There are some stories you come across, as you sit in an increasingly dark office on a Wednesday evening, that truly play at the old heart strings. This particular one is about 'George the Dog' and 'John the Artist' - two friends who were once homeless but managed to lift themselves out of London's streets to make a new career and life for themselves. If you've not heard of John Dolan, he is one of East London's most notorious artists, establishing himself during a three year residency sitting along Shoreditch High Street and selling his drawings to passersby.
During this time, John sat every day with his dog George and documented the surrounding architecture, elevating the old, decrepit buildings that are so often ignored and under-appreciated. As you can expect from the quality of his work, he gained a cult following and George the dog in particular has become a Shoreditch icon through John's portrayals of his faithful companion. John himself has experienced 20 years of homelessness in London and his current exhibition marks a remarkable journey from sitting along Shoreditch High Street to staging a successful show with some of the world's top street artists in three short years.
And last Thursday saw the opening of a breakout solo exhibition by John Dolan at the Howard Griffin Gallery. The exhibition, simply entitled 'George the Dog, John the Artist' featured new large scale original works by John and collaborative works by over 40 top international street artists and graffiti writers including ROA, Steve ESPO Powers, Sever, Gaia, David Walker, Stik, Maser, Thierry Noir, RUN, Ian Stevenson, Cityzen Kane, Ronzo, Martin Ron, Liqen, Dscreet, Pablo Delgado, MadC, CEPT, C215 and BRK.
Howard Griffin Gallery, where John's exhibition is being staged, is located along Shoreditch High Street, in view of the spot where he used to sit and draw. While John's personal and artistic journey has been long, the geographical journey towards his first solo exhibition has been remarkably small. This serves to make the show even more special and illustrates how talent can be found in the strangest of places. The show also captures the very essence of Shoreditch, as John's raw portrayals capture the history of its past and reveal its underbelly of homelessness and poverty, which stands in stark contrast to the oncoming wave of gentrification that the area is experiencing. The street art collaborations capture Shoreditch's present as a global centre of street art. Wonderful.