FOR SALE - UNIQUE STREET ART DOORS FROM CAMDEN MARKET

LARGE colourful doors covered in street art by noted urban artists are being sold off at a Wiltshire auction house.

Salvaged from the famous Camden Market in London the doors were painted in 2014 in a project organised by The Real Art of Street Art. The advocacy group provides walls and other surfaces for artists to spray paint.

In an unusual move, the striking doors will be sold through online bidding only via the-saleroom.com over a two-week period from Monday May 21, to Sunday June 2 (early evening). Each set of doors measures 216cm wide and 205cm high.

Set up in 1975 on the site of an old timber yard, Camden Lock Market is one of the most popular visitor attractions in London. Following a fire that tore through the market in 2009, the local council repopulated the Lock area with wooden sheds for the traders to sell from in Camden Lock Village, along the side of the Regent’s Canal. 

Auctioneer Edd Thomas said: “The sheds did the job but lacked any of the unique character which drew people to Camden. Roll forward to 2014, and ‘The Real Art of Street Art’ secured permission to repaint the market sheds.

“Each artist was left to choose their own design, and none who took part were paid, and the same basic shed front was given to each to reimagine. Less than two years later a decision was made to redevelop the site and the wooden sheds were taken down.”

The doors include art by Captain Kris, The Real Dill, Fan HC, Secle Style (who now lives in Barcelona), Zena (from Norway) Seeds One, Winston The Whale (tattoo artist who now lives in Oregon in the USA) and Panik (aka Jack Murray and lives in Lisbon). Some of the doors are unattributed. 

Despite their reputation, the doors were destined for the scrap heap when Camden Lock was closed for redevelopment in 2015 – these doors are a few of those known to have survived and were saved. The site is now a hip shopping centre with luxury apartments.

It was at the end of last year that RWB Auctions were contacted by a private collector who owned 15 of the surviving doors – which will be put on public display from Thursday May 23 to Saturday June 1 at The View Gallery which is part of RWB Auctions in the High Street, Royal Wootton Bassett. Bidding is online only.