concrete magazine - issue one - free

03

Welcome to the first issue of Concrete. A magazine designed to celebrate creativity. From the well-known artists to the hidden treasures, everybody with talent deserves a showcase. We aim to uncover the gems of the underground art scene in East London. With a young, mobile and growing population, there are so many exciting things waiting to be discovered. Hackney is known for having the highest population of artists living in one area in the whole of Europe. Concrete brings you up close and personal with the artists living and working in the East End. For our first issue, we have chose to focus on a theme, the regeneration of East London. Looking at the old and the new, we look a bit deeper into the history of East London and bring you closer to the people who know it the best.

Eleanor StephensEditor

04 05

page 6 : art and politics page 10 : the east enders page 14 : living in the ghetto page 20 : gallery hoppingpage 28 : a trip down memory lane page 30 : illustrated style page 36 : vintage or bintage. page 38 : a day in the life of luna & curious page 46 : i've lived in hoxton for 81 1/2 years page 50 : amy green page 52 : fashion food fight page 60 : roaming room page 64 : galleries of modern of london page 66: easy street

editor on cheifEleanor Stephens

design & productionEdgeandbarrett.com

designLuke EdgeLisa Henderson.

contibutersFrancis Church Grace WilsonJane HallJames ParsonsJoshua LachkovicMindy NettlesOlivia BellSylvie Louise Gianella

Many artists cross boundaries to deliver work with political meaning. Laura Oldfield Ford does exactly this. Though the

boundaries may not be pushed as far as extremism, she delivers artwork that presents subjects surrounding contemporary society. Mocking trends and addressing realistic situations, she produces illustrations of dismal urban landscapes graffiti-ed with messages. The Savage Messiah is a self-produced zine with the same aesthetic as the productions of the punk era. It is also her baby. Oldfield Ford explores the collapse of community within contemporary capitalism.

Desolate landscapes, abandoned spaces and derelict buildings is what you can

expect to see when looking at the work of Oldfield Ford. Coming to London to study, she followed the trend of becoming a squatter. Living in Dalston, it was a different place to what it is now. ‘I couldn’t afford to rent somewhere so I squatted. Loads of people did it. It was a creative quarter that became home, it’s nothing like it used to be.’ The change is a problem for Oldfield Ford and this is apparent in her work. ‘The new buildings are dull and badly built. They get away with it because the people are settling for less. Regeneration doesn’t benefit the poor.’

Walking around the city, Oldfield Ford finds inspiration for her work. The Savage Messiah is an example of her journeys through the capital’s hinterlands. Each one focuses on a different part of London. ‘I explore social realties. With the Zine I’ve covered areas I’ve come across when drifting around

06 07

town. The literature in the work projects the message. It says how I feel about the situation. It’s an honest perspective of social decline.’ The Savage Messiah examines psycheography through critical theory and drawing. She has become famous for her poetic engagement with East London as place of social antagonism referring to the people as ‘yuppies.’ In one piece she tells them to get out of Hackney.

Her drawings are skillfully produced with a gritty realism of Britain as it was decades ago. Poetic messages are often scrawled across images. Neon colour invades a decaying landscape. ‘The neon is a contradiction between the drawing and the meaning. The bright colours are not what you’d see at the sites.’ The focus is often on places earmarked for structural change and the East End is a prime example. To

some her work may be seemingly bitter. She represents a community that has been affected by regeneration. Through her work she suggests that we go back to more radical times.

Updates on her Twitter have known to say ‘London Fields is great at this time of day before the hordes of pointless hipsters arrive’ or ‘Communities are displaced and attempts made to erase the areas' real histories.’ We get the message she is trying to put across - Commercialism is not something to praise and it’s ruining society. The beauty of the nothingness in the wastelands she draws is something to treasure and reminds us of a city with a past. Many probably agree that her expressive approach gets her point across.

www.savagemessiahzine.com

All

im

age

s 20

10 ©

la

ura

old

fiel

d f

ord

08 09

The East End is something I hold close to my heart. As a born and bred ‘Eastender’ I find my life is much less dramatic than what the nation sees on the television programme. When I step out of my front door I walk

into an animated world full of culture and vibrancy. The faces I’ve seen a thousand times

before never bore me. The homeless man on the corner who I’ll often bring a cup of tea to.

He always says in his strong, cockney accent ‘Ave a luvly day miss.’

The graffiti on the wall, the dirty streets

I’ve learned to love it all. It’s home and

always will be.

10 11

All

im

age

s 20

10 ©

Rob

ert

Glo

wa

cki

12 13

Whilst browsing a local bookshop I stumbled upon a book that caught my eye, The Eastenders. A book of photography by an unknown photographer called Robert Glowacki. The book is a collection

of images that capture the essence and spirit of East London. It's like you are looking back at a hazy 70s world. Upon closer inspection I realised that the photographs were present day. I couldn’t help but wonder who this Robert Glowacki was, and how he’s managed to capture my feelings so perfectly in his work.

Seeing as his work so perfectly depicted the every day life of the East End I wanted to speak to him and find out if he shared the same passion as myself. We arranged to meet at The Old Shoredtich Station and as each sole person walked in I compared them to what I imagined Glowacki to be like, a typical, cockney East Londoner. Was I wrong or was I wrong?

