Beyond Banksy: the other British street artists you should know

Modern Shoreditch might be associated with overpriced coffees and members’ clubs, but 25 years ago – against a backdrop of abandoned factories, strip clubs and bombed-out buildings – it was the birthplace of an exciting new art movement. At the bottom of Leonard Street, at a venue called the Dragon Bar, guerrilla artists from across the UK were converging to make fresh work. “It was the hub of what was happening in the British street art scene,” recalled Ben Eine, a former barman at the venue and one of the most successful street artists in the world today. “There were people like myself, Banksy, D*Face and other kids doing lots of stuff around there.” Decades on, one of those “kids” – Banksy – is a globally recognised name whose work sells for millions and fills countless newspaper columns. In fact, the anonymous Bristol-based artist is the UK’s third most popular artist, after Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci. View image in fullscreen But as his latest animal-themed project draws to an end, other artists have highlighted a thriving UK scene that began long ago and is greater than one man alone. From the graffiti artist 10 Foot to street...