Joe Whale, the Doodle Boy from Shrewsbury, showed 20+ new works at his first London solo show, at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, from 23 to 25 October.

Joe Whale, the Shrewsbury boy whose drawings covered a restaurant wall in the town when he was nine, has held his first solo exhibition in London. The show, Ambassadors of Feeling, was at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch and ran to Sunday 25 October.

Updated 26 October: the exhibition has now closed. The artist’s events page lists no further dates yet.

It was free, open to everyone and needed no booking.

What is on show

Joe describes it as his debut solo show in London. On his website he says the exhibition included:

  • more than 20 original pieces, all shown for the first time
  • ten characters, each one an emotion he is “still working through”, including awareness, rebellion, peace and positivity
  • a live piece, painted on site over the weekend

“Come and watch it happen,” he writes.

Bright painted characters with round faces, arrows and dripping paint behind the words Ambassadors of Feeling
Artwork from the Ambassadors of Feeling show. Image: The Joe Whale

From a Shrewsbury wall to Shoreditch

Joe’s biography starts with the line “Joe Whale was told to stop doodling.” He did not stop. At nine, his drawings covered a restaurant wall in Shrewsbury, and the attention that followed went around the world.

The timeline on his site lists what came next:

Year Milestone
2019 First mural, in Shrewsbury
2020 Royal train commission from the Prince and Princess of Wales
2021 First solo art event in the UK
2022 Nike and Disney collaborations
2023 Moves to Adelaide, Australia
2024 UK-wide collaboration with M&S
2025 First solo art event in Australia

He is now sixteen and in his second-to-last year of high school in Adelaide, his site says. It describes him as evolving from “the boy who drew on walls” into “a contemporary artist whose work expands in scale, ambition and meaning”.

What it means for you

The London show has closed. It ran from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October at the Truman Brewery, 1 Ely’s Yard, London E1 6QR, about 140 miles from Shrewsbury, according to the artist’s events page.

No next show is listed yet. His site carries a newsletter sign-up for future shows, and his work is also on Instagram.