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| Work by My Dog Sighs, in front of the designated Street Art House, at 265 Lordship Lane |
We’d had Stik in the neighbourhood last year – my friend Trish made him a cup of tea when she found him painting his stick people on the wall opposite her flat.
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| Stik 2012 piece, inspired by The Guardian Angel by Marcantonia, at the Dulwich Picture Gallery |
But this latest work seemed to involve at least a dozen different street artists. I recognised the styles and tags of some of the biggest movers and shakers of the spray-can world. I freelanced in Shoreditch for a spell, home to iconic street art works, such as ROA’s huge hedgehogs. And here he was, doing his thing in SE22. It seemed such an unlikely suburban setting.
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| ROA’s canine skeleton at the back of 265 Lordship Lane, inspired by dogs in paintings at the gallery |
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| Conor Harrington’s duellists, by the EDT, inspired by violent themes in the gallery’s art |
I discovered that the series had been commissioned by the Dulwich Picture Gallery in the summer, as part of a Baroque the Streets festival. The gallery worked with Stik in 2012 and wanted to make a bigger splash. So they persuaded a selection of up-for-it businesses and homeowners to donate the canvases, from empty walls to garage doors. One entire house just round the corner from me, at 265 Lordship Lane – due to be demolished but curiously still standing – was taken over, named the Street Art House, and painted to within an inch of its life.
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| A joint effort from Malarky & Mr Penfold, at 265 Lordship Lane |
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| Italian-born RUN was inspired by Nicolas Poussin’s Triumph of David at 265 Lordship Lane |
Each artist was invited to take inspiration from a painting or work of art in the Dulwich Picture Gallery and create their own interpretation. The result is an outdoor gallery that can be enjoyed by anyone, giving my neighbourhood a bit of the edge it has lost in recent years.
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| Remi Rough & System’s Girl in a Window after the Rembrandt painting in the gallery, opposite ED station |
Happily the SE22 murals are all still in great shape. I did a walking tour recently, with my nephew Rory, who served as a useful perspective to the grand scale of some of these pieces.
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| Phlegm, from Sheffield, depicts a horn player from detail in Poussin’s Triumph of David |
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| Brazil’s Nunca created a tea-drinking Queen Bee, representing colonialism, at The Plough |
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| A piece by Broken Fingaz Crew, in front of 265 Lordship Lane |
