We’ve celebrated plenty of achievements over the years at Sowdens, big campaigns, brilliant client wins, awards, anniversaries, new hires, even the odd viral reel.
But this one…
This one takes the (toilet) roll.
Because our founder, creative anarchist, surrealist at heart and mild menace to polite society, Paul Sowden, has officially launched his first ever public art exhibition.
And yes, it’s in a toilet.
If you’ve ever visited us at Sowdens HQ, you’ll know Paul has previous experience when it comes to toilet design. Clients pop in for a meeting, wander off for a comfort break, and return several minutes later looking… different. A little dazed. A little enlightened. Occasionally, a little traumatised. So really, LavArt, a surrealist installation housed entirely within the accessible toilet at Arthouse Hull, feels like the natural evolution. Or revolution. Or loo-volution. Because if there’s one thing you can trust Paul to do, it’s take something utterly ordinary and transform it into something extraordinary, bizarre, funny, confronting and brilliantly unfiltered.
LavArt marks Paul’s first ever public exhibition, which is funny, because he’s been avoiding them for decades.
He paints because he paints. He draws because he draws. He refuses to explain it, polish it, or censor it. In his words:
“If people like the work, great. If they don’t, well, that’s their problem.”
And in typical Paul fashion, LavArt began partly as a joke, partly as a middle finger to elitism, and partly because Arthouse founder Katherine Carmichael finally wore him down with persistence, pints, and the promise of an audience that wouldn’t expect him to behave.
Arthouse, described on the exhibition invite as a night of “surrealism, satire and splendour”, is the only place something like this could exist. Katherine built it for real people, real artists, and real creativity. The weird, the wonderful, the outcasts, the originals.
A lifetime of imagination, squeezed into a very small room. Paul’s work pulls from everywhere. Decades of travel, late-night doodles, political absurdities, Strange moments from the 1950s onwards, his love of Surrealism, Dada, ridicule, rebellion, and, of course, toilets in famous museums.
Yes, he has photographed them. Many of them. Beware the sequel. LavArt blends new and old pieces, adapted specifically so they wrap, curve and contort within the Arthouse loo. Only one person can view it at a time, making it possibly the most intimate art experience in Hull, maybe even in Britain.
Elsewhere in the bar, a selection of Paul’s older gouache work is on display too, some of which took up to 1,000 hours to complete. A thousand hours. Roughly the time it takes most people to get a plumber to call them back.
Behind the joke, a quiet message. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t need gatekeepers, white walls, hushed tones or four-page essays explaining what you’re supposed to feel.
Creativity can, and should, live anywhere. In big galleries. In grassroots venues. And yes, in toilets.
Hull deserves bold, brave, unexpected creativity. Katherine has made a home for it, and Paul has finally said yes to showing it.
The exhibition may last three months, but the toilet art may outlive us all
LavArt runs for three months, although knowing Paul, and knowing Arthouse, the loo itself may become a permanent pilgrimage spot for lovers of surrealism, satire, splendour and plumbing.
As Paul puts it:
“Eventually in life, you find your own level. I appear to have found mine. Who needs a million-pound 18-karat gold pan in your toilet when you can have LavArt?”
LavArt shows the kind of unfiltered originality that has shaped Sowdens from day one. We could not be prouder. Because if anyone was ever going to launch the world’s first truly surreal toilet exhibition, it was always going to be Paul.
Go see it. Sit (we’ve heard there’s a porcelain seat waiting…)
One visitor at a time, please.
Visit Arthouse, Princes Avenue, Hull
Follow Paul on Instagram: @pablo.sowden
See more of his work: paul-sowden-art.com
And if you don’t like it,
Well…
Flush it.
Follow us on social for more great content:
LinkedIn: Sowden & Sowden
Instagram: @Sowdens
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