The sign above Cass Art on Berwick Street proclaims ‘Let’s Fill This Town With Artists’, and there is indeed art on every street corner if you keep your eyes peeled. Shoreditch and Hoxton in particular have become hotbeds for street art, with guided walking tours springing up every minute to help you find the latest Banksy doodle. As street art tends to come and go, tour operators have a constant supply of new places to visit and curious participants. Graffiti is the most usual medium, even if it sometimes has to fight for its place – Banksy’s Chalk Farm maid made frequent disappearing acts until it was eventually replaced by a bright orange leopard filled with quotes from passers-by. No matter how well you think you know the city, there’s always plenty more to be discovered.
Near Canary Wharf, at the junction between Westferry Road and Heron Quays sits a construction that continues to confuse drivers. The Traffic Light Tree “imitates the natural landscape of the adjacent London Plane Trees, while the changing pattern of the lights reveals and reflects the never ending rhythm of the surrounding domestic, financial and commercial activities”. It also gets mistaken for actual traffic lights, although many are now familiar with the illuminated sculpture. There is more travel-related quirkiness in the East End, where four underground trains sit above night time haunt and exhibition space Village Underground, on Holywell Lane. The carriages are utilised as studios for budding artists and creative types, and you can’t get much cooler than going to work in a makeshift train above a nightclub.
On Old Street, next to Moroccan fusion restaurant Bogayo there is a dramatic, large scale black and white poster of a Muslim woman sporting a Louis Vuitton head scarf. Another more recent addition to Old Street is the word “change” spelt out in capitals. The artist responsible is Ben Eine, and random words are his trademark, therefore if you happen upon colourful letters painted on East End shop shutters, particularly along Middlesex Street, it’s likely they’re by him. Proof that street art is no longer the subversive artform it once was came when David Cameron handed President Obama a sample of his graffiti as a gift. Sigh.
\n\nLondon life is represented in a mural on Whitfield Gardens near Goodge Street station. The mural covers the entire wall of a building, standing out against the corporate surroundings, and though slightly damaged by the elements, one can still make out the boy behind the fence, the skyline and the other characters going about their daily routine. London’s smallest house is located at 10 Hyde Park Place, unsurprising given the area’s house prices, however this was in fact built in 1805, before gentrification but obviously at a time when the area was already one of London’s most desirable. The ground floor is literally an alleyway and the first floor is the bathroom - the former inhabitants must have had a very active social life. Another, better known architectural delight is the Mayor’s London office by the South Bank, designed by Norman Foster, which looks like a cross between a space capsule and a glass soap dish. Its futuristic design makes it one of London’s most modern-looking constructions, at least until the Shard is completed, which will be the tallest building in the European Union standing 310 metres tall.
The relatively unglamorous area of Catford boasts a giant fibreglass cat that looks set to pounce from its position above the local shopping centre, looking particularly adorable when two pigeons perch on either ear. It’s understandable you wouldn’t want to travel all the way to Catford for the vision, but if you like the idea of oversized fluffy animals in urban locations you will find a collection of large white rabbits gallivanting on the grass on Bishop’s Square, courtesy of Paul Cox. Artist Roa has a penchant for painting large scale animals around the East End; look out for his bushy-tailed squirrel on Club Row.
\n\nTake a wander down Ganton Street near Oxford Circus and look up, you will see a huge plug and socket. It lights up at night, glamming up an otherwise run-of-the-mill 1960s building, which incidentally supplies electricity to Windsor Castle. Another curious item appears on the wall of one of the arches of Admiralty Arch, by Trafalgar Square. Apparently when Lord Nelson’s statue was being erected, the cautious creators made a spare nose (one can never have too many noses), and this spare part is stuck on the wall, roughly two metres above the ground. Supposedly there are a further seven dotted around Soho, so if you have too much time on your hands you could devote an afternoon to nose-hunting, especially given that legend has it that whoever finds them all will be blessed with infinite wealth.
The Meeting Place sculpture in the newly revamped St. Pancras Station has divided opinion. Some think Paul Day’s embracing couple complete with figures at the base inspired by the film Love Actually is a towering masterpiece, while others find it patronising, ill-conceived and plain ugly. As one member of the public complained “it is an affront to those who aren't so fortunate as to be in love”. Presumably not a fan of the statue of Eros either. If seeking out bad sculptures is your thing, head to Walbrook by Cannon Street station, where you will find a stone replica of a banker standing legs apart and holding a brick-sized mobile phone. If the idea behind Stephen Melton’s statue was to make investment bankers look like morons, he’s succeeded.
