Most people usually correlate graffiti to street art. Graffiti to me is the line of spraypainted letters that you see on the corner of a bridge behind fenced areas. When I asked by my professor what my definition of “street art” is, I couldn’t answer it. Then, I realized that there is actually a huge difference between street art and simply, just graffiti.
Old Street is the street where you can spot works of different artists. One thing to always keep in mind is that all of the work you see below are temporary, because street art is technically illegal. However, nobody would do anything about it, but it’s illegal by law, unless there’s a designated street art area, which I’ve seen about two times throughout the street.
The biggest difference between street art & graffiti is that street art has some kind of a motive as to why it is placed in a certain area. You’ll understand when you look at the pictures, but street art blends in with the surrounding and it isn’t unpleasant for pedestrians to look at, whereas many people find graffiti disturbing and corrupt. And this street art is literally all around; you have to look down, up, sideways & everywhere to notice a painting, a little picture, a sticker, and really, anything.
There’s one famous artist named Stik who paints stick figure-like people as street art & I’ve seen five in total. I’ve even seen one of the arts in the movie Brick Lane. PRESSLINK <- This is just one of the websites displaying examples of Stik’s works!
A block away from Old Street is Brick Lane, also known as the Londoners as the Banglatown, due to fact that it is the heart of the Bangladeshi community in London. Brick Lane is famous for its curry houses & silk markets. You can really get a taste of the full Bangladeshi community when you go on the weekends when markets are at its peak hours! Some of the pictures from above are also from Brick Lane as well, like the one of Stik’s with the two stick figures holding hands on a red background.
Ps. 1) Get off at Aldgate East to explore the street filled with street art everywhere 🙂
2) TRY the Bangladeshi-style curry. It’s definitely different than the Thai curry, as it is more traditional. Curry & Naan = A delicious combo!
–crystallsjcho.
csj.cho 