Stockport Hat Museum

I had a trip to Stockport Hat Museum, It covers the history of hats through to present day.
Hats have been made in Stockport since the 17th Century at this time hats were made from knitted and felted wool and animal fur
At the end of the 19th Century there were over 30 hat factories in Stockport, which is amazing considering the size of the town, the trend then was felt, woolen cloth and stiffened silk.
Manchester focused on the cotton industry.

Wooden hat moulds - I love them!

These two hats are stunning, achieved by laser cutting

hat made of straws

African style

Deadly!

It appears that Stockport was once regarded a grim place, many of the hatters lived in little cottages around the Hillgate area, the 1891 census showed that there were 132 families in this area who had only one room to live in.

This standard of living was described by the social historian F.Engels 1844 as:
"Stockport is notoriously one of the darkest and smokiest holes in the industrial area, and particuarly when seen from the viaduct presents a truly revolting picture. But the cottage and celler dwellings of the workers are even more unplesent to look at. I do not remember seeing elsewhere in the Manchester industrial district so many inhabited cellers in proportion to the total number of houses."  

Michael Mayren

Mancunian photographer Michael Mayren studies everyday people and places in his work. His work on the working class, and "chavs" is of particular interest to me, as he looks at things that we would normally overlook in our daily lives.

Mayren has also worked with artist Sarah Hardacre to create photographic collages using people and places: 

Solo Exhibition of photographer Chen Man

10 February - 7 April 2012

"Chen Man is one of the most well known female Chinese photographers of the 21st century and is a leading fashion photographer in China. Born in the 1980, she grew up in Beijing and studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Before her graduation in 2005, she had already begun her career as a fashion photographer by photographing the front cover of the popular lifestyle magazine Vision. Since then, she has created a rich body of striking images for Chinese editions of Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue. She has also won advertising commissions for international brands such as Adidas, Nike and Motorola".

Her use of photography and digital manipulation is interesting, colourful, edgy and erotic.The youtube video takes you for a walk around her exhibition. The real thing is at the Chinese Arts Centre until the 7 April 2012

 

 

 

The sign and the cross

Any one recognise two of the exhibits at the Manchester Contemporary arts show?

What do Graffiti Artists do When They Grow Up?

Office interior in Manchester

If there is a company that provides graffiti for a fee, to sell products, work in schools, make event banners, does this mean that graffiti art is mainstream? No longer on the margins? This art form is over 30 years old, does that make it a dated stereotype? Banksy sells his work from galleries, hopeful investors buy walls that Banksy has sprayed. Can street art make the transition from the urban underground to the commercial art market and remain raw and honest? 

 

 

Graffiti4hire are a company that use a team of artists to make customised graffiti art. The link shows a time lapse of how they paint the image "Making Money". The final image is brilliant, the way it was filmed and cut is also interesting

 

Frame from the 1981 Debby Harry video "Rapture" showing the graffiti artists Jean Michael Basqiuat and Lee Quinones. Sadly this video, brilliant at the time, has not matured well.

Painting of Debbie Harry by Lee  Quinones

Andy Warhol mentored Jean Michael Basquiet moving him from street wall art to gallery canvas art, making him world famous and rich almost over night.

Jean Michael Basqiuat with one of his paintings, I see his work as Outsider Art, a term that could be applied to most graffiti art.  

 

"Honest George" is a contemporary piece by Lee  Quinones. The leaves in the foreground are made from cut out dollar bills, which is illegal. He is still breaking the law for his art.

 

 Lee Quinones was one of the first Hip Hop culture graffiti artists.

In 1976 he produced ‘Doomsday’ covering two full subway cars. It showed images of tenement buildings, flames, and a horned monster, his “signature”. His best works are political, for example stopping the arms race. Lee became famous for being one of a few graffiti artists to successfully bomb an entire subway train. He covered ten cars with his images. Lee abandoned working on subway cars, transferring to canvas to develop his mural work. Lee is better known for his mural pieces, rather than tagging.

His CV is varied and extensive, working behind the scenes on film projects, installations, collaborations with Adidas, Nike and many other blue chip companies.  He describes his painting and mural work and the changes to it since he started, in this You Tube clip.

 
   

The answer is, grown up graffiti artists continue doing what they do best, keep spraying!

 

 

 

 

THE HACIENDA TO BE REBUