iSaatchi Gallery · Chelsea
Beyond the Streets
Six decades of street culture's influence on art, photography, fashion, music and activism: over 100 creators across ten-plus rooms, from graffiti and hip-hop to 2Tone.
More in London
Preview: written before the show opened
The spray can started out in wartime, protecting soldiers from malaria. One section of this show follows it from there to its defining role in street art, and sits next to a spray-paint infinity room.
Beyond the Streets last filled the Saatchi in 2023, and its curator Roger Gastman says that show drew over 150,000 visitors in three months. This one is all new: more than 100 artists across ten-plus rooms on the First and Second Floors and in Gallery 4. You get part of a New York subway train rebuilt indoors, a room on 2Tone, an activism room with a video by Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova, and an archive of English football firms' calling cards. The artist list runs alphabetically, so Bart Simpson, credited as El Barto, comes before Damien Hirst.
Tickets start at £15, with cheaper off-peak prices Monday to Thursday. Walk-ins are allowed, but the gallery advises booking. Saatchi Lates with talks, music and film run on 27 November, 4 December and 11 December.
Look for
The subway train
Look for part of a New York City subway train recreated inside the gallery, next to a retrospective of New York subway art.
The spray can's history
A history of the aerosol can, from its wartime use protecting soldiers from malaria to street art, beside a spray-paint infinity room.
35 Big Issue covers
The Big Issue marks its anniversary with 35 of its most influential covers, including the very first one from September 1991.
The 2Tone room
Janette Beckman's photographs, among them The Specials posing in the rain on the seafront at Southend in 1980, plus the artists behind Beat Girl and Walt Jabsco.
Early hip-hop polaroids
Some of the earliest polaroids of US hip-hop stars, the oldest dating back to 1971.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
- Teenagers
With kids
Under-6s go free and family tickets are available. Alongside the art there are interactive pieces and an animated puppet shop.
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
8
- Beyond the StreetsGOLDIE spraying a can of Buntlack. Photo by Gus Coral.
- Inside Aardman: Wallace & Gromit and FriendsCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes ArtCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Rising Voices: Contemporary Art from Asia, Australia and the PacificCourtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum
- Saatchi GalleryAnthony O'Neil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Victoria and Albert MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Science MuseumChristine Matthews / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Natural History MuseumDiliff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0