Baroque the Streets: the ArtHouse

Jenn Siegrist came to Dulwich from Basingstoke in Hampshire, attracted by the Street Art Festival in May. Here is her amazing photographic record of the soon-to-be-demolished ArtHouse.

‘The Dulwich Arts Festival was held in May, and for two days at the end of the festival, visitors could take a glimpse of a house on Lordship Lane that was taken over by various street artists and transformed into a masterpiece….an empty canvas of walls, ceilings, rooms, floors, and fittings - all met with creative eyes and fresh coats of paint. For those who love street art, it was not to be missed.

I visited the house on the Saturday morning. I got there at 11:00am, but the artists and others were still cleaning up from the party the night before. They ended up letting us in at about 12:30. (I used part of the time to check out the other artwork in the area.) There’s also much to see outside the house, including the walls of the house itself.

The exterior of the house features the works of multiple artists. The side of the house features a massive mural by RUN, which was inspired by the painting “The Triumph of David” in the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Malarky has painted some fox-like characters on the front, and Dscreet has created one of his signature owls. Nagel (Street Art: London’s Mushrooms) also included some work in the front yard/garden, and there were smaller and hidden pieces by artists Pablo Delgado, Kid Acne (Street Art: Kid Acne’s Warrior Women and London Street Art: ‘Oh My Days!’ by Kid Acne), and The Dog Sighs. The vehicles in the drive were also arted-up.

The back of the house had street art from ROA, Nagel, Kid Acne, Cityzen Kane, Dscreet, and others.

Work by Kid Acne, Pablo Delgado, and Nagel. The artist of the cat would like to be kept anonymous.

The sign for the open house and artwork by Broken Fingaz on a wall in front of the house, beside a bus stop.

This was exciting because I’ve not come across some of the artists or their artwork before. Also, seeing the art as a collaboration between artists as well as entire rooms painted by one artist was inspiring.

One room was ‘painted’ and kitted out with Nagel’s mushrooms. (You can see work by Malarky outside through the window.)

I loved the room by Nagel, and I always love spotting the ‘organic’ mushrooms growing out of the tops of buildings in London.

The Rolling People also painted the entire room, including the floor, windows, and ceiling, in their signature style. (They recently had a massive wall on the Village Underground in Shoreditch which I’ve got photographs of and will publish and entry for.)

The room by the Rolling People

Another room was painted with RUN’s signature figures in an abstract style.

The RUN room

The bathroom had even been painted with works by Dscreet and a message above the toilet “Post this on your bog”. That made me laugh a little, so I have posted it.

The bathroom has been converted into a room of street art.

For those looking hard, additional artwork could be discovered where it was least expected. Ben Wilson, who paints small pictures on bubble gum, contributed to some of the work in the house, and I discovered two pieces inside the house. I could not stay long, and I am sure that I missed a lot of this less-obvious artwork.

Artwork from Ben Wilson in the house consists of small-scale bubble-gum paintings.

In fact, I saw Ben Wilson painting a bubble gum outside on the pavement near the house. We had a chat, but I didn’t really know what to say. I’ve read about his work and seen it, but I’ve never seen it in real life. This as pretty exciting. There were a few finished pieces near the front of the house as well.

Ben Wilson painting used bubble gum on the pavement.

Various artwork by Pablo Delgado, a Mexican street artist who specialises in creating small paste-ups and pasting them (usually) at ground level.

One room in the house was painted by Thierry Noir and showed many of his characters; there were also paintings on the side of the van and canvases for sale. Artist Thierry Noir was in the room, busy creating more artwork. (Read more about this artist here: Street Art: Thierry Noir)

One of the rooms in the house was filled with artwork by Dscreet and featured the owl character. More artwork by this artist was located on the outside of the building, including the front of the house.

My Dog Sighs painted the upstairs utility room area, including painting water bubbles on the wall and sink. A few hidden gems could be found on the walls and under cabinets, including a tin can with a face and various messages.

In addition to the utility room, My Dog Sighs painted eyes on various exterior walls and the front door. Some of the eyes showed silhouettes of figures and the sky. I think this artist is brilliant with depicting water, bubbles, and glass-like surfaces.

This very ‘angular-looking’ room was painted by MadC.

Assorted artwork by Agent Provocateur, Pablo Delgado, Joyce Treasure, 616 and Benjamin Murphy, and Celso.

Silkey tagged the garage door; ROA created the skeleton of a cat; Malarky created some items in the basement stairs area; REKA created a face on a van; Agata Olek created a crochet canvas; Silkey created the first image.

RUN’s telephones with contributions by Pablo Delgado.

Cityzen Kane created some sculptures for the side of the house.

Malarky painted one side of the garage and various fox-like characters in the front of the house.’

Thank you so much Jenn, for this amazing record of one of the most extraordinary houses ever, an explosion of art, a collaboration from the top street artists alive today.