Shutter Street Art pt 2: Commercial Street, London E1

Street Art on shutters: Now you see it, now you don’t (part 2)

I use Commercial Street to get somewhere else, mostly as a short cut to a specific section of Brick Lane.  So I don’t associate it with much street art.  Originally it was an industrial area and you still get that vibe from the solid warehouses and factory buildings which still line the street. Its a wide arterial road that runs from Shoreditch to Whitechapel; quite the opposite of the back water that is Toynbee Street.  There are plenty of shutters to be decorated but not that many are yet.

The initial Shoreditch end is quite dead and there is little to see until you reach its border with Spitalfields Market.  One evening, last summer (2014) I spotted this depiction of Edward Scissorshands on the front of a hairdressers.

 

Edward Scissorshands by Squiddy Johnson (photographed 12th June 2014)

 

This summer it was replaced by a painting from Zabou, who has been one of the busiest street artists in the area this year. You have to visit in the evening or get up really early to catch this one because its on the front of a thriving hairdressing salon.

 

Bless by Zabou (photographed 9th August 2015)

 

Twitter’s a great source of info and in April one of my pals tweeted that there was new work on shutters on Commercial St.  So I went along to have a look.  I’ve been back since and the work there is now changing more regularly.

These following designs are all in a small cluster on the same side of the road towards Whitechapel around the junction with Toynbee St.

This first one looks quite old going by its grubby appearance.  I wasn’t sure who the artist was until I examined the detail of the flowers and you can see Nathan Bowen’s distinctive style.

 

Shutter design by Nathan Bowen (photographed 9th August 2015)

 

detail from shutter design by Nathan Bowen (photographed 9th August 2015)

 

Portuguese artist Furia 139 moved to London this year and put up a number of new works around the area including this stunning portrait.  Hookedblog have beautifully documented how this one was painted.

 

Shutter art by Furia 139 (photographed 17th April 2015)

 

Nathan Bowen painted this magical fantasy back in 2014.  Thanks to a post from Shoreditch Art Tours I discovered that Nathan is a stalwart of this road.  He painted a previous piece on this same spot in 2012.

 

Double shutter design from Nathan Bowen and was painted in 2014 (photographed 17th April 2015)

 

Nathan Bowen’s work was replaced by August 2015.  On the left hand panel is this work from The Empty Beuy.

 

Shutter design by The Empty Belly (photographed 4th August 2015)

 

And this is the full double panel plus a glimpse of the shutter next to it.  Was there another black and white design underneath BOGS’ graff?  Probably.

 

Shutter designs from The Empty Belly, BOGS and unknown graffiti. (photographed 9th August 2015)

 

And I finally discovered where the Lollipop Art Gallery is at 58 Commercial Street.  I think it only opened in September 2014. Its a great space featuring contemporary art and work from street artists.  Its a sign of how the area developing and possibly why more street art is going up here.

 

Self portrait by Zabou (photographed 9th August 2015)

 

Self portrait by Zabou (photographed 9th August 2015)