Best street art exhibitions: featuring Blek Le Rat and Stik

Our pick of the best street art shows coming to London this spring
1/6
Gareth Vipers23 April 2012

From rather humble beginnings street art has, in London at least, become widely embraced by the public and, while still illegal, its importance to the cultural patchwork that makes up the capital cannot be denied.

A street art exhibition could be seen as the ultimate contradiction, but while many urban artists would balk at the idea of formalising their work in the restrictive and inherently ‘un-street’ environment of a gallery, a few have broken away by organising exhibitions across the city.

Spring 2012 sees two of the biggest names in street art open exhibitions in the capital, as well as some exciting shows from other urban artists. Here’s our pick…

Walk by Stik, Imitate Modern

Highly recognisably street artist Stik first started creating work while living on the streets in the Hackney area. In a short time his work has carried him from homelessness to the Q Awards and creating art for Queen guitarist Brian May, with the likes of Sir Elton John and the Duke of Kent also among his fans.

This latest exhibition will feature large-scale canvases, light-boxes, and sculpture, all of which capture Stik’s trademark grittiness, and refined attention to detail. The gallery will also host the launch of Stik’s new print also entitled ‘Walk’.

Opens April 19.

Imitate Modern, 27a Devonshire Street, Marylebone, W1G 6PN

(read our interview with Stik here)

Broken Fingaz Crew, The Old Truman Brewery

In their first major European show, the internationally acclaimed, Haifa-based street art collective, Broken Fingaz Crew (BFC), will present their new multidisciplinary exhibition, Crazy Eye Hotel, in the heart of London’s street art scene, Brick Lane.

Presented by NO way and Rudi Khalastchi, Crazy Eye Hotel is a large scale, site specific installation of mixed media offering viewers the chance to explore the vitality and spirit of Israeli street art.

Opens April 20.

The Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL

ROA, StolenSpace

Belgium artist ROA is renowned for his unique portrayal of large-scale urban wildlife, disquietly cohabiting city streets, hand painted in his distinctive black and white style. ROA has become famous for painting animals on derelict buildings, shutters and walls all over the world and was also included in The Museum of Contemporary Arts’ exhibition 'Art In The Streets' in LA.

Hypnagogia is a two-space exhibition, featuring installation work and originals on found objects, as well as outdoor work across east London.

Runs April 20 – May 6.

91 Brick Lane, E1 6QL

Blek Le Rat, Opera Gallery

Born in 1951, Parisian artist Blek Le Rat is widely considered the grand master of street and the originator of stencil graffiti. Styled by the Sunday Times as “the rat who gave birth to Banksy”, his social and political works have been a major influence on many of today’s ‘guerrilla art’ movements.

Real name Xavier Prou, Blek started decorating the streets of his home city in 1981, his identity remaining a mystery until the early 1990s when he was arrested while stencilling a replica of Carravaggio’s Madonna and Child. Since then he has stuck to the creation of posters and canvases, to international acclaim.

A real must-see for street art aficionados, Blek Le Rat’s importance is best summed-up by Banksy, who said: "Every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier".

Runs April 27 – May 18.

Opera Gallery, 134 New Bond Street, W1S 2TF

Mau Mau presents Pigs Might Fly, The London West Bank Gallery

Darkly humorous and eternally subversive, Mau Mau promises a show with a difference. Showcasing more than 30 new works, Pigs Might Fly will include a range of canvasses featuring shipwrecking mermaids, protesting grannies and flying pigs, as well as installation works and a range of special edition piggy banks.

Runs May 4 – 13.

The London Westbank Gallery, 133-137 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, W11 2RS

For the latest exhibitions and events visit our Going Out pages.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in