Best of Street Art Sheffield

Between them, Stog, Trik'9 and Marcus Method have produced a large amount of works across Sheffield. Often, their pieces are hidden away or short lived. They also often do commissioned pieces for local businesses.

For this shortlist, I've included their collaborative mural on Abbeydale Road next to the Abbeydale Picture House. Their individual styles have all evolved since they created this, and they have joined forces many times. However, this wall has become a bit of a landmark on this long stretch into the city centre. It will have been enjoyed by many. For this reason, I wanted to include it here.

Jo Peel's murals are a common sight across Sheffield. Her artwork depicts changing urban landscapes using distinctive line drawings and a limited colour palette.

The popularity of Jo's work essentially guaranteed her a place in this shortlist for best Sheffield murals. Picking just one mural was a more challenging decision. Her Howard Street mural made the final cut. 

Created in 2019, the mural covers a large wall in a prominent position. For several years it has greeted passersby as they head out of the city centre and towards the train station making it a familiar sight for many. In more recent years, the mural has become obscured as it becomes part of another changing urban space much like the artwork represents itself.

Florence Blanchard is a Sheffield-based artist, originally from France. She has worked across the world, transforming public spaces with her signature flowing, amorphous shapes in bright colours. Closer to home, Florence has created many fantastic murals (and even helped organise the Feature Walls street art festival).

In 2020, Florence created Bounce a huge 1,000 sqm mural that covers the ground of the Pinball Park in the Cultural Industries Quarter. I've selected this work for the shortlist as it is one of the more unique murals in Sheffield due to it being painted on the floor rather than a wall. It also had such an incredible transformative affect on an otherwise forgotten space. Turning the grey square into the colourful one it is today and breathed new life into the area.

Enso's Brown Street mural had the potential to cause a lot of upset. It replaced a long established and popular mural by Phlegm. However, what Enso created quickly gained fans. It's clear to see why. It's a fantastic work comprising caligraphy style marks and geometric shapes that is bursting with vibrant colour. When the sun is out, the golden paint really shines. Enso's attention to detail has really paid off. There's a great sense of dimension here thanks to his use of shading and interwoven  shapes.

The work of Bubba 2000 can be found all over Sheffield. For 30 years he has been contributing to the city's street art scene through paste-ups, stencils and larger murals.

Lead singer of Pulp, Jarvis Cocker, is a popular theme of many of Bubba 2000's artworks. His mural in Kelham Island is probably one of the artist's most photographed works. Despite never being fully completed, it has proven to be a big hit. Located behind the Fat Cat, it can be easily seen from many angles. It is now a landmark of the area.

JupiterFab is an internationally renowned Italian street artist based between Guadalajara in Mexico and Barcelona in Spain.

In 2019, JupiterFab visited Sheffield and created this mural, The Conversation. It's a social commentary on the importance of socialising and putting modern technology to one side.

Rob Lee is a Sheffield based artist specialising in geometric art. His work utilises horizontal and vertical straight lines, curved edges and 45-degree angles to create abstract designs.

Rob's murals can be found all over Sheffield. Picking a single artwork for this shortlist was a challenge. I've long been a fan of his work. However, his 'Now Then Then Now' mural has become iconic in Sheffield. 

One of Sheffield's most celebrated artists, Phlegm has created countless works across the city. His surreal monochrome illustrations are instantly recognisable.

Phlegm's place on this shortlist was a no-brainer, but picking just one of his murals has been a big challenge. I've chosen his 2016 Feature Walls mural as it is one of his most loved creations in Sheffield. When the mural was lost in 2023 many expressed their disappointment; it's not hard to see why, it was an incredible piece of art, in a very prominent position.

Phlegm is a lot less active in Sheffield these days. He has gone on to become an internationally renowned artist, so is kept very busy.

Rocket01 was a hugely popular street artist in Sheffield for many years. His unique style of surreal artworks often combine nature and urban life with hints of science fiction. He has since moved away and is now based in Porto, continuing to forge a successful international career.

The quality of his artworks ensured Rocket01 a place on this list, but selecting one mural has been a challenge. I've ended up selecting his Feature Walls contribution from 2016, Greener pastures. This is a personal favourite of mine from his portfolio of Sheffield works. Sadly, with the new Sheffield Hallam developments the mural has been lost behind new buildings.

Roids is a renowned street artist and typographer from London. He was invited to Sheffield in 2016 to create this fantastic Carver Street mural. It was a huge mural, but sadly only lasted a couple of years. However, its prominent location and unique style made its short stay a notable one.

Sheffield Hallam alumni Peachzz has been bringing a big splash of colour to Sheffield's streets over the last few years. Inspired by nature and using hints of realism with bright colours, her murals have become hugely popular.

Peachzz (alongside Alastair Flindall) has been busy preparing for a big street art festival in Sheffield next summer. However, she's still found time to create several incredible murals this year. One of the most impactful is Reverie located in Pound's Park. This stunning work is Peachzz, and Sheffield's, tallest mural.

Faunagraphic has created many iconic murals across Sheffield over the years. Her tribute to Harry Brearley, the inventor of stainless steel, is a fine example of this. However, that mural was created before Street Art Sheffield started, so didn't qualify for this shortlist. Instead, I've selected her beautiful mural of a fox found in Meersbrook Park. This is a fine example of her style at its best and her depictions of the natural world.

Pete McKee's The Snog created in 2013 has been one of Sheffield's most loved murals for many years. However, being created a year before Street Art Sheffield disqualifies it from being included here. However, the artist returned to the wall earlier this year to create a new version of his characters Frank and Joy. It is a worthy successor and rightly deserves to be included in this shortlist for best Sheffield murals.

Pete McKee is a born and bred Sheffielder and hugely popular artist in the Steel City. His artwork hangs on many walls across Sheffield's suburbs. Pete has created several murals around the city over the last ten years. Each has delighted people both local and afar.

Kid Acne was contributing to Sheffield's street art scene long before Street Art Sheffield was founded, and continues to be an active participant. As a result, there are many artworks by Kid Acne that could have been included in this shortlist. The Birth Of Hip-Hop was selected as it is fairly unique compared with some of his other works. He has taken inspiration from his love of Hip Hop to create a playful mural. Despite the simplicity of the illustration, there's lot of fun details to be spotted.

This mural was created as part of 2014’s Festival of the Mind festival. Despite being painted ten years ago, it is still in fairly good condition, located at the Old Junior School on South View Road in Sharrow.

Nano 4814 is a Spanish artist. His artwork generally features characters struggling within the confines of the space they inhabit. His 2016 contribution to the Feature Walls festival is a fine example of this. Three characters appear entangled with one another enclosed within the narrow gable end wall that it has been created on. This has long been a personal favourite of mine.

Last year, Street Art Sheffield's followers overwhelmingly voted Elle Koziupa's incredible Joan of Arc mural their favourite of 2023. I wasn't surprised.

The British-Ukranian artist's artwork is stunning. It's photo-realistic style pulls you in as you pass by on London Road. Considering Elle was just 20 when she painted this, she is hugely talented and I can see her going far with her artwork.

It definitely deserved to be included in this shortlist.

Internationally renowned Austrian street artist Frau Isa created this amazing mural in 2016. It was part of the Feature Walls festival.

It's always a joy to discover a new Marquis De Rabbit piece. This locally based artist specialises in stencil artwork that provides some form of social commentary. One of my personal favourites is his Wino mural on Bailey Street. Despite the simplicity of the artwork, the artist has managed to create a real sense of despair for his subject sat on a bin wearing a traffic cone. The traffic cone is a common motif of Marquis De Rabbit's work.