If there’s one thing Brighton has in spades, it’s street art. You’d be hard pushed to navigate your way through the city without encountering it in some form – be that a giant mural, an image adorning the front of a pub or just a small junction box with a tape cassette sprayed on. Brighton plays host to some of the most active street artists in the UK, and its proximity to London means some of the capital’s finest scribblers have work there too! Here’s a selection of our favourite spots for al fresco art.
It’s everywhere you look. Street art surrounds you in Brighton
It’s everywhere you look. Street art surrounds you in Brighton - the creativity of the city can’t be confined within gallery walls. It’s probably not much of an exaggeration to say there’s more art outside than in, and the atmosphere it generates is very in keeping with Brighton’s overall character: an air of playful rebellion. Artists like Bansky, SNUB, REQ, Waleska and Vanessa Longchamp can be seen throughout the city, with SNUB’s trademark Mongrol character (from DC Comic 2000AD) a recurring feature.
Starting out from Brighton Station, the Prince Albert pub on Trafalgar St is the first port of call. Minutes from the station, it features an enormous mural of iconic musicians, as well as a replica Banksy: the iconic kissing policemen. The Prince Albert was the site of the original, and a replica remains to pay homage. Just up the road you’ll find Trafalgar Lane on your right, handily signposted by a large SNUB work. This alley is chock full of art, and leads you nicely onto Gloucester Road.
The large SNUB mural on the corner of Gloucester Road/Trafalgar Lane is the result of a Christmas 2016 ‘graffiti war’ with Starbucks. The coffee giant painted a mural advertising a seasonal cup design, which was instantly covered in images of rats drinking coffee and expletives. Starbucks tried, unsuccessfully, to restore the mural before resigning themselves to painting the wall black. This was then daubed with numerous requests for Starbucks to pay their taxes - followed by a re-paint, followed by more requests (quote: “I’ve got plenty of paintâ€) - before SNUB created his work accompanied by a Facebook post stating: “This wall is mineâ€. There the work remains, untouched to this day. Gloucester Road also hosts a beautiful parrot mural and art on the corner of Cheltenham Place and Gloucester Passage.
One of the biggest hubs of street art, and home to two of Brighton’s finest murals, is Kensington Street. It links Gloucester Road and North Road, and here you’ll find the enormous For the Love of Dogs mural by Sinna One and other artists - created for the 2016 Brighton Festival - with the rears and sides of multiple buildings here also covered head-to-toe in graffiti; another stand out is Odisey and Aroe’s giant chess game. Kensington Street leads you out onto North Road, home to one of Cassette Boy’s numerous covered junction boxes (look out for these throughout Brighton) and other small-scale artworks. From North Road, take a left down the graffiti-packed Orange Row to see more SNUBs and a spot of photorealism from Poota. This takes you out onto Regent Street, home to some impressive larger murals.
The other main hub for graffiti is north of Brighton station, and London Road forms the spine of the route. Heading north, on the corner of London Road/Cheapside you’ll find the Hobgoblin pub, the side of which is covered in some spectacular art. Further up London Road lies Francis Street on your right, home to a large mural from Mr. Cenz, and Presuming Ed’s Coffee House a little further on proudly displays a gigantic SNUB mural.
Take a left turn off London Road onto York Hill for some fine work, as well as Elder Place on your right and Providence Place on your left. Both are choc-full of great pieces from SNUB, REQ, Waleska and a whole host more.
These two routes provide plenty of art, but anyone keen for more can find top work on Blenheim Place near the North Lanes, while both Kemptown and Western Road toward Hove are great places to spot graffiti. North of Brighton sees York Villas, New England Road, Upper Lewes Road and a couple of pieces on Viaduct Road which are all worth swinging by if you’re in the area. The beautiful thing about this most accessible of art forms is that this list should only increase, and there’s bound to be plenty more to discover in Brighton over the coming years.