 33 Fournier Street, London.
'You are the power' - One of street artist Mowcka's one-off hand-painted paste-ups
Screenprinted paste-up by London street artist Donk.
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Related Paste-up Art Stories
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Shoreditch Street Art Paste-Ups: Edition 2.French Duo Kamlaurene London Street Art.
Master Of Miniature Street Art Pablo Delgado.
