On The Side

Running throughout December and January, this fresh exhibition celebrates London’s graffiti culture featuring new and original work by 43 established and emerging artists.

Hosted at The Sidings, the shopping and dining destination that links Waterloo Station and the famous Leake Street graffiti tunnel, the On the Side exhibition also features a busy programme of pop-up activations including markets, pop-up shops and poetry residences.

Each week of the exhibition sees a different artist, collective or gallery curating the exhibition, meaning weekly there are completely new artworks to view (and buy).

December 2–8 MAX THE VIRUS
The show opens with a week-long guest feature led by Leake Street artist-in-residence MAX THE VIRUS. In addition to his work on show in the exhibition, and in the Leake Street Galleries online exhibition, the artist will also be creating a new large-scale mural inside Leake Street itself.

December 10–16 The WOM Christmas Pop Up Market
Curated by ELNO, the London-based art maverick and women’s empowerment advocate, the WOM pop-up market will feature artworks and unique art items including prints, postcards, jewellery and figurines (available to buy at the event) created by more than 25 artists from the female street art collective WOM. The week opens on 10 December with an Open Paint Jam open to all women graffiti artists inside the Leake Street tunnel.

December 17–24 Pigcasso 
Pigcasso, rescued from the brink of slaughter in 2016, wields the brush with her snout to create strangely mesmerising abstract masterpieces. The exhibition features work by the unusually talented pig and a screening of a film about Pigcasso’s extraordinary painting process and how Pigcasso's story has helped raise awareness about farming practices.

January 2–8 Murwalls
The street art collective Murwalls, famous for their massive house-sized murals of sporting icons, presents an exhibition filled with graffiti artworks including limited edition prints and canvases. The exhibitions incorporate an exclusive collection of work that pays homage to childhood favourites including Care Bear, Transformers, Count Duckula and Danger Mouse.

January 9–15 The Art House Project 
The Art House Project will run a pop-up shop at the exhibition that includes affordable art, T-shirts and small decorative graffiti art items. On Saturday 13 January look out for a paint jam in the tunnel with music and immersive visuals provided by E-Kay and friends.

January 16–22 The Bickerton Grace Gallery 
The Bickerton Grace Gallery showcases the works of eight up-and-coming London-based artists it has supported through its programme of collaborative exhibitions.

January 23–28 Blossom House School
For the final exhibition, this independent school for pupils with speech, language and communication needs presents a new art installation that integrates mural work created by pupils as part of a programme of immersive graffiti workshops with Leake Street’s Marc Craig (aka MAX THE VIRUS).