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Street art week: Part2ism

Street art week: Stik stuff

Stik is at LAVA Gallery in central London from today until 4 June. Here's a piece of his I particularly like on Brick Lane, and here's the man himself at work.

Street art week: found paintings

Street art should be left where people see it but occasionally works are left out deliberately with the intention that they be collected. A friend dismissed some pieces by Adam Neate only to discover she could have picked up something of value for nothing - he was giving them away.

I was lucky enough to see this picture by MisterMN (above), with the following note on the back: 'Act 27, London 2009 - This Item is part of the London Street Art Collection and must be reported as soon as it has been found.' I contacted the email listed and received an extremely gracious reply confirming the piece was mine to enjoy. I'm a big fan of his work and have always been rather chuffed with my find.

Street art week: mighty ROA

Street art week: wall memorials

As graffiti around Shoreditch inevitably gives way to pristine walls, the latest trend is to memorialise significant sites with framed reproductions of the popular images that had adorned the spot (above). And, as with the best street art, there are those who try and remove these latest decorations however determinedly afixed:

Here is Boot Street in its heyday:

EINE: ANTI

The David Cameron fave's latest. Down with this sort of thing!

This used to be the future

I must recommend pop documentary Synth Britannia, which screened (four times!) on BBC4 over the weekend and is available on iPlayer until 26 October. Not only is it the best programme I've seen on the scene director Ben Whalley tracks loosely from The Human League to the Pet Shop Boys, but it boasts some amazing archive footage of England in the 1970s and '80s. The visuals are beautifully assembled, almost as if remixed with the music.

Talking heads include Daniel Miller, Phil Oakey, Alison Moyet and Vince Clarke (all very good), plus there's some great footage of Shoreditch in the period (and now). John Foxx, who comes across very well, talks about how he moved from Lancashire to find something 'sinister' in this then-decrepit area built on plague pits.

While Whalley focuses on British synth pop's alienated pioneers - individuals who disparately formed a movement - there's less room for their decline, and none for their influence, unfortunately. There is, of course, a lot of Ballard.

May the cube be with you

Late notice, I know, but the Invader exhibition at Lazirides on Rathbone Place is due to finish; the website variously has the closing date as 12 or 17 September. The show features some of his Rubik's Cube versions of classic album covers and, as I mentioned last month, it's heralded another wave of alien sightings in the capital, the most stunning of which is behind the Holiday Inn on Old Street.

East meets East

I love these colourful pictures by BR1. As a statement on the Wooster Collective site makes clear, these images are especially appropriate for the Brick Lane area. In breaking news, I'm happy to report a Space Invader sighting at The Foundry, on Old Street. Welcome the new aliens, as it were.

Walls of nothing

I'm quitting Shoreditch soon but before I go I wanted to commemorate some of the most popular graffiti sites in the area. It's somewhat minimalist, as I've deliberately caught them when they've been painted over, but aficionados will no doubt recognise these street art hot spots.

Unfortunately this is what the area is going to look like as it becomes increasingly developed and landlords take greater interest in keeping their properties pristine as rents go up. I began photographing graffiti in the area nearly one-and-a-half years ago; I suspect EC2 will be almost unrecognisable in another 18 months.

Shoreditch: one neighbourhood under a rainbow

It's the last one I'm most worried about.

Caution: street artists at work

Look East

Kuniyoshi at the Royal Academy is probably one of the best major art exhibitions so far this year. If you missed it you could head instead to Curtain Road, EC2, for some inspiration, including a touch of Hokusai.