An art exhibition set to inspire art lovers of tomorrow!

London’s art lovers are in for an eight-week treat as The Sidings, as we’re gearing up to host an exhibition consisting of a range of works by 43 eclectic, diverse and emerging artists!

The On the Side exhibition opens on Saturday December 2nd and will run until January 28th. Amongst others it will feature works by Pigcasso, the painting pig internet sensation, professional doodle artist Frankie Curtis and sneaker artist Stella Stockbridge.  

All of the fabulous artworks will be open daily to the public to view in person from noon to 8pm and also showcased online with other works from each artist. Original 1m x 1m artworks, starting from £1,000 will be available to purchase too, as well as a collectible, limited edition print run available online from capsandcans.com store, powered by Print Foundry. 

As an added bonus Martin Grix will also be showing his Beyond the Streets exhibition of toy graffiti subway carriages, Apples and Snakes will be championing poets and poetry in performance over the course of the exhibition, and VIP Graffiti will be providing two mannequins for people to tag as part of the creative interaction at the event. 

New guest exhibitors showcasing every week  

Seven weekly guest exhibitions will also be featured throughout the On the Side two-month programme.

The show will open with MAX THE VIRUS, which will run from December 2nd to December 8th. These paintings will complement the artworks on show in the ON THE SIDE online/virtual exhibition with Leake Street Galleries with the red, black and white colour theme. Halfway through the week the artist will also be doing a large-scale mural in Leake Street which will incorporate his Artist in Residence work.

That will be followed by the WOM Christmas Pop Up Christmas Market, which will run from December 10th to December 16th. It has been curated by ELNO, the London-based art maverick and women’s empowerment advocate.  

Pigcasso will run in the third week from December 17th. Pigcasso, rescued from the brink of slaughter in 2016, wields the brush with her snout to create mesmerising masterpieces. The exhibition will also feature a film showcasing Pigcasso’s extraordinary painting process. 

Murwalls, the street art collective, will be displaying its graffiti art, featuring limited edition prints and canvases from January 2nd through to January 8th. This will incorporate an exclusive collection that encapsulates their artistic essence and include works by Care Bear, Transformers, Count Duckula and Danger Mouse.  

The Art House Project will run a pop-up shop from January 9th featuring affordable art, T-shirts and small decorative art items, with a paint jam scheduled for Leake Street Arches on January 13th consisting of music and immersive visuals provided by E-Kay and friends.

From January 16th to January 22nd the Bickerton Grace Gallery will be showcasing the works of eight up-and-coming London-based artists it has supported through its programme of collaborative exhibitions. These include Oana, a Romanian-born painter and Eddie Wells, who used the London landscape as well as street signs to create masterpieces.

The final exhibition will come from Blossom House School, the independent school for pupils with speech, language and communication needs. From January 23rd-28th the school will be showcasing a remarkable art installation integrating and celebrating elements of its pupils’ mural work after a programme of immersive graffiti workshops from Marc Craig.  

On the Side is the brainchild of MAX THE VIRUS artist Marc Craig and art enthusiast and collector Richard Nyman. Marc has been a leading force in the graffiti-inspired Leake Street Arches underneath The Sidings since 2018. Having recently become Leake Street’s Artist in Residence, he aims to engage the public in collaborative and interactive ways through the exhibition, and inspire a new generation of art lovers. 

Apples and Snakes, England’s leading organisation for spoken word poetry, has also commissioned six early-stage career poets to be in residence as part of the programme.

Each poet will each spend six days in the exhibition space, using it as their creative studio and writing space, crafting poems in response to the 43 artworks on display. Poems will appear on large boards within the space, allowing the public to see the creative writing process in full flow. There will also be an opportunity to have a bespoke poem written by one of the poets.

Alongside this, the poets in residence will receive professional development via a series of workshops led by established poets.

Marc Craig, MAX THE VIRUS artist and founder of On the Side, said: “The enduring impact of On the Side extends far beyond its eight-week program, much like the legacy of Leake Street Arches. This initiative is driven by our commitment to fostering collaboration, forging meaningful connections, and nurturing creativity.

“Our mission is to not only spotlight some of the most captivating talents in the art world but also to leverage this platform to support remarkable charitable causes and ignite a fresh wave of lifelong art enthusiasts. These ambitious goals are elevated by the remarkable artists we have on board and the exceptional exhibition spaces at The Sidings.”