John Dolan
Born
Islington,North London
Died20 October 2022
London, UK
NationalityBritish
Known forstreet art

John Dolan was a British street artist from the Kings Square EC1 area of London.[1]

Life

John Dolan grew up in Kings Square EC1 area of London, with parents Gerry and Dot. He had two brothers, David and Malcolm, and two sisters, Jackie and Marilyn. When John was 10, his father told him that his sister, Marilyn, was in fact his biological mother, and his biological father was a local man named Jimmy-who remained in his life and was treated appallingly by his son. Marilyn however hardly had any contact with her son John.[1]

In his earlier years, John was a homeless person and a heroin/crack addict. By 2009 he had been in prison more than 30 times, for a total of about 12 years, and had over 300 convictions.[1][2] He began drawing, sitting with his dog on Shoreditch High Street and selling his drawings to passers-by. Some of his drawings were included in a limited-edition art book, Shoreditch Unbound, in 2011.[1][3] A successful exhibition of his work was held in Shoreditch in September 2013,[4][5] and a second exhibition was held in 2014.[1]

Dolan was no longer homeless at the end of his life, and had stopped using heroin.[1] His book John and George: The Dog Who Changed My Life was published by Random House in July 2014.[6] He helped charities such as Unicef and The Big Issue Foundation.[1] In January 2015 he was among the speakers at a TEDx event in Bethnal Green.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Patrick Barkham (19 July 2014) John Dolan: from homeless addict to street artist and author. Guardian. Accessed June 2015.
  2. ↑ Richard Brooks (28 June 2014). Artist’s dog chases street cat bestseller. The Sunday Times. Accessed June 2015.
  3. ↑ Steven Moffett, Steven Dray (2011). Shoreditch unbound. London: Unbound Ltd. ISBN 9780956969408.
  4. ↑ [s.n.] (16 September 2013). We meet Shoreditch street art sketcher John Dolan. Time Out. Accessed June 2015.
  5. ↑ Tom Donkin (27 September 2013). Homeless man John Dolan's artwork on show. BBC News. Accessed June 2015.
  6. ↑ John and George: The Dog Who Changed My Life. The Random House Group. Accessed June 2015.
  7. ↑ Jan 2015 Event Archived 20 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine. TEDxEastEnd. Accessed June 2015
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