The walls of Shoreditch have for some time been the epicentre of London’s street art scene and the go-to place to find murals, stencils, pasteups and other delights. Until recently pasteups have been largely relegated to quiet cul-de-sacs and side streets where they can be installed without drawing attention and often being pasted over in a matter of hours or removed (sometimes within minutes) by fans selfishly wanting a piece of the damp artwork for themselves. A few months ago, in a breath of fresh air for the genre, there was a well publicised legal pasteup event on Cheshire Street, just off Brick Lane. Here the wall alongside the Secret Art Gallery was covered in colourful work from a range of artists, organised by the gallery itself with help from prolific paster Subdude.
Step forward a few months and pasteups got another boost with the announcement of the first London International Pasteup Festival (LIPF) curated by Art House Project and Outside The Zone (OTZ). A request was published for artists to submit works to be added and the project was inundated envelopes from artists from around the world.
The LIPF was held from 4th to 7th Nov 2021. With the help of many of the artists a series of dedicated street locations in East London were covered with an amazing array of paste up artwork. All these locations were conveniently just a short walk from the Hoxton Gallery, which hosted the event, and held an exhibition of selected artists’ original artworks and a pop up store selling prints and the like. The festival also included a guided walk around the sites and live pasteup sessions.
The artists involved in the festival included: Donk, Luap, Wrdsmth, Dr Cream, Ben Rider, Carla Mata Hari, Shuby, Hellothemushroom, Endless, Subdude, Apparan, Tweet, Apparan, ‘Orrible, AKC, Morgazmik, Neon Savage, Oddo, Mort, Werck1, The End Of Animals, Ezura Forest, Bentoghoul, DD Regalo and Lucie Flynn – along with very many more. We have already uploaded some of the work from the LIPF to The Street Art Directory and we have lots more to add in the coming weeks.
A massive well done to everyone involved in making the festival a huge success. We are now looking forward to the next LIPF – is 2022 too soon?
The Street Art Directory 