A Street Art Journey around Petticoat Lane in Spitalfields, the forgotten street art hub of the East End

Following on from our recent post featuring the work of Ben Eine and his alphabet on Middlesex Street, this post features some of the other work to be seen in this often forgotten corner of the East End’s street art scene.

Petticoat Lane of course no longer actually exists as a thoroughfare, or at least it doesn’t in any official way, it was renamed to Middlesex Street in the 1830’s. The result of some puritan sensibilities which didn’t like the idea of having a street named after a woman’s undergarment. The name change didn’t affect the market though and the name ‘Petticoat Lane’ still lives on today in the regular market which takes place on the streets around the area.

The market itself stretches along the length of the modern day Middlesex Street and then up along Wentworth Street, taking in stretches of Leyden Street, Goulston Street, Bell Lane and Toynbee Street as they branch off. Don’t go looking for anything particularly salubrious though, where the market might once have been the place to be for cutting edge fashions in the 60’s it isn’t any more and is now full of cheap clothes, packs of batteries and off brand kitchen accessories.

dsc_0794-1 — Looking down a deserted Wentworth Street with some left over market stalls dotted around. Work from ‘This One’ can be seen on the left hand side

So it is this area that we now class as Petticoat Lane, it takes in a number of different streets nestled in the central space between the main roads of Bishopsgate and Commercial Street. Look around the streets and you’ll find plenty of street art. It’s not necessarily a coveted area for new artists coming into the area but there are some good works and, because of the lack of turnover, a number of the current pieces have managed to survive for a number of years.

Given it’s proximity to Brick Lane and Shoreditch, the spot it doesn’t necessarily get the same sort of attention as it’s more salubrious neighbours, certainly it is off the route for the many street art tours that operate in this part of the World. However, in saying that it is well on the route for the many more ‘Jack the Ripper‘ tours which can often be seen. The streets are located bang in the middle of the area stalked by the ripper back in the late 1800’s and it would have been an area both he and his victims knew well.

So for this post we thought we’d take a look at what we could see. We’ve already covered the alphabet of Ben Eine on Middlesex Street here, so this post looks at the other works dotted around this forgotten street art hub of the East End.

Toynbee Street

dsc_0797-1 — Eyes from Zabou look out over the corner of Whites Row and Toynbee Street

ives one toynbee street petticoat lane — Ives One work on a shutter on Toynbee Street

this one toynbee street petticoat lane — A giant snake from ‘This One’ covering much of the length of Toynbee Street

furia obit toynbee street petticoat lane — Face from Furia Ack looking out over the ‘No Parking or Pooing’ sign’

artista david de brito toynbee street — Flying toast from Artista on Toynbee Street with a piece from David De Brito

Goulston Street

this one petticoat lane market — Bird on a branch from ‘This One’ on the corner of Goulston Street and Wentworth Street

guido van helden petticoat lane market — Piece from Guido Van Helden looking down Goulston Street towards Wentworth Street

hnrx sketch petticoat lane — Collaboration between HNRX and Sketch on the shutter of Arezzo Fashion

frankie strand hnrx — Another collaboration from HNRX this time with Frankie Strand

frankie strand hnrx petticoat lane — And another collaboration, Frankie Strand’s Flamingo pecking at a sausage from HNRX

alex face petticoat lane — Collaboration between Thai artists Alex Face and MueBon

alex senna mr penfold petticoat lane — Works from Alex Senna and Mr. Penfold on Goulston Street

New Goulston Street

hnrx petticoat lane — Smiley watermelon from HNRX on New Goulston Street

616 jimmy c bell pub petticoat lane — Piece from Jimmy C on the front of the Bell Pub complete with a little work from 616

zabou petticoat lane bell pub — Halloween piece from Zabou at the Bell

zabou roa petticoat lane bell pub — Rat from ROA and a Zombie girl from Zabou at the Bell pub on New Goulston Street

Leyden Street

louis masai petticoat lane — Save the Bees piece from Louis Masai on the corner of Leyden Street and Wentworth Street

louis masai wentworth street — Save the Bees mural from Louis Masai looking down towards Middlesex Street

Bell Lane

Wentworth Street

hnrx this one petticoat lane — Works from HNRX covering the shutters of ‘cockney touch clothing’ on the corner of Wentworth and Goulston streets. The bird from ‘This One’ leads into Goulston.

hnrx petticoat lane market — Close up of HNRX’s piece on Wentworth Street

cranio alex senna petticoat lane — Collaboration between Brazilian artists Cranio and Alex Senna on Wentworth Street

The streets of Wentworth Street, Goulston Street, New Goulston Street, Bell Lane , Toynbee Street and Leyden Street were visited on 10 December 2016 and 25 December 2017. For another post on the art of Petticoat Lane click here.