This mysterious photographer was in fact Polish and had only been in London for 8 years. We sat and discussed our love for East London he told me more about how his book became to be. ‘I loved the book The Americans by Robert Frank. I liked the way he captured people and I wanted to do the same with the people of East London.’ I was unfamiliar with the book but since looking at it I can see the similarities between the two. In the same way Robert Frank captured the Americans, Robert Glowacki had managed to capture The Eastenders. Far from the television stereotype, the photographs had a sense of reality and familiarity for anyone who knew these parts of London.

Glowacki told me about some of his favourite places in the East End. ‘Broadway market and London Fields in the summer is always a vibrant, exciting place to be.’ Asking him what he thought about the re-generation of the East End. ‘You probably know more than I do. I do like the old buildings.’ I showed him a collection of my favourite images and in one of them he points out a lucky piece of reportage.

‘Look at the man in handcuffs being walked off by the police. What do you see?’ I look at the picture I’d looked at before but upon closer inspection I notice something new. In the image frame in the top left hand corner is a billboard with an advert for crime and a mans hands in handcuffs. ‘It’s funny isn’t it?’ He seemed pretty impressed with himself. It’s almost as if this image is expected and makes the crime that is associated with East London humorous, for just a second.

The Eastenders is a limited edition book of 1000 copies and I ask him why he chose to do this. ‘Mainly because I did it myself, but it allows people to take home a small piece of East London that is more than just a drinking hole but a place full of community spirit. What number did you get?’ I informed him that mine is numbered 595. He nods his head and smiles, clearly pleased that his has achieved a goal by the book having the desired impact on a real Eastender.

To see more of Roberts work, visit robert-glowacki.com.

Somebody once told me that to be an excellent photographer, you should never go further than five miles from your front door. Tom Hunter is the perfect example. Most of his work involves his home, Hackney. The people, the landscapes and the politics behind an area that was once undesirable to live in, now so family orientated and culture rich. He tells Concrete what he finds so inspiring within the five-mile radius of his home.

14 15

Hunter worked as a tree surgeon until the age of 23 when he decided he wanted to get into photography. Buying a cheap SLR camera he hopped on a plane to America where he spent a year travelling and documenting it in photos. Upon

return to his home he became a student and moved back to Hackney and started his photography career.

Hunter moved to Hackney as a squatter in the early 1990’s. Here began the inspiration for his work. ‘Lots of my friends were living in squats. There were thousands of empty properties. When I moved into Ellingfort Road there were two streets running back to back, full of squatters. In those days it was quite easy to break in, change the locks, re-do the plumbing and get it together. Suddenly I became a big part of this community. There were about 120-130 people there. We had a café, communal gardens and a cinema. It was a very lively place to live with artists, musicians and all sorts of people doing creative things. I got very attached to that neighbourhood.’

When he received a letter from the Hackney Council trying to evict him and the other squatters, they decided they weren’t leaving without a fight. They had made a home out of something unloved. Shortly after, the Hackney Gazette published an article referring to the squats as ‘The Ghetto.’ This became the initial inspiration for Hunter’s final degree piece. Little did he know the impact it would have on the neighbourhood. ‘The article referred to our homes as a ‘Ghetto,’ describing the area I was living in as neglected, run down and why would anyone want to live there? They referred to us derogatively as if we were drug addicts and criminals. I decided to produce something showing the beauty of the street and how peaceful the people were. A piece of propaganda to counter act what the council were putting in the paper. I wanted to fight for my neighbourhood.’

At Hunter’s degree show, The Guardian came down and ended up featuring an article in the paper. ‘There was quite a lot of news coverage because it was a 3D photographic sculpture of the whole street. It’s about 17ft long and about 4ft wide you can look into the houses and its lit up from within.’ The piece was bought by the Museum of London is currently featuring in their most recent exhibition, Galleries of Modern London. ‘At the time the councils policy was that they did not talk to squatters. After getting so much media attention they finally decided to talk to us. I think it did some good. It spearheaded our campaign to save our neighbourhood.’ The area has changed drastically since then. Hunter mentioned he does feel slightly responsible for the changes. The squatters formed a housing co-operation and the many of the same people still live on the street.

His love affair with Hackney has grown over time. He mentions a project involving the shopkeepers in local area. The East End Business series was aimed to generate awareness of the cultural diversity in that part of London. ‘There’s such an array of people from all around the world here. New energies, new bands, new fashions and I find that so exciting. I’d hate to live somewhere bourgeois where nothing changes. There’s an excitement in Hackney.’

Is he working on any current projects? ‘I’m working on a film with the Serpentine Gallery, on the Woodbury down estate interviewing a group of old age pensioners. They’re telling me their stories about Hackney and it’s amazing because they came from all over the world. The other day I was with a woman that came over from county Dublin 70 years ago. She was telling me about what it was like to be an Irish woman in London. I met a Hungarian miner who came over in 1956, fleeing the Hungarian rising. Hackney’s got this amazing pattern of new people coming from different places, starting new lives here and building families.’

