The East End has a long tradition of harbouring artists; Hans Holbein, Henry VIII's court painter, lived in Bethnal Green. The great artist Rubens was invited to London by Charles II, and stayed in the area. The first gold medal winner at the newly formed Royal Academy of Arts in 1775 was John Bacon Junior, a Spitalfields resident, and Spitalfields has been home to several Royal Academicians ever since. 

On the up

Artists were setting up studios and finding flats in the cheaper East End throughout the 1980s, although even then property developers had an eye on the district. But it was Damien Hirst’s Freeze exhibition, held at the Port of London Authority building in 1988, that spread Young British Art to the East London districts of Hoxton and Shoreditch. 

The area's association with art has continued to flourish. Anthony Ayrton’s Rear View, Spitalfields is on permanent display at Tate Britain, and Chris Ofili, Rachael Whiteread, Jake and Dinos Chapman, (who have listed Spitalfields as one of the influences on their work), and countless other luminaries of the contemporary British art scene, live and work locally.

Around Brick Lane

The Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane has become a creative hub and the area is being called “the Portobello of the new millennium”. More than 200 small, creative businesses are housed in the Brewery. Fashion designers, artists and DJs work alongside graphic designers, architects and recording and photographic studios. Together they make the Brewery a self-contained creative resource that is unique in Britain.

The sometimes tatty Fournier Street, in particular, is where Brit Art meets Brick Lane. It is home to the controversial artist Tracey Emin - who has said that although she has enough money to live anywhere in the world, she loves having her house and studio in the East End.

Performance Art legends Gilbert and George have been residents of the East End since 1965, when George moved to their old studios in Wilkes Street, and their house in Fournier Street, off Brick Lane, has now become an international icon of contemporary culture. In their art, London E1 has played a big part.

Their collection of paintings from 2003, The London E1 Pictures, show digitally created street signs from the E1 postcode, including Brick Lane, filling the canvas. Gilbert and George themselves stand among them, wearing their trademark suits.

The pair went one step further in showing their love for the area, taking ownership of a working man's café in Spitalfields, near their home, in the 1990s. For a time they could often be found frequenting the café, or even serving behind the counter!

Expanding the Empire

So where next? The art world is rumoured to be planning on expanding to the coastal towns of Essex, where the East End's formula of art's regeneration of depressed areas can be repeated. In a few years maybe Clacton, Frinton and Southend-on-Sea will be the new centres of British art…