References

Here are some of the sites used to research and write this, together with conversations with a London graffiti artist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickboy_(artist)
http://sweettoof.com/
http://banksyforum.proboards.com/thread/56924/sickboy-street-art-photos
http://londonmuralpreservationsociety.com/murals/Hackney-Peace-Carnival-Mural/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy
http://depajaro.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.thelondonvandal.com/2012/07/underbelly-dds-crews-london-graffiti-dvd/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42276448@N07/9309363740/in/photostream/
http://www.artofthestate.co.uk/index.html
http://www.firstandfifteenth.net/
http://www.rockingthecity.com/tubes8587.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mssarakelly/9447168388/
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/nov/11/princess-hijab-paris-graffiti-artist
http://www.flickr.com/photos/posterboynyc/6841795883/
http://sixnames.wordpress.com/page/7/
http://www.goldengreen179.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hijab
http://artseng.wikispaces.com/Casey

Strolling around London at night

These images from London were  taken one evening recently, mostly around Shoreditch and Brick Lane.

Graffiti, art and crews

There are many groups of graffiti artists in London, they often have acronyms to identify them and mark their work. Many picked trains and train tracks for their work, but it is a dangerous game, with crews avoiding arrest and even rivals groups against each other. There are many famous crews, such as DDS, (standing for Diabolical Dubstars), CBM, (reportedly standing for Children Born Mental) and Attack the Government. There are also many individuals, such as SickBoy, Sweet Toof (who does some great images of teeth!), Golden Green, Obit and Word to Mother.

Here some images of graffiti artists at work

South Bank

Below the Hayward Gallery of London, beside the River Thames, is the famous South Bank, a long forgotten area, where the homeless often slept and skateboards made it their own, but unfortunately, they are now trying to develop this area into (more) shops and it will be lost to the skateboard community. It has long been a favourite haunt of graffiti artists also. Here you can see some of their work.

Graffiti in Hoxton

In most of the city, you can see graffiti, on any blank wall, it seems to cry out to the artists of the street to create something for the people there. This was photographed recently in Hoxton, in London.

These artists have to be good at climbing, brave with ladders and heights, and also often good at running to avoid arrest!

Art on Buildings

Some people in London decide to make buildings into an artwork, such as this one in Dalston.

Directly opposite, is a famous mural to sum up the diversity of the community, created by community artist Ray Walker and painted in 1985.

Banksy

There are also some famous artists at work on London's streets, such as Banksy, who is probably one of the most well known stencil artists today. He started as a graffiti artist, but has become so well known, he now even has work shown in galleries and sold worldwide. However, true to his roots, he still makes work in the streets. A recent one showed a girl sewing a flag, it was on a wall in North London, but the wall was taken down and sold by the shop owner!

He had many stencils of monkeys in earlier work,  policemen also, one famous one showing two policemen kissing. This is true to the subversive nature of street art.

Here is a photo of a typical Banksy stencil, uploaded to Wikipedia for free use by Matt Whitby