Baroque the Streets, launched at the Dulwich Festival in May, is an ambitious commissioned Street Art project where internationally famous Street Artists have come together to create public artwork in a very local context. You can see the results of this fascinating idea in bi-monthly Street Art Tours run by Ingrid Beazley.
Ingrid’s tours tell the story of the project that she masterminded, giving insight into how she built relationships with local businesses for walls and funding, matched up walls and street artists and took them on visits to Dulwich Picture Gallery which is the main source of inspiration for the work.
The vision for Baroque the Streets festival was that the pieces that have been created all over Dulwich will be permanent displays, representing both the current Street Art movement and its connection to the 200 year old public art gallery. This collection of permanent murals is Dulwich Outdoor Gallery. The tours, which last approximately 3 hours and include a hospitable, stop off for refreshments at Ingrid’s house on Court Lane, are an absolutely delightful way to discover these fascinating new works.
Starting opposite East Dulwich station at 2pm the first artwork you see on the tour is a colourful reinterpretation of Dulwich’s most famous painting Girl at a Window by Rembrandt. System presents a contemporary reimagining where the Girl at a Window is a female street artist in a cap and hoodie, spray cans next to her staring out at us; in contrast to the serene gaze of the original this girl is positively confrontational. On a narrow side street the wall is nevertheless eye-catching because of the bright pallet used. A geometric pattern of green, pink and orange shapes by Remi Rough forms the backdrop to the work and the implication is that this is artwork the girl herself as painted. A simple contrast between the artwork of DPG and the representation of a Street Artist in situ is a great way to start the tour, focussing in on the two main elements of the project.
As the walk continues participants gain further insight into the beautiful and bizarre outcomes of this collaboration. Participants are armed with a hand out which shows images of the original Dulwich paintings so that they can fully appreciate what they’re seeing.
The walk includes a visit to Blackwater Street where two of the several murals created by Stik in 2012 can be seen. These paintings are perhaps the most firmly rooted in their original counterparts at DPG where Stik has copied the exact poses of the central figures but stripped the compositions down to their bare essentials. Left with nothing but stick figures and two eyes to present the story, the works allow the raw human emotions at the heart of these pieces to take precedence. Stik’s delicate reimagining of Francheschini’s Guardian Angel is the most successful of these murals, the muted colours used reflect the original and his clever use of a corner wall enable him to retell the story of the Angel saving a child (representing the reckless human race) from a cliff edge using only a few gestures and his signature six line figures.
The walk also includes some examples of street art on a much smaller scale. Ben Wilson, who paints intricate miniatures on bits of chewing gum, went all over Dulwich creating his tiny but highly skilled pieces, and is the only street artists to have actually painted in the DPG grounds, right next to a bench near the entrance. Similarly Pablo Delgado’s tiny curb side paste ups are very easy to miss but no less interesting than the huge murals; can you spot some famous DPG characters lurking around street corners on Lordship Lane?
Every so often you should also look up as Christiaan Nagel’s polyurethane foam mushrooms can also be seen sprouting up from the shop fronts of various open minded East Dulwich establishments.
Another element of the Baroque the Streets project is the Street Art House at 265 Lordship Lane. Curated by Street Art London the house was taken over and painted top to bottom by a huge collection of artists as word spread and many of those involved in the London scene headed down to Dulwich to get a slice of the action. It is a shame that the house is soon to be demolished because it’s like one giant street art canvas, every room taken over by a plethora of styles and a riot of colour. The tour includes a stop off to see the exterior of the building and is not to be missed as it showcases one of the most compelling works of the project.
On the large side wall of the house RUN painted a huge yellow head like a sun with other mischievous figures dancing around it, blowing on trumpets that are directly inspired by Poussin’s Triumph of David. Skilfully capturing a celebratory atmosphere RUN has created a piece that is truly triumphant and a credit to the whole project. In general the house could have benefited from a more structured approach as some of the less polished works let the others down and clashing colours mean there is little overall cohesion.
The tour then goes through Dulwich Park before finishing (for the hard core enthusiasts) with a tour of DPG itself. It is well worth hanging on for this last segment as there is a work in the park by Thierry Noir who is famous all over the world for painting the Berlin Wall. Ingrid described a scuffle with Southwark parks department regarding this work because the trumpets Thierry depicts his figures blowing were deemed to look too much like giant spliffs. As one witty participant pointed out ‘ He could get past the Stasi but could not escape the Southwark Parks Authorities’.
The tour is informative and fun. Over the three hours the group slowly bonds and as enthusiasm grows through Ingrid’s impassioned explanations it’s easy to chat to people about the experience as you walk along. One local participant summed it up succinctly saying ‘It’s really great, we walk past these walls everyday but to take the time to look properly and understand is fascinating’.
DATES FOR THE NEXT WALKS
11 & 25 August, 22 September
2 – 5 pm
TICKETS
£12
Includes:
• free entry to Dulwich Picture Gallery
• refreshments in Court Lane
• notes and map
Book in advance. Cash on arrival.
MEET AT Vale End, SE22 opposite East Dulwich Station at Girl with Spray Cans (top image)
FINISH AT Dulwich Picture Gallery.
MORE INFO AND TO BOOK email [email protected]
MAP of Dulwich Outdoor Gallery
Dulwich Outdoor Gallery FACEBOOK PAGE
9 Comments
Hello Everyone,
My best friend when I was at school in 1950′s lived in Vale End. I am going to print a copy off and send it to her. I think she will be surprised by the artwork and that where she lived as a child and teenager is part of special walks. Unfortunately she does not have a computer or tablet so it will have to be a hard copy.
Best wishes to you all
Beryl
Hi Beryl, Do you think your friend would like to know more about the street art around Dulwich? The walls and pavements that relate specifically to works in Dulwich Picture Gallery? I would be very happy to show her some more walls in the project. Ingrid
The walk was excellent! So interesting to see this swathe of street art and its links to the works in Dulwich Picture Gallery. Of particular interest to me was the politics around how permissions were given for the walls, the characters of the street artists themselves and other quirky bits of information that the very enthusiastic and articulate guide relayed. A great afternoon; highly recomended!
I took this tour on a glorious summer day, it was 3 hours well and £12 very well spent; fascinating and informative. Although I had seen the street art and been to the Picture Gallery before I learned an enormous amount and it really opened my eyes and fired my enthusiasm. Highly recommend.
This was a Sunday afternoon very well spent! Knowing only a little about street art we were very impressed by the breadth of the artists and their work - our favourite was by Conor Harrington. The stories of the different characters involved and the logistics for setting up the Dulwich Outdoor Gallery were particularly interesting. We would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Having spent a wonderful afternoon recently exploring the murals on the walls of Dulwich with Ingrid’s tour, I can definitely recommend the tour for those with an interest in either street art or classical art.
Ingrid’s was a very knowledgeable, articulate and truly amazing guide; her enthusiasm for the project certainly brings the walls of Dulwich alive.
It was wonderful to hear insights and stories on how such an innovative project was brought together from the organiser’s perspective.
The tour provided a welcome opportunity to learn about the street artist’s techniques and their sources of inspiration for the project, held in Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Having taken the tour, it definitely has helped to further enhance my appreciation of street art around the city.
I have been on a number of street art tours previously, but this certainly was the most enjoyable and informative. Highly recommended!!
Ingrid recently organised a tour of Dulwich street art for us. The tour was so informative and interesting, and it was great to see modern takes on old art. Ingrid was really passionate and was an excellent host, we would do it again in a flash!
Hi Ingrid
Thank you for your kind offer. My friend has been retired for quite a few years as have I. She has lived in Devon for a long time now, near to one of her daughters.
We both moved away from Dulwich years ago, she was married to a sailor, and we moved mainly for work reasons and because places to live were in short supply in London at the beginning of the 60′s.
This is one reason why I enjoy DOV so much, it keeps me in touch with my roots and my youth!
I had no idea what to expect when I booked for Ingrid’s Dulwich street art tour so I was very surprised that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ingrid is very informative and enthusiastic and she made it so interesting. It was fascinating when she compared the murals with the paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery and it has changed my view of street artists. I am planning to see more street art. Don’t miss it!