London's Best Art Gallery is free
If you like street art (what my parents would have called graffiti) and you find yourself in London, go to Brick Lane. Trust me on this.
Street art is when artists create artwork outside of traditional galleries, like on streets. This might be done using spray paint like traditional graffiti techniques, as well as stickers, stencil work, posters and anything else the artists choose to use. The beauty and tragedy of street art is that it is so ephemeral. When you put up your art on a wall, there's no velvet rope, so it's possible that someone will tag the wall or put a throwup on it a few hours later (those are signatures in graffiti). The art that you see is continually changing. Generally speaking the larger and more complex works, called pieces (as in masterpieces), are left untouched longer than smaller pieces but there are no guarantees.
Brick Lane is an amazing area of street art, there's an incredible amount of art in a relative small area. There are very few places in the world like it. There are literally hundreds of pieces there. It's also a terribly interesting Bengali community with some terrific curry houses and the site of the first of the Ripper murders, Emma Elizabeth Smith was killed on Osborn Street (you'll walk down Osborn to get to Brick Lane).
Getting there:
The easiest way to get to Brick Road is to take the Tube. You want to go to Aldgate East station (although Aldgate isn't that far away) which is serviced by the District (Green), Circle (Yellow) and Hammersmith & City (Pink) lines.
'Alight' at Aldgate East, which is British for 'get off the train'. Leave the station using the exit towards the Whitechapel Gallery. Walk past the gallery and the London School of Music and turn down Osborn Street (this will turn into Brick Lane after a block). Osborn is only a few feet from the underground entrance.
Finding Art:
Once you are on Brick Lane, look around. The art is everywhere. Some pieces are pretty obvious, others much less so. You might find some guides online, at least to the larger pieces but where's the fun in that? Remember that what you see when you go will not be what I saw. The composition of the streets is always changing. Look high and low. Look behind you. Its very easy to pass by them.
Brick Lane isn't that long, it would take you about 15 or 20 minutes to walk down the full length of it. Don't walk straight down Brick Lane though, or you'll miss a lot of art. There lots of cross streets and alleys - check them all. If there's a parking area and the gates aren't locked, have a look. I don't advise trespassing but don't be afraid to look anyplace you can. Keep in mind that putting up street art isn't technically legal in the UK and so the artists will tend to stay away from the busiest places. I walk up one cross street, go up the alley to the next block and then walk back to BL. At that point I cross over to the other side and double-back reversing my route on the other side. Take your time and enjoy the hunt.
You will also notice that a lot of artists will add websites or twitter handles to their pieces. Its the modern world after all but the best part is that you can find more of their work when you get home.
When to go:
Go now! Your eyes are hungry. Okay, well if you aren't in London right now, you'll need to tackle that bit first. Once you get to London try and plan to go in the morning. There's a few reasons for this. First, it won't be as crowded. This means less tourists (BL isn't the tower of London or Big Ben but it has its share of tourists who can get in your way and mess up your shots. The only people you'll run into early in the morning are locals and fellow art hunters (and we come in all shapes and sizes, I promise you). There's nothing like walking into an alley off BL in the morning sun and meeting someone walking the other way who tosses there head sideways to point out something you missed. You'll do the same thing for the next guy or gal, and feel pretty good about it.
The other big reason to go in the morning is that the shops won't have opened up and you'll be able to see more. Some pieces are on the roll up shutters, others are in doorways that will get blocked during business hours. This isn't the majority of the pieces but why miss out? I happen to think the morning light also works to your favor.
Eating:
You like curry right? There are other options on BL, a few at least, but I wouldn't recommend them. Having Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi is part of the experience for me. I mean you get the chance to eat where Banksy or Shepard Fairey ate, which is pretty cool. In the case of Shepard, the shops will brag about this fact (Banksy is more of mystery of course) . Also if you started in the morning, and you've had a good few hours of walking, you'll be hungry and ready to sit down for bit.
BL is split, more or less, by the train crossings (just north of Buxton). You will find lots of restaurants on either side of that midpoint. They tend to brag about which newspaper or websites rated them number one, so its hard to sort out who's best but frankly it's pretty hard to go wrong. The best papadum and chutney I've ever had was on BL. Its also reasonably priced (for London) so if you are on a budget, feel free to haggle a bit on the price of your lunch.
That's it for now. I hope this is helpful to you. Have fun looking and post your findings for everyone to see. They won't last if we don't capture them!