He doesn’t need to travel to Afghanistan or Africa to find cultural inspiration. ‘All of my work is inspired by where I live. I don’t need to go elsewhere.’ He jokes, ‘If I go away it’s for a holiday so I don’t have to thing about work!’ Living in an area with so much cultural diversity he can find his inspiration so close to home. He never has to leave that five-mile radius to be inspired. So what’s Hunter’s favourite thing about Hackney? ‘The people. The architecture isn’t spectacular and it’s got some nice parks, but it’s definitely all about the people.’

To see more of Toms work visit tomhunter.org

2010

© T

om H

un

ter

18 19

23

26 27

The Flowers GalleryStephen wears Shorts by Cheap Monday, £62, Shirt by Cheap Monday, £45, Jumper by Via Snella, £190, Glasses by Retrospecs £67

Lisa wears Body by Roxy Heart, £45Skirt by Cheap Monday, £62Leggings by Sandra Loi, £56Bow Brooch by Alannab, £36Hairband by Chaca, £69

The YCN GalleryStephen wears Hat by Nod, £55Trousers by Via Snella, £120Shirt by Cheap Monday, £38Jumper by Via Snella, £179

Lisa wears Shorts by Mine, £126Blouse by Roxy Heart, £120Tights by Gal Stern, £45Ring by Malta Per, £65

The No-One BoutiqueStephen wears Sunglasses by Black Eye Wear, £147,Shirt by Norsea, £73

Lisa weras Sunglasses by Black Eye Wear, 147Necklace by Noemi Klein, £96Tunic by Lall London College of Fashion, £196

Rivington Place GalleryStephen wears Trousers by Via Snella, £120Jacket by Trainspotter, £140Shirt by Cheap Monday, £38

Lisa wears Trousers by Orphan Age, £99Crop Top by Max & Che, £35Necklace by Ka/Pow/Wow, £45Headband by ILK, £25

Pure Evil GalleryStephen wears Chino Pant by Cheap Monday, £52T-Shirt by Makinjanma, £73Belt by Makin, £40Glasses by Retrospecs, £67Nose by Simona Kaunaite, £85

Lisa wears Trousers by Makinjanma, £186T-Shirt by X Ray Vision, £28Tassle Brooch by Rosita Bonita, £56Bangle by Cheap Monday, £18Ring by Cheap Monday, £23

The Idea Generation GalleryStephen wears Chino pants by Trainspotter, £80T-shirt Valerie Phillips for Jaguar Shoes, £35

Lisa wears Rose Shirt by Kumiko, £112Cardigan by Makinjan, £146T-shirt Stevie G for Jaguar Shoes, £35Tights by Gal Stern, £45

All

im

age

s 20

10 ©

Con

cret

e M

aga

zin

e, J

am

es P

ars

ons

28 29

All clothes available from No-One boutique on Kingsland Road. Styling assistant: Katie FranceMake-Up: Charlotte Alicya Richards

IT MAY be hard to believe, but there was a time when Shoreditch wasn’t a place you wanted to venture. The past couple of decades have seen this part of East London revived with new life. New development and new people all populate an area that was once a disregarded part of London. When the artsy crowd moved in, they made it their own bohemian paradise. It is now becoming a commercialised paradise. For the better or for the worse? The people that made East London home decades ago talk about their memories of an area with a history unknown to many.

Historian, Diane Atkinson came to East London in the 1970s. ‘It was an entirely different place. You could wonder around Spitalfields and Shoreditch and it was practically deserted. Parts of it were like an abandoned film set. It was a very interesting time then, but the emptiness drove people away.’ The area was known for not being very safe. There was a lot of national front activity, especially on Brick Lane. Long before the curry houses were even

there. ‘I remember being down there photographing for my research. I saw one cocky little skinhead swaggering around stupidly, in the horrible way that they did. Suddenly a gang of Asian boys appeared out of nowhere and chased him waving planks of wood with rusty nails sticking out of them. We all turned a blind eye to it. It’s so much of an artistic quarter now. It’s completely changed.’

Adam Dant is an artist living and working in Shoreditch and has been for over 15 years. He produced a historical map of Shoreditch that selected to represent E2 as part of the ‘Postcodes in London’ exhibition. He spoke to about his memories of Shoreditch; There used to be lots of violence on Bricklane. The anti-fascists action group would start on the skinheads from the other side of the road. Each Sunday, more people would turn up and cause riots. Then about 800 police would have come and protect the skinheads.’ The skinheads certainly made their mark as two similar stories were relayed to me. So what was this part of East London like a couple of

decades ago? In Dant’s view not much different, just a lot more drug dealing, more run down and there were no restaurants or bars. That seems pretty different? Full of interesting facts about the area, Dant continued to tell me more about the artistic life of the East End, the old haunts of Damien Hirst and Gavin Turk before they were famous. ‘The bar Zigfreids, in Hoxton Square, was Gary Hume’s studio. I think he was one of the first people to move in. They used to have art fairs in the Square and Damien Hirst would turn up and to sell his paintings for 50p each. A guy recently sold a couple he had bought for £10,000.’ Who’s laughing now?

There’s an unknown history in Shoreditch that the tourists and young people who move here don’t see. Maybe it’s her inner historian coming out but Atkinson stresses how she feels about its unknown past. ‘Shoreditch hasn’t quite got or made the point to outsiders enough about its history. Just off Curtain Road is where one of Shakespeare’s theatres was. It’s a little hub of Shakesperiana! When

they got chucked out of the bank side they put it up here. There is so much about the dark side, the creative side and the theatrical side that the people that come here don’t know enough about. They just come for the bars. It’s missing a trip to remind people of its history.’ Having been tarnished with the reputation of a popular drinking hole, East London can sometimes feel like a Greek holiday strip on a Saturday night. Distressing for someone that’s lived here for over 30 years. ‘No body’s bothered to articulate what this place was about before we all started eating here, going out and drinking cups of coffee.’ It’s true. The creative quarter once with a dynamic identity has slowly become commercialised. Something that can’t be helped, it’s just a knock on effect that happens in a big city. 'It's like Soho in New York, before the boutiques moved in and the galleries moved out.’

Atkinson is married to the artist Patrick Hughes, they live on Great Eastern Street above his studio. ‘When we first moved here a lot of this street was empty and derelict. It was bleak and

we thought, why are we living here? Gradually people started to move in.

A lot of the imagery Patrick reaches for is architecture and often the backdrops to his work are the old Victorian buildings we see around us. It’s an unconscious thing that kind of seeps into you like a virus.’ Adam Dant also finds himself inspired by his surroundings, taking time to uncover the history of the area; ‘I’ve done a few maps of Shoreditch. You should get my art gang register map. It’s big fold out map of the London art world. It gives you an idea of where the artists were based.’

Do they feel like the East End is killing the East End by becoming too trendy for its own good? Dant is sanguine. Atkinson notices the change; ‘The emptiness and the sense that there was this feel of tumbleweed flying around made the area a romantic place with a slight edge to it. I don’t think it’s got that edge anymore.’ But that doesn’t mean that they’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. ‘Patrick said to me, I want to die here and I don’t want to

move.’ With a studio conveniently located a few doors down from his family home, Dant is pretty settled too.

With or without the old-school edge the East End is currently known to be ‘trendy.’ It’s a shame that the popularity has caused the rent to rise and famous East End haunts like Jeanette’s Boutique have had to relocate. But when one goes down, another goes up. Private members club, Shoreditch House attracts the A-listers (and often D-listers). Many of the creatives, notorious for establishing themselves in the East End have moved out due to extortionate rent prices. On the other hand it could be because they have too much money to stay. But a fabulous quote by the late Alexander McQueen, who began his career in London’s East End, can always arouse a smile.

‘One day I opened my window and everyone had mullets and my landlord rang me up and the rent had doubled. I thought fuck this. I’m out!’

2010

© A

da

m D

an

t

30 31

32 33

34 35

2010

© M

ind

y N

ettl

es

MINDY NETTLES is one to watch. Her artistic skills extend from illustration to photography, painting, drawing and textiles. The list is endless. She has a very distinctive way of working and no matter what medium she uses, she always manages to stay true to her style. She uses colour delicately which results in airy images that are full of detail and experimentation.

Her more recent works feature embroidery on photographs on fabric. Her work is young and appears as if it was almost effortless to create such beautiful artworks. She used her amazing ability to capture people through illustration for Concrete. Drawing some of the stylish people she saw wondering the streets of East London. Street style with a twist.

36 37

FIRST THINGS first, I’m not being hypocritical. I do love a bargain from a Brick Lane vintage shop. But let’s be honest with ourselves, most of the products we buy in these shops tend not to fall into the real classification of ‘vintage.’ Going through the racks at a well-established Vintage store in the Brick Lane area I came across a dress that looked very familiar to me. I looked at the label and saw that it read ‘Atmosphere.’ It all came rushing back to me. I had bought this dress in a Primark store when I was 17 years old in preparation for a girls holiday to Kos. Thinking back to the cringe-worthy holiday snaps, I realised that was only five years ago. If this dress is vintage then I must be vintage but at 22 years old, I don’t think so.

It got me thinking about how these Vintage shops get hold of their stock. I called up a friend who worked in another famous vintage shop in Brick Lane. He let me into a secret about where his store got some of its stock. Turned out the owner of the shop started his business by going around to people’s houses giving out bin liners claiming he was collecting clothes for charity. He’d go back around to the houses a week later and end up with bag loads of unwanted clothing from which he would sort through and pick out the items that would sell. Hey presto! Shop stock complete.

Some of the shops should be re-named, ‘overpriced charity shop’ or ‘well loved second hand clothing.’ I asked avid vintage collector, Sarah Swan to define what she classed as Vintage; ‘to me vintage clothing must be older than 20 years old. Some people would even say 30 but I class the 80s as an era where clothing had a new identity. There are so many horrible replicas of 80s clothing but if you are lucky enough to find a real 80s piece you are an owner of a piece of history.’ Passionate about the historical past of the clothing, to Sarah it’s about taking yourself back to another place in time. ‘My favourite clothing comes from the late 60s and early 70s. Vintage clothes have a history just like we do. I think it’s so nostalgic not knowing who has worn this before me or where in the world it has been.’ Sarah earns a living by buying and selling vintage clothing privately to clients, at one off sales and on Ebay. ‘When I get a large collection together I’ll have a sale and invite friends and generally people just find out by word of mouth but over the years I’ve been collecting I’ve built up a large client base. If I think

someone may be interested in a piece I’ll always offer it to them first.’

