Wednesday 18 March 2009

Ha'penny Hatch artists

It's worth taking a walk down to the Ha'penny Hatch footbridge not only for the view of the Creek and the chance to sneak up on a heron paddling in the shallow waters, but also to see the latest offerings in the arches. For too long these white-painted spaces have attracted nothing but ugly spray-painted tags and the scrawlings of illiterates.

It's a delight to see that they are now adorned by something worth of the graceful curve of the bricks and the inviting whiteness of the paint.


Panic on the streets of Deptford by Suffoca


Fuzon groan'd on the tree (inspired by William Blake's mythology) by Riccardo Attanasio (Matlakas)


And a second one by Matlakas, my personal favourite. The marine and nautical references are perfect for the location.

7 comments:

Gareth Gardner said...

These are soooooo cool. I agree with you about which one is my favourite. This sort of art really transforms urban environments!

Marmoset said...

I passed by as the graffartist was working on one of those. He'd just been visited by the police. It appears that someone had phoned them up reporting graffiti, yet the fellow didn't run, he engaged the police in conversation and convinced them that it was art. (The fact that he didn't run away when they appeared probably helped.) I heard the police discussing this with a car driver nearby - maybe he was the person that called them.

Meanwhile another one has just appeared a couple of arches along. It looks like a hairy hand and forearm and something that I couldn't figure out...

Deptford Dame said...

Thanks Marmoset, I was wondering whether there had been any 'official' interest in the art. I've seen the other picture you mention, it looks either unfinished, or as if someone has painted over half of it. I'll be watching that space...!

Headhunter said...

That last one is very similar to the murals painted on the now closed London and Brighton pub on Queen St, Peckham. See Transpontine.

Anonymous said...

Hi My Dears...It is me who painted the the two weird black and white paintings (l and b. as well). There is no democracy, there is a lot of injustice in the air. I painted that mural with love and somebody had the courage of covering it! SHAME ON YOU!

Marmoset said...

Well, it's now all back to plain white. I saw the Lewisham team white painting the whole area around the 1st of April. To be fair, they only overpainted the mural after some idiots stuck up phone numbers with obscene messages about the phone owner.

Still, there's a blank canvas there waiting for the next artist to come along...

Deptford Gee said...

Loved this image - I managed to get a shot of it before it was cleared off! very sad that this space is not used for such great art! How can we change that?