In our October issue we previewed a new show by London's Institute of Contemporary Arts which aims to connect the dots between London's contemporary creative culture, generally agreed to be in very rude health, and that of the 1980s, another period of intense subcultural activity. Described by ICA director Gregor Muir as a 'form of subcultural archeology', 'A Journey through London's Subculture: 1980s to Now' has been co-curated by design historian Emily King, music writer Princess Julia and design gallerist Libby Sellers, and has just opened at the Old Selfridges Hotel.
Over 50 of the city's creative bright lights, past and present and stretching from Zaha Hadid to Bethan Laura Wood, have been asked to fill vitrines with personal paraphernalia, a physical record of their creative lives. The visitor can then, hopefully, spot shared tricks and tropes and common threads. Of course, we couldn't resist getting involved and, as well as being media partner of the event, have helped our friend Tom Dixon put together his trove of treasures.
The designer rose to prominence in the 1980s but, when not in his studio, also found time to play base in the band Funkapolitan, model for Comme des Garçons and run club nights Language Lab and Demolition Derby. His vitrine features a carefully picked selection of ephemera from the era.
Tom Dixon gives us a look inside his 'Funkapolitan' cuttings book
The show will also include video works, installations and billboard-sized images and will be accompanied by a series of events and talks, including a conversation with Tom Dixon hosted by our own Simon Mills.
The vitrines are filled with flyers, magazines, photos, drawings and other ephemera that captures moments in London's creative past while pinpointing what might have inspired its creative present. Pictured is Tom Dixon's vitrine, curated by Wallpaper*. The designer rose to prominence in the 1980s but, when not in his studio, found time to play base in the band Funkapolitan, model for Comme des Garcons and run club nights Language Lab and Demolition Derby. His vitrine features cuttings and memorabilia from the era
Zaha Hadid founded her practice in the late 1970s. The Zaha Hadid Architects vitrine features a canvas print of London 2066, painted in 1991 for Vogue magazine, and an iPad slideshow featuring a selection of London-related projects, paintings and exhibitions from 1972 to the present day
The Wild Life Archive vitrine, curated by Steve Terry and Matt Williams, charts the explosion of Acid House on London's music scene with a selection of ephemera that advertises parties and club nights from 1988 - 1989
Studio Voltaire was founded in 1994 and its Nelson's Row space now houses over 45 artists, acting as a springboard for people and projects that may not always find support within institutional or commercial frameworks. Curated by Joe Scotland and Richard Healy, its vitrine features artworks and objects from Studio Votaire's twenty-year history by artists including Phyllida Barlow, Spartacus Chetwynd and Elizabeth Price
Restaurant and bar Bistrotheque was opened by David Waddington and Pablo Flack in 2004 in an industrial building on Wadesdon Street and quickly became an institution amongst London's art and fashion crowd. Its vitrine features Bistrotheque flyers, a Giles Deacon plate, a Rory Crighton bag and Drag Ball images, among other things
Mudlarking, curated by Nicola Tyson and Gregor Muir, showcases a series of photographs by Nicola Tyson and a selection of broken ceramics and clay pipes retrieved from the River Thames. Taken in 1982, the images show accessory designer Judy Blame, shoe designer John Moore and graphic designer Fiona Skinner searching for items under Blackfriars Bridge, some of which became the inspiration for clothing designs or artworks
Matthew Higgs launched small publishing house Imprint 93 in 1993 and collaborated with artists including Jeremy Deller, Martin Creed, Chris Ofili and Peter Doig, among others, to produce short-run, hand-assembled publications and editions. His vitrine, co-curated by Gregor Muir, features various issues of Imprint 93 from 1993-95, including Martin Creed's sheet of paper crumpled into a ball and Peter Dogi's 'Briey' (open)
DJ and artist Jeffrey Hinton was a resident at Leigh Bowery's Taboo club in the mid-1980s and continues to perform at clubs across the world, while working on film, dance and fashion projects. His 'Latrine at Large' features a selection of Alien Child Nests, 1970-2013
Anal House Meltdown is an East End club night by Eddie Peake, Prem Sahib and George Henry Longly that takes place at Vogue Fabrics approximately four times a year. Established in 2011, it encourages a 'tops off - tits out' policy
ADDRESS
The Old Selfridges Hotel
1 Orchard Street
London W1H 6JS
-
Davos 2025: Genesis goes all-out on outdoor machismo with this extreme sport support vehicle conceptPresented to the World Economic Forum at Davos, the Mountain Intervention Vehicle Concept is a wild transformation of the Genesis GV60 into a tracked rescue vehicle
-
E-ink comes of age: the best new tablets for distraction-free reading and writingWe explore the world of E-ink tablets to find the best device for handwriting input, editing, sketching and light computing duties
-
We are the world: Pininfarina’s ‘Orbis’ taps Papal support for an eco-friendly agendaThe Orbis is a ‘symbolic object’, a gift to Pope Francis from the Italian design agency at a time of political upheaval and social fracture around all aspects of sustainability