When I ask her what she thinks of the Vintage shops on Brick Lane she giggles, ‘Oh how trendy they’ve become. The upper end Rokit and Blondie I find are the best places to go for true vintage pieces. It’s often hard to tell but my advice would be Google the label, take into account fabrics and styles because if you know what your looking at your more likely to be able to source yourself a fantastic piece.’ So where do you get your pieces from? ‘That’s a secret I never tell! I work very hard to find pieces in good condition to buy and sell on. It’s amazing how crazy people will go for an original Biba from the 1960s or 1970s. I’ve got one client who is obsessed with anything Azzedine Alaïa. If it’s from his days at Christian Dior or his own collection she’ll buy it and if it’s not her size she’ll get it altered. Of course not everything has to be designer vintage as not everyone can afford that. Sometimes the more exciting pieces often come from small manufacturing companies.’

So are people being tricked into thinking they are buying classified vintage pieces or do they know what they’re buying? I hunted down some weekend shoppers with bags from the local vintage shops to find if they knew what they were actually buying. One girl said she just assumed that everything in there was vintage, she’d never thought twice about. A very glitzy dressed man said he knew that have the stuff in the shops probably wasn’t really vintage but it didn’t matter because it was cheaper than high street shopping. A bonus he mentioned was that at least you wouldn’t run the risk of someone wearing the same outfit as you to a party. Point taken. A trendy looking young woman said that she likes the variety of clothing that can be found in vintage shops. As long as they are in good condition and not ridiculously expensive she said she’s happy to buy things even if they are just second hand clothes.

It doesn’t look like the custom in the vintage shops around East London is going to freeze up any time soon. The lure of one-off outfits and owning a dress that someone else is less likely to own than the latest look in Topshop is enough for me. I shall state again, for the record, I do shop at these stores and I love them. At least I know more about what I’m buying. Vintage or not, the clothes have a past story to tell.

38 39

LUNA & CURIOUS comprises of seven individuals who joined forces in the name of creativity. We run a boutique store in East London. We are; Polly George, Rheanna Lingham, Susie Coulthard, Natasha Lawes, Clinton Lotter, Grace Wilson and welovekaoru. We sell a mixture of beautiful objects and exquisitely finished clothing, all of which are designed and made by both ourselves and other artists in the UK.

As a collective we have complete control of the running of the business, and everyone brings something different to the mix. When we’re each not in manning the shop, everyone is busy beavering away on their things, either at studios, working at home, visiting factories, at sewing machines, or on shoots. Here is a typical day in the life of Luna & Curious.

I start the day clearing the remnants of last night’s shop meeting! Wine glasses away, I open the shutters and greet the public. A quick rifle through the cds, Smokey Robinson and friends start my day. Next up is chores. I put extra items out, stock take some lines, make up boxes, re fill ribbon, dust, and window-wash. (Inevitably this would be the day the actual window cleaner appears half an hour after I’ve finished.)

Polly and Kaoru arrive together…with tea, and a muffin! (Rule when visiting; must come bearing edible gifts.) Go over the shop rota. Kaoru is rota maker-in-chief distributing days to each of the seven of us in the collective. Polly drops off some new ceramic white and gold bug brooches. She is decked out in her trademark nautical stripes and Kaoru sports her new golden chicken foot badge. They pick up

some ceramic samples from the shop and trot off into town for meetings. In walks a customer who tries on a basque by our Clinton. As yet I haven’t witnessed a girl squeeze into and she is the first!

Then for the next while a flurry of pre lunch customers piling in and out then a little bit of quiet. Jude who runs another small shop nearby swings past waving through the door and promises to tell me a funny story, involvinga man and a trolley.

Stomach calls for lunch so I nip across the road to the Beigal Bake. I am quite certain that one day I shall turn into a beigal. They’re just so tasty. I avoid buying all the pastries in the place and restrain myself to a single slice of apple pie. Back to the shop.

Sit sketching some new ideas for illustrations, figurines and the window displays while customers float in and out. Arrange over the phone some silk screening for sweatshirts through a printer friend of Rheanna’s.

At 5 Kaoru comes back with wine and twine, and at 6 we shut up shop and spend the next few hours changing to window, with Clinton popping in to help. Finish up around 9, swift pint, then home. It’s Natasha and Susie’s turn to tackle the Saturday busyness.

Luna & Curious, 198 Brick Lane E1

40

RiannonSelection of Necklaces by Finch £100-£120

CharlesBlack mask by Luna & Curious £150

JackBallet Shoe and Pearl Detail Seagull by Luna & Curious£500

BonitaStacking Rings £94Bull Ring £214Road Kill Bangle £275All by Luna & Curious

TyreeWedding Veil by Clinton Lotter £150

Photographer: Sylvie GianellaHair and Make-up: Ellie BlackwellStylist: Eleanor StephensAssistant Stylist: Katie France

All

im

age

s 20

10 ©

Con

cret

e M

aga

zin

e, S

ylv

ie G

ian

ella

45

By olivia BellHOxTON HAS been home o Joesiph since the day he was born. I’ve Lived in Hoxton for 81 ½ Years is a book put together by photographer, Martin Usborne. He met Joseph on a sunny day outside his studio in Hoxton Square. Originally thinking that this little old man was a crazy drunk, he soon realised this was not the case. Joe was an excellent figure for a narrative photo story. What started out as an artistic venture soon turned into a friendship.

Martin lives right in the centre of all the action. Not a fan of the bars and clube, he is thinking of moving further towards

Hackney; ‘They’ve closed down my favourite café in the square.’ Seems like a good enough reason.

So how did he start out as a photographer? ‘After a career in kids television I decided I’d quite like to take some pictures. I bought a camera and went travelling. Naturally I ended up taking pictures of kids, its started there.’ Not strictly educated in photography, he recently had a piece of work nominated for the Taylor Wessing award at the National Portrait gallery.

He talked about how the simple discovery of a characteristic

pensioner turned into his new project. ‘I just saw him one day in Hoxton Square on a sunny afternoon talking to anyone and everyone. I thought he looked; well he still does look a bit trampy . I assumed that he was this down-and-out because he had this plastic bag in his hand, it wasn’t until he started speaking to me that I realised he wasn’t. He said he had lived in the neighbourhood his whole life and that was interesting because it was so obviously an area that was and is, changing so rapidly, in a youthful, commercial way. I thought that he represented something genuine about an area going through a regeneration’

Martin spent a year interviewing Joseph about his life in Hoxton. Clearly this project is something personal to Martin. He wanted people to know about this little old man.

A person like Joseph may resent the changes going on around them. Apparently not in his case. ‘What’s so interesting about Joseph is how welcoming he is to the changes. He loves to see different faces around him.' Usborne found that Joe's main interest is where the people actually come from. 'When I first heard him trying to find out if people were Jewish or African I thought he was going to be racist. In fact he’s the very opposite, he himself is a Polish Jew. I think he carries the sense that he’s a bit of an outsider, in the sense he’s the total insider. From his experience there has always has been a real mixture of people and consequently he’s got this really amazing sort of openness to anything and everything.

So what did Martin gain from this experience with Joseph? He replies mockingly, ‘At first wanted it to show how brilliant I am as a photographer. I learnt quite quickly that the project was really about Joe. I wanted him to be something that he wasn’t. I wanted him to be someone who told me about the history of Shoreditch but he turned out to be someone who told me about the history of Johnny Depp. Although he didn’t tell me about the history of the area, I made a friend out of it. In some ways he is completely mad but also a really lovely bloke, hat was quite touching actually. I wasn’t expecting any of that. I was expecting a personal project that I could win some awards from.’ Unfortunately Martin didn’t win any awards from Joseph’s story but he was successful in warming our hearts.

To see more of Martin’s work visit martinusborne.com

2010

© A

da

m D

an

t

‘I’VE BEEN making artwork since I was a kid really. I’ve always wanted to be drawing. Drawing on paper.’ The opening line to many of today’s well established artists’ biographies. Sitting in her quaint studio, these words were spoken by Amy Green.

One of London’s lesser-known artists but by no means lesser talented. Her recent exhibition was acknowledged by Time Out’s First Thursdays.

‘I studied painting in Brighton for my BA. All through my degree I was struggling because I always wanted to be drawing. After probably the first or second year I was just doing pencil work on paper. After my degree I wasn’t sure what to do and

I had a couple of years with a studio in America for a bit just trying to carry on making work.’ At the time Amy was unconcerned with marketing herself as an artist and making money. She was doing something that she was passionate about. After a few years of drawing with no direction she decided that it was time for someone else to have an input in the work that she was producing.

She began an MA at Wimbledon College of Art in fine art drawing.

‘It was a year course that was really intensive. I had fantastic tutors. One called Avis Newton she did a show at the Tate called Days of Drawing. There was a really lovely book written on it. It was kind of investigating drawing in all its uses. Literally drawing and also drawing that wasn’t necessarily pencil and paper. It was about thinking about drawing as a process of thought rather than

something concrete or an operation tool. We were all really interested in her ideas. We learnt that drawing didn’t have to be confined to only preparation. Drawing could be artwork in itself.’

Clearly fanatical about her speciality, Amy explained the way she works; ‘I start with a clear head. I can’t think too much about what the drawing is going to become. It is a form that can be interpreted in many ways. I tend to build up a series of

similar drawings but not intentionally. It is often an accident.’

When face to face with Green’s drawings you are able to see the tiny etchings and sections of cross hatching that bring it to life. Simplistic as it may seem, it’s what makes the drawings inviting. Soft on the eye, they are easy to study.

Her recent exhibition, A Show of Small Gifts, was held in the bookshop, Pages of Hackney. Whilst the exhibit was running, the luckier customers would have found a surprise in their purchases. Green had snuck a number of drawings in certain books.

An infatuation with drawing and the freedom of the imagination brings the work of Amy Green to life.

2010

© A

my

Gre

en

50 51

Does fashion always have to serious? The whole point of fashion is that you can have fun and play with style. These days it can be such a serious topic. The sensitive subjects associated with skinn sy models can take the attention off the fashion and removes the excitement. Lara Karagulle decided to ignore the serious and concentrate on the amusement you can have with fashion in her film, Colourfast.

By eleanor stephens

52 53

Karagulle was working on a project based on food and fashion. ‘It’s a sensitive subject in the media. I wanted to make it more playful. There’s so much in the news with size 0

models, how people don’t eat and how we need to lead a healthier lifestyle. I’m so bored of it. I wanted to have some fun with fashion.’ The film was for her final major project at university. Rather than producing a trivial piece of media, wanted to do something that would bring enjoyment to its viewers.

‘It started off being about tie dye and I started dying clothes with substances you can extract from food like beetroot and red wine. It gradually led onto this food fight.’ Inspired by a scene in the 1991 film Hook, she wanted her film to be playful; ‘In this one scene Peter Pan and the Lost Boys are hungry so they imagine food. The table is suddenly filled with pots and plates of brightly coloured mush and they end up having a food fight.’

She explained how she had to direct the film as they only had one shot at getting it right. ‘I was so nervous the day of filming. I had to run through it with the girls at the start.' The film features five girls dressed in white, sitting bored around a table at what looks to be a dinner party. The table is full of an array of brightly coloured food. The boredom ends up in a food fight and the once white outfits become an array of rainbow shades.

‘I told the girls to not be so serious about it. You can’t be serious about chucking bright red mash! I thought no modelling agency are going to lend me models to throw mash at, so I started looking for dancers. I thought they would have more composure during the fight. When they all turned up there was a girl with blonde hair, dark brown hair, red hair and mousy so it was made to be.’

54 55

56 57

The girls started as a blank canvas. The end result was also unexpected. Karagulle realised that once dried, the leotards were like pieces art themselves. ‘They became really hard and I wanted to

photograph them. If I put them back on a model they would have cracked and lost their beauty. I ended up photographing them on top of coloured sands which worked really well.’

Working alongside film students to complete the film, it became a project for many.

‘I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the film students because we had to set up scaffolding to get the right angles. We used five cameras set up from different angles. Some were slow motion and some were fast so there was a lot of footage to go through. I got someone to photograph it and other helpers who were good at photography. This proved great as everyone managed to get shots from different angles. Some people got the close ups at the end, some when they were clean and others got action shots. I was really relieved everyone came along with cameras as I realised that one photographer wasn’t enough.’

Karagulle’s Colourfast is a light-hearted, contemporary art film. It puts the fun back into fashion and offers a new take on the relationship between fashion and food. Her film will soon be available to view on her blog.

But what were the girls actually throwing at each other in the film? ‘Mash. Lots of mashed potato and food dye!’

To see more of Lara Karagulle’s work visit www.beautiful-chaos.org

All

im

age

s 20

10 ©

Min

dy

Net

tles

58 59

WE OFTEN see the work of artists hanging in galleries. What doesn’t happen so often is getting to see behind the scenes. Roaming Room allows us to see ‘where the magic happens.’ Sandie Macrae, director of the Room Gallery in Shoreditch and Aideen Morgan, a designer, set up two daily tours on the last weekend of each month. Both ladies are involved in contemporary art culture in London. Funded by the Arts Council, Roaming Room gives the passionate art lover a chance to get face to face with some of the contemporary artists living and working in East London today. Throughout the day, the tourists get to look in depth at individual artists work as well as visiting smaller galleries and more unusual spaces. I joined one of the tours.

Our location of the day was the Bridget Riley Studios in Hackney Wick. It’s a haunt for artists working in studios within the old industrial warehouses, right on the cusp of Olympic site. Sandie and Aideen often use Space studios to find artists willing to taking part. Space is a company that rent

studios to artists. They support them by promoting their work and helping them get involved in beneficial projects, like Roaming Room. We entered what was clearly an artists working environment. The bare walls were littered with flyers and posters of upcoming events and exhibitions and there was a strong smell of paint. Walking down the corridor, we passed a number of open doors with artists hard at work inside.

On the tour we saw a numer of artists, including Nessie Stonebridge and Paul Brandford. They all work from the same building producing work in different medias. Each creative discussed their personal style of working and how they transpose that into art. We were able to study the work and ask our own questions which made the experience much more personal. Comparisons could be made between our interpretations of the artwork and the artist’s intention when they created it. It was a chance for the artists, who were not currently exhibiting, to showcase their creations to people. Roaming Room aims to bring people closer to the process of art making.

60 61

Nessie stoNebridgeNESSIE STONEBRIDGE’S studio appeared more lived in to the others. Work was stacked in corners, pictures pinned to walls and a strong smell of turpentine hung in the air. A bubbly Nessie Stonebridge allowed herself a break from a work-in-progress and openly welcomed us into her studio. Stonebridge had a lot of energy.

Her work involves a lot of abstraction. Flowing shapes are counteracted with hazy colours and sometimes-hard shapes intrude into her pieces. It’s almost like looking at a Galaxy through a Hubble telescope. There is a mythical element to her work as it can be interpreted as anything. Bird like forms take position in an open sky moving so fast you can’t quite make out their form. It’s as if you are looking into an imagination.

Stonebridge discussed the techniques involved when creating her pieces. ‘My work involves a lot of movement and energy. It can be like a work out sometimes as it involves lots of moving, stretching and force. When I work with charcoal I often make my fingers bleed. The pressure needed to get desired effects is very hard, but when my fingers start to bleed then I know it’s time to give myself a break.’

Dedicated to her subject, her art is personal to her, ‘The whole energy to my work is around movement. Shapes being born, going through and coming out of things. Starting with an initial gesture and taking me on an energetic journey until I reach my desired result.’

The colour scheme remains the same throughout the collection of painted works. The milky, pastel colours lift away from the dark spaces like the Big Bang, ‘I spark, fire and collide which evolves into something else.’

Paul braNdfordPAUL BRANDFORD shares a studio with his wife, ‘It’s very rare that we are ever in here together. In fact we are never in here together. Our way of working is very different and I think it might clash.’ Half the studio was decorated with her work and the other half his.

Brandford is a painter. He is inspired by people in the media. His work is ironic and satirical as he will place contradicting characters in the same frame. He explained how reading a newspaper gave him inspiration for his paintings. ‘I can be flicking through the newspaper and see an image I find to be stimulating. I will cut it out and use it as a point of reference for my portraits. My wife always jokes with me about the way I work. She says that the photographer has basically done my job for me by taking the picture in the first place.’

He uses photographs as a point of reference but his ideas are relayed differently. The Queen isn’t allowed to meet Nick Griffin. So he’ll paint them in a frame together. Amongst these paintings sit other important figures in society. A particularly moving piece was a portrait inspired by the earthquake in Haiti. The political reference was regarding the officials in Haiti who shot a 15-year-old girl dead whilst looting, causing more death in a nation that had lost so many.

His style of painting is colourful and although he paints portraits they are not clearly defined and their faces are slightly blurred. It works extremely well and it is obvious to the viewer which personality is objectified in the image. His use of colour is bright but realistic and represents the world he is trying to show.

62

WANT TO know more about the people of London? On the 28th May, The Museum of London unveiled its recent project placing itself at the heart of the capital ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Part of a £20 Million redevelopment, London finally gets to see what all of the hard work was for. Five new galleries set out to define the long-term achievements of the people of London. The aim, to reflect the vibrant energy of Londoners from 1666 to the present day and how they have worked to make the most out of this world renowned city.

Visitors are able to take a step back in time and experience events from previous decades. Interactive exhibits, films, changing displays transport you back to defining points in history. With over 7000 objects, you’ll get the chance to experience historical events such as the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London in 1666, the Suffragettes’ fighting for women’s rights and the fashions of the swinging sixties. All aspects aim to embody the creative spirit of the capital. It gives viewers a chance to experience the low points of destruction and struggle but also allows them to understand the renewal that was born from the downfalls.

Each space is designed to deliver different messages. You read the inscriptions in the walls left by ill-fated prisoners. Georgian pleasure gardens, reconstructed featuring

mannequins wearing the most exquisite costumes of their time. London based milliner Philip Treacy, famous for his dramatic creations especially commissioned masks and hats for your viewing pleasure. Much of the city’s legendary archaeology is available to admire. Some of the treasures include Nelson’s sword.

Not forgetting consumerism, a glamorous trait associated with London. You can marvel at high-end outfits as well as architectural splendour. They show the contrast between the rich and the poor, highlighting poverty in a city known to have so much wealth. It offers a chance to see how this city became so culturally diverse. It’s a chance to live vicariously through the lives of other Londoners. The work of British designers Alexander McQueen and Tatty Devine features as well as Tom Hunter’s ghetto project, which changed people’s lived in Hackney. There’s arrival of the Gherkin and other recognisable London landmarks that are all part of the ever-changing cityscape.

The Galleries of Modern London show London reaching out to the world and the world coming to London. The best thing about it is that it doesn’t cost a thing.

The Museum of London, open 10am-6pm daily. 2010

© M

use

um

of

Lon

don

64 65

Easy strEEt

By Benjamin May

The skies are grey, the view is bleak, the waters tepid, just easy street.

The English broken, the basic notion, once a nation, now a mongrel, a great city, is now so shitty.

And basic theories, have no meaning, and people fear, selected hearing.

Knives and guns, just toys just fun, the man smiles, miles and miles, the man smiles, away from hell was his creation.

Read the sun, it says it all, lies, corruption, simple seduction, the draw of lust, a needed must, a pro a hoe, or just a girl. Saturday night, same old shite, faces clear, and voices drone, people desperate to be cool, a need, nothing beautiful.

Peoples opinion of one another, commercialism, we’re selling out, individuality, bought on the high street.

Is that your goal? Is that your creed? To simple pleasure, your instant need.

Your dreams to be a front man, a someone, typically freed.

Top shelf, behind the sofa, morals hazed, never a waster.

I thought we were great, as one we stood, for all of us, our grandparents would.

And now we sit, and hope for the best, can we ever wear, their pride on our chest.

I look again, the sky still grey, the view still bleak, the water tepid, still easy street.

Ends.

66