Hooky Street Only Fools And Horses by Mark Davies

Available as a fantastic Limited Edition Print.

All Artwork is signed by the artist and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.  

MARK SAYS:

It’s been a good few years since I first created ‘He Who Dares Wins’ – a quirky interpretation of the British comedy classic ‘Only Fools and Horses’. The reaction to that piece has been TRIFFIC! It is a truly brilliant sitcom that so many of us love and the memories that are tied to it. For me personally, it is those evenings sat as a family watching the programme and the loudest of laughs that I would give anything to hear again. I guess this is why my nostalgic artworks resonate with so many so strongly because of the authenticity of which I work, with that need to reconnect with the past. It helps and ultimately generates so much good from it. CUSHTY! 

I love my pieces that are littered with references and links that create this wonderful ‘seek and smile’ interaction with my collectors. It’s funny, I work with such an intensity when I am in the throes of building each scene that I often forget where I have hidden a particular reference and even occasionally can’t even fathom what I was thinking! What a plonker eh! ‘He Who Dares Wins’ was so successful because of the level and type of detail within the Miami mansion, and the unique approach to it, I always shy away from simply recreating a set or scene, too easy and just not me. I’ve been so keen to create the follow up piece and I am so damned happy with the results!

When I was planning this piece way back, the initial thinking was to position the three-wheeler out front of Peckham market, but I wanted to make more of it, to be more complex, complicated to create and ultimately more rewarding. I took reference from my 2019 ‘Up for the Cup’ piece that featured the rusty old banger in front of a line of shops and London pub, whilst it wasn’t an ‘OFAH’ piece it was a catalyst for what I would then create. I also drew reference from the original ‘The Memory Remains’ street scene but pulled it outwards so that it became much more complex and allowed for so much more detail, and chaos! 

‘Hooky Street’ is a bonkers celebration of the crazy antics of Del Boy, Rodney and friends as their lunacy plays out on the streets of Peckham. In line with ‘The Memory Remains’ composition, we see the ‘Nags’ head (formally the ‘White Horse’) set to open and do as roaring trade! Next to that we have ‘Marlene’s Bookies’ that could just make you a millionaire, one day! Oh, and there’s no VAT! Residing above the ‘permed princess’ you will find an auctioneers and pawn broker where watches are their speciality. We then see a small smoke-filled alleyway that leads down to ‘Club 121’ that might just get you in a spot of bother but fear not, a caped Crusader and sidekick are coming to the rescue! KAPOW! Last and no way least is ‘Boyce Autos’ (formally ‘Albertos Autos’). A gritty and meagre garage that sells used cars of distinction, allegedly! Well at least it does have the perfik family motor! It’s a hot buy and handles like Maradona! You might think that Boyce’s gaff looks a bit grotty compared to the empire that he had. Well yes, that’s exactly it. This scene shows the moment in time before the boom, before ‘Trotter time’!  

‘Only Fools and Horses’ is testament to how significant the theme tune to the sitcom should be, it just makes you smile doesn’t it. How many of you lot know the words from start to finish? Well the words are well represented within the scene, I am not one for line listing all the details as I would rather you seek them out. However, what I can promise is we’ve got some half-priced cracked ice, and miles and miles of carpet tiles,
TV's, deep freeze and David Bowie LP's, Pool games, gold chains just to name a few! Oh, and you better spot the ’smog’ reference and did Banksy steal an idea from years back?!  C'est magnifique ‘Hooky Street’!  

I am so happy with the outcome, I wanted to create something quirky, random, with a real comedy quality but something that had a gritty edge to it. It had to be different, unique, and authentic, even if nothing within it was! There are so many references and memories to draw inspiration from that I can keep on creating for another decade, and you know what? I might just do that! The sitcom suits my random way of thinking, it allows me to include so many bizarre links to baffle you, and me!  

This was another example of not wanting this project to finish, I loved every minute of it and I am so glad that I waited for the number of years to produce it. I love what I do, and I am a better person for it, it helps just to smile doesn’t it. The first piece travelled all over the place, and I can see this one heading out from Hull to Rotterdam, from Paris to New York and if it lands in Margate then I will raise a Caribbean Stallion to that! I know how much you guys love this sitcom and the first piece so I hope I have done it and your memories justice. You want the best ones, well then brother, I’m your man! You might just have to stick more than a pony in my pocket to get one!  

God bless Hooky Street, Viva Hooky Street. Long live Hooky Street!