a visit to Freeman Alley

Freeman Alleyis a private lane that runs parallel to the Bowery close to Sara Roosevelt Park and Bowery subway station. It has become a destination for graffiti both for those who make it and for those who want to look at it. Stencils, wheatpaste, and stickers are the most common and there is lots of it! There is probably more than one blog post’s worth so this is just the start.

below: No loitering in the alley. About to munched on – this one-eyed pink and purple banana by eye.sticker is i danger of losing part of its peel.

wheatpaste on a brick wall, a pink and purple partially peeled banana with one eye on the tip has part of its peel inside an open set of dentures (or an open mouth) also in pink and purple, by eye sticker graffiti artist.  Above it is a sign saying no noise and no loitering in the alley, Freeman Alley

below: “Do you see this?” Eyes and hearts but with a tear or two.

below: Mickey Mouse crucified, and a feline love more, #nohatefamily. Something about hello mushroom in there as well.

Mickey mouse on a crucifix graffiti

below: “Black Lives Matter is a movement, not a moment, by Individual Activist,

below: Many faces here including a lightning struck David Bowie. In the center is an anti-war poster by Brad Heckman (aka hecksign) that features a portrait of Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky.

protest poster, anti-war, support Ukraine in its war

below: Another Individual Activist anti-war poster. Ukraine is not Putin’s blank canvas. On the left is a big colourful beetle by modomatic.

below: Another modomatic, this time a multicoloured mask. Sticking out on the right is a yellow arm with a pink donut and half smoked joint while a Half Brooklyn Crooklyn’s figure is running away (the last is by TheOhioGirl).

graffiti in Freeman Alley New York City

below: Another modomatic creation – insect like? Botanical?

colourful poster graffiti by modomatic, on printed newspaper

below: “So much love” on newspaper by jkosart along with a back and white intricate drawing of a creature of some kind (signed moose)

two wheatpaste graffiti on a wood fence, one is a black and white abstract drawing by moose and the other is an oval shaped creation with words so much move by jkosart

below: A picture of a painter painting a picture, by font147

a poster by font147 of a yellow headed person painting on a large canvas and easel in front of a door and window

below: Two women – one on the Sony screen along with one as a BLM tribute by Voxx Romana

two wheatpaste, one is black and white image of an old sony television with a woman's head on the screen, the other is a piece by voxx romana for black lives matter, also a woman's profile

below: Mother and Child on blue

stencil graffiti, black on blue, of iconic mother and child

below: A yellow duck below an old faded poem. Once there was a bouquet of red roses but it looks like someone showed their displeasure with pink paint.

graffiti stickers and wheatpaste on an alley wall, a yellow duck, a printed poem white text on black that is starting to fade

below: At the very top, a multiple-eyed face by sold out art show. The woman with the black and white flower hair has her own post on this blog – see Unleashing Flowers.

graffiti by sold out art show

below: A period piece, black and white in sepia, from 33wallflower33,

below: Oversalted broccoli and a boxer

a woman pulling a green bag walks past a pole with three stickers on it. on the top is unsalted broccoli a bunch of broccoli, in the middle is an image of a shirtless boxer wearing boxing gloves

In case you are interested in such things, there is a gallery/shop in the alley that features the work of many of these artists.

Photos taken June 2022

Grimsby Street, Shoreditch

Graffiti and street art seen on Grimsby Street in Shoreditch, East London, September 2016.  Grimsby Street runs off Brick Lane, immediately north of the overground tracks.  It is a short street that ends at Chilton Street.   In this blog post I have included the little bit of street art that was on Chilton Street between Grimsby and the next street north (Cheshire).

a wall of graffiti and street ast, the central piece is a nude woman, one knee bent up to cover herself, with large words on bright red background beside her that say There's no budget but it be great exposure.

below: Yo! It’s a red stencil signed by Malot.

a man's head, stencil in red, someone else has given him a black Hitler moustache and a word bubble that says yo! Signed malot.

below: A stencil of a man’s head on page 272 of an old dictionary, entries between Carinthia and Carlos.  Signed by Oddo.

A stencil of a man's head on a page of an old book, pasted on an exterior wall.

below: A wrdsmith stencil with the now iconic paper in an old typewriter.  “Smile.  It’s an old school status update.”  A paste-up of woman and child, decorated with pink and blue yarn is on the same wall.

wrdsmith stencil of iconic typewriter and the words on the page says Smile, it's an old school status update. Above it on the wall is a pasteup of a woman holding a child.

below: A 3D bunny rabbit carrying a hand grenade.  The piece is signed along the edge of the grenade.  Chima–? Tile.  Sorry but I haven’t been able to find any more information than that.

3 dimensional, (3D) bunny rabbit holding a hand grenade, graffiti on a wall

below: Amazingly detailed pictures of grasshoppers and one colour bubble tree… that’s the name I gave to these trees as I saw them around Shoreditch this afternoon.  I’m not sure what the artist calls them.

two stencils of setailed insects on a wall, grasshoppers perhaps, also a graffiti little tree where the leaves are made from colourful circles,

below: An MCLN plague doctor character in black coat and top hat.
More examples of his street art pieces on his website.

Spy guy figure in long black coat, black tophat and carry black bag. In other hand has a stick that is either a light or a magic wand. Triangular object above the stick. Signature is mcln. drawn on old book page, and pasted on a purple wall, outdoors.

below: Le Touquet Paris Plage, or Le Touquet for short, is a coastal town in France. It has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians.  The same plague doctor character by MCLN appears on two of them.

three posters, mock magazine covers of a publication called Le Touquet Paris Plage

graffiti stencils and paste ups on a wall, a woman's head in profile, a couple kissing, red spray scrawls

 

below: Little 3D animals are stuck to many walls in East London.  I think this one is a cat but I’m not sure.  He was quite high up on the wall.
a tiny green 3D animal graffiti stuck on a wall up fairly high, with the word love painted on it in white

below: Two of many of these biplanes that I saw today.  These ‘thieve the world’ stencils are by L.A. street artist Megzany who must have visited London lately.

two red stencils of biplanes, with a paste up of a person's body, white sneakers on feet, but with muppet head.

black outline drawing stencil of a cat's head, with added yellow eyes and red tongue

stencil of woman with pet, drawn like a Japanese anime girl, beside her is a line drawing, in black of a woman's head and shoulders in profile, 2 red pentaon shaped stars

below: On the left is beach scene that only ‘face the strange’ could have created.  Men in suits out of context and with their heads replaced with strange things – a striped candy stick, a horse’s head and a yellow bucket, and something red and flattish.   In the middle, a woman with a red rose in her hair by artist KIN MX, aka Kathrina Rupit.

graffiti and street art on a wall, including a beach scene by face the strange, a woman, and two twin men.

below: Red headed woman by C3, an artist whose drawings are often women, and usually red heads.

paste up graffiti by C3 of a woman with red hair, short white skirt and fishnet stockings, drawn on page of old book

below: Some potty humour, by matlakas

graffiti drawn on a grey wall, two toilets, with words that say I loo you

below:  And another…. Just press the button

graffiti drawn on a yellow wall, a toilet with the lid up and words that say Just press the button
below: A wise man turns change into good fortune.
graffiti stencil of an older man's head with the words A wise man turns change into good fortune

below: Or, a wise man once said nothing

stencil of a bald man with a beard and one hand on his head, words that say A wise man once said nothing

stencil, black on red of a face of a person wearing sunglasses.

below:  Stormtrooper buddha by minty beside a small green buddha amongst other things.

graffitii on a wall, a small green buddha, a large buddha with a storm strooper from Star Wars head by minty,

below: Three realistic looking bird heads.  Birds with feathers in an awesome shade of blue.

paste ups, three birds heads in blue, dark maroon and white,

below: A pasteup by Voxx beside an abstract sort of drawing with an eye in the middle.  The latter pasteup was a fairly common sight in Shoreditch.  Voxx is short for Voxx Romana, an artist currently based out of Portland Oregon.

a poster pasteup of a person by voxx beside an abstract drawing with an eye in the middle

below: Five more paste-ups, all people in one form or another.  The woman in the center with the large flower on her hat is by Mr. Fahrenheit.  He is responsible for the street art with the slogan “U R so porno baby”; if you’ve read some of the other London blog posts here you’ll have seen his work. If not, the next image includes one of his pieces.

five graffiti pieces,

 

below: U R So Porno Baby with Star Trek characters in funny shades of green and brown.  Boom! Spock and Captain Kirk look a little off colour.   The RX Skulls beside it are the work of Arrex, another Portland Oregon based artist.

U R so Porno baby star trek figures street art with a piece of Rx skulls beside it.

below: This hand is looking at you.  Bright blue eye.

street art, paste up of a very large hand, palm facing frontwards with a large very realistic looking blue eye in the center of the palm.

below: A little lightning bug?  Jake.

a little creature by Jake Vogt, hat on its head, hands in front almost touching with sparks and lightning being created

below: High on a wall, an upside down elephant with its trunk entwined with a pink elephant, a mural painted by Cerresto.

an upside down elephant painted on a wall by cannesto, with a pink elephant entangled with it.

below: King Elvis.

a paste up head of Elvis with a gold & jewel crown on his head

below: Crouching beside the front door for a smoke and a chat.

a paste up of a man and a woman squatting on one knee beside the front step of a door. They look like theyare talking to each other.

below: Street art on the brick fence between Grimsby street and the train tracks.

a view of the south side of Grimsbystreet, with a wall of graffiti between the road and the train tracks.

below: “Protect children: don’t make them breathe your crystal meth.”

a paste up of an owl and two deers that is starting to peel, it partially covers three poster pasteups that are even more frayed.

below: Two stencils, a little surdude who says that only little people pay taxes and a stencil by SSOSVA.  The latter is an acronym for Secret Society of Super Villain Artists.

two pieces of street art, both stencils, First is a person with something in front of their face with the letters SSOSVA on it. The other is a surdude stencil of a little guy with the word bubble that says Only little people pay taxes.

below: An electrical plug comes alive, signed by Ted Flip.

A black line drawing of an electrical plug that has been made into a living creature with little legs and face

below: A paste-up by TeneT, a serious looking woman, Emma Goldman, with “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.”  TeneT is a Melbourne Australia based street artist.  Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist and a feminist amongst other things.

a paste up by Tenet of a woman with glasses and the words If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal

below:  An abstracted face-like painting by widyz, a French artist.

a street art painting of a head abstracted, squarish, with 4 eyes by widyz and another little white character saying hello beside it.

below: A cute little furry animal with a musical background.

street art pasteup of the head of a little furry animal, painted on a piece of sheet music

below: Looking north up Chilton Street.

looking up a street, Chilton St., two buildings and a fence with a lot of street art on them.

below: Screaming at the doorway of 20A.

very large painting of two stick figures with white bodies, standing over the doorway of a building, and screaming at that doorway.