This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

The Sydney street artist Anthony Lister will remain behind bars for the next eight weeks after being charged with the rape of four women, including three art students, and the tattooing of one of the students without consent.

Lister, 40, was arrested on Tuesday at a Darlinghurst house after searches were conducted at the property and a Marrickville industrial space.

Police allegedly seized four replica pistols, illicit drugs, electronics and a knuckleduster.

Lister has been charged with rape, firearm possession, drug possession and causing grievous bodily harm with intent, among other offences.

Police allege he raped the women on separate occasions at the Darlinghurst home between 2015 and 2018, and tattooed three lines on one of the women without her consent.

Lister appeared at Central local court on Wednesday and was refused bail by the magistrate, Robert Williams, to return to the same court on 7 May.

His lawyer, Stewart Levitt, said in a written statement his client intended to defend all the charges.

“Mr Lister has told me that he is distressed and hurt by the charges and emphatically denies that he has ever taken wrongful advantage of anyone in a sexual context,” the statement said.

The painter was included in Complex Art and Design’s 50 most influential street artists of all time list in 2013, and was the subject of Have you seen the Listers?, a 2017 Netflix documentary.