Shoreditch and Street Art

This morning I went up to London to go on a walking tour around Shoreditch to see the street art. Our guide was excellent and could identify every street artist on every wall! It seems to be a genre of art that is growing in value - he himself has certainly spent a small fortune on buying screen prints of many of the more famous artists' works. The appeal seems to be that the artists are anti-establishment and often work incognito and in haste to avoid being arrested! 

We saw some fascinating art - one artist specialises in turning chewing gum trodden on the pavements into works of art by applying layers of resin and then painting tiny details on to the blobs of gum! We saw 15 such art works today and apparently there are hundreds by this same artist on the millennium bridge, so next time you are crossing the bridge, look down at your feet. We saw two Banksy pieces - they were covered in perspex for protection. To this day no one knows the identity of who Banksy is, which I find incredible - surely someone has spotted him/her painting somewhere at night? 

I also finished my audio book (Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine) on the train today - I absolutely loved it, one of the best books I have read heard in a long time. The narrator was excellent and did the Scottish accents very well. 

I had so many images to choose from, but the irony in this shot appealed to me. I have added some extras too.