Graffiti Art of Digbeth Walk

This fascinating walk shows you some of the amazing graffiti art around Digbeth in Birmingham. The walk starts and ends at Moor St train station (though pick it up wherever!), and is 4 km (3 miles) long. There are cafes and bars along the route to take a break, especially around the Custard Factory, and the Bullring shopping centre is always very close by. Unfortunately, graffiti art can disappear when new developments take place so if you can’t find a piece, please let us know and we will see if we need to revise the route (it may just be hidden from view behind something!) We will also add great new pieces from time to time!

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Starting at Moor Street Station, and facing the main entrance to the station, turn right/south to head towards the corner with Selfridges department store opposite you.

Turn left around this corner and head down past Selfridges. At the corner, turn left into the tunnel. As soon as you exit the tunnel turn right into Shaw’s Passage. Walk past the Digbeth Community Garden on your left and at the end, turn left into Allison St.

Walk to the end of Allison St and turn right into Bordesley St. As you walk along Bordesley St, look out for your first bit of graffiti on your right (map position 1). This is by the artist Philth Blake.

On the corner of Bordesley St and Meriden St you will see the corner building covered in a large graffiti mural by the artist Suki10C.

Continue along Bordesley St, passed Oxford St, and turn right into Trent St. At the railway arches, you’ll see a black and white graffiti piece dedicated to the late British recording artist and drum and bass MC, “MC Skibadee”. This piece was completed by Artists Tempo33 and Hoakser.

Go under the railway arches, then turn left into Coventry St. There are several pieces of graffiti art along Coventry St. On your right you’ll find a chrome and black piece with a geometric spider and fox in the background of the word “Svons”. This piece was a collaboration between Annatomix and Svonsai. Previously a musician, sound engineer and occasional illustrator, Annatomix decided to make art her full-time endeavour in 2010. Starting from a natural leaning toward geometry and traditional graphic design, she has spent the last 6 years developing her style and narrative, and produced her first solo show in London, in February 2015. She creates symbolic, modernist works – inspired by philosophy, theology, mathematics and science fiction – and has become particularly well known for her large-scale murals, distinctive polygonal animals and geometric patterns.

Just as you turn left into Milk Street is a piece by Newso48 on your right. The piece includes black and white diamond shapes at the background of a person’s half face. Dan Newso paints work combining figurative with abstract content in a glitch or implied collage style. He paints commissioned artwork and murals in varied styles to suit client’s needs; he works internationally and he received Arts Council funding for an international development project working in Perth, Western Australia and Hong Kong. Since 2008 he has been well known in Birmingham’s post-industrial creative quarter Digbeth, painting murals in public spaces. Next to this piece is a large wall mural (below) by unknown artists:

Dan Newso (Newso48) paints work combining figurative with abstract content in a glitch or implied collage style. His work is painted on compressed cement board to give the feeling of a painting on a concrete wall. He paints commissioned artwork and murals in varied styles to suit clients needs; he works internationally and he received Arts Council funding for an international development project working in Perth, Western Australia and Hong Kong. Since 2008 he has been well known in Birmingham’s post-industrial creative quarter Digbeth, painting murals in public spaces. This work has largely been self funded and has been a process of getting to know the community to open up spaces to paint.

Turn left into Milk St, and walk up under the arches where again you will find several pieces of art, including this one below by the Artist Hoakser:

Continue along Milk St then turn right into Little Ann St. On the corner at the end of Little Ann St (map position 3) you will find graffiti art depicting Digbeth’s nightlife by the artist Andrew Mills aka Title. New Birmingham bar “The Ruin” unveiled this mural-style map to highlight the area’s diverse food and drink offering. Right next to this piece is a mural by Gent and Noize.

At the end of Little Ann St turn right into Floodgate St. There is some fantastic graffiti art to be found underneath the arches here but don’t worry, we will come back to these later on in the walk! For now, continue down Floodgate St admiring many of the following pieces until you come to the first road on your right, Moore’s Row.

Turn around and head back to Floodgate St, turn right to carry on along that street until you reach the main road B4100 Rea St/High St Deritend (map position 4). In the archway of Floodgate you will see another yellow piece by Gent and other artists:

Walk towards the car park you will come to on your left. There is a bit of graffiti along the walls opposite the car park as well. You will see graffiti along Floodgate after the archway such as the one below by an unknown artist.

Opposite the car park, you will see the artwork as below by Rude Brown Dude

Come back away from the car park and turn left to continue up B4100 Rea St/High St Deritend until you come to Gibb St and the pedestrianised road leading into the Custard Factory development. Turn left onto Gibb St and head up towards the Custard Factory where you will find lots of graffiti (map position 5) – look around every nook and cranny as much of it is just off the road behind the back of buildings! You can find all the following pieces here near the oval pond. Including the giant sculpture titled the “Green Man” by Toin Adams that meets you inside!

The piece above is by artist N4T4, a Midlands based artist using spray-paint since 1986.

To the right of this mural on the high rise is a piece (below) by the artist Inkie.

To the left of this piece is a mural titled “Boss Lady” by the artist ROKIT. An artist based in London and committed to versatility undefined by one singular style.

Philth’s artwork is influenced by Art Nouveau, religious symbolism, and scientific diagrams. His works can be seen worldwide including Madrid, Berlin and Barcelona.

This incredible skull can be found under the archway in Gibb Street and is by #graffoflarge, or Steve Edwards. Graffoflarge is the fusion of camouflage into graffiti. Originally Steve started out as a pattern master, eventually crossing over into abstract street art. A chance commission by the Dulux ‘Lets Paint’ project of a Tiger led to a change in direction and influence. Since then, Steve has continued to paint creatures/animals in his own unique style. He has worked for various councils and authorities, including British Waterways, Dudley Zoo, Banks’s brewery, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and Creative Black Country to name a few. Steve also works with an ever-expanding network of primary schools, delivering his own unique hands-on workshops. Not many artists offer the chance for kids to use spray paint on the murals themselves!

This art above can be found on one of the walls under the arches towards the back of the Custard Factory complex by hullgraffiti, a professional graffiti artist with over 20 years of experience, creating bespoke artwork.

Above is a great use of satellite dishes to incorporate into the art! Head to your left/west into the car park area under the arches that will link you back to Floodgate St (map position 6). There is a treasure trove of graffiti art in this area, so make sure you look around every nook and cranny! Alternatively, you can continue on up Heath Mill Lane towards Fazeley Street.

If you chose to find your way to Floodgate from Gibb Street, once you’re through the arches and back out onto Floodgate Street, turn right to walk up Floodgate St. Before you reach the end at Fazeley St, you will pass this great piece of graffiti (on the corner of Andover and Fazeley street), as well as a few others:

Is it black with white triangles or white with black triangles…?

Turn right into Fazeley St. (map position 7) then right again into Heath Mill Lane. Heath Mill Lane has the Eastside Projects display which is an artist-run exhibition space. Entrance is free.

Take the first left into Allcock St and turn first right into Hack St (map position 8). On the corner here after the archway you will find some great pieces of art like the one below by Goldenboy_924 and Philth Blake:

Continue along Hack St around to the right where it turns into Bromley St. At the end, notice the murals within the Access Creative College, to the left of the building at Drop Shot Digbeth, and the other bars along that side as you walk along Heath Mill Lane towards the car park (map position 9). Pop in here to see a selection of large graffiti wall murals all around the edge of the car park, including the following:

Jim Vision’s usual art style includes that of challenging policies of local councils and producing murals related to the environmental and political issues of the day with an apocalyptic twist. His art has taken him all over the world and has been displayed in a multitude of art festivals.

Come back out of the car park and turn left back onto Heath Mill Lane. Take the first left onto Lower Trinity Street and walk up here to the corner with Adderley Street Map position 10). Once again you will find yourself spoilt for choice along here with some stunning graffiti art including the following:

This piece is a collaboration between Werdnamyl, Mrchristamyl and Itaewonamyl all of the Made You Look Collective. Andrew Hulme (Werdnamyl) is a freelance illustrator based in London currently working on a variety of commissions for a range of clients. A graduate of Manchester School of Arts in 2015 with a first-class honours degree in illustration. Werdna is the founder and member of the Made You Look Collective (MYL). Working in a variety of mediums including print, paint and wood.

Jake Attewell (Itaewonmyl) envelops his audience in his imaginary compositions using a delicate balance of colourful arrangements combined with geometric line work and broken perspective. His style distinguishes sound, light, movement, and power. A fascination with the macro and delicate structures in nature led him to explore the beauty of natural intelligence. His paintings touch on a range of themes including Sci-Fi, otherworldly landscapes, micro-cosmic structures and energetic overflowing biological forms. At 13, he moved to South Korea, where he began painting on the streets and in studio. Seoul was his main inspiration, which moulded his loud and energetic abstract style. His name was taken from the area of the city in which he spent nights painting and skating. Upon returning to the UK he settled in London where he now resides.

Just passed this piece, on your, left you’ll see a piece by Justin Sola. Justin is a British artist, illustrator and designer living and working in Birmingham. Some of his work consists of trend based iconic subjects, while others are personal explorations converted into visual ideas. Portraiture has a large presence in his work. Justin’s process is a mix of observational study with his own interpretations and imagination. Some work is produced purely by hand, some is produced to be fused with digital elements and lighting. Justin has produced a variety of work including video game covers, posters, apparel design and illustration, artwork and design for the music and club industry, art exhibitions, artist series skateboard illustration and editorial illustration.

Just to the right of this mural is a large piece by Mose78. To the left, before the arches is another area with bars and a performance area with a few graffiti pieces scattered around.

As you reach the corner turn right onto Adderley St. On this corner you will find several large pieces by Brokenfingaz as follows:

BrokenFingaz is one of Israel’s only existing graffiti collectives. Originally from Haifa, the four-man clan, formed in 2001, created the first generation of graffiti artists in the city. Inspired by nudity and comic book gore, the crew had “this urge to do something illegal“!

As you walk down Adderley St towards the B4100 Rea St/High St Deritend you will pass more large-scale wall art such as the following:

This large-scale mural above is by Key Detail. Key Detail is a Belarusian artist who studied Architecture in Minsk, Belarus, now works with painting, drawing and illustrations and currently lives and works in New York, US. Growing up in Minsk, Key Detail has been active on the street art scene since 2000s. His art is a balanced concentration of emotional reflections on reality transformed by the prism of surreal interpretation. Every character has charisma and outstanding personality, living in their own environment rich with elaborate details. He focuses on creating huge outdoor murals and canvases his artworks have been featured in a number of international magazines and books.

Turn right onto B4100 Rea St/High St Deritend, walk along a short distance and you will come to a car park on your right (map position 11). Head in here to see lots of amazing art.

Head back out of the car park and turn right back onto B4100 Rea St/High St Deritend and follow this all the way down towards the Bullring and St Martin’s Church.

Just before you get there, on the corner of Allison St, you will see some hoardings over an empty shop at Adagio Aparthotel by the artist Dan Kitchener:

If you wish to head back to Moor St train station just keep following the B4100, first round to the right, then round to the left, around the outside of Selfridges. Alternatively, head into Birmingham City Centre by the Selfridges and the Bullring shopping centre.

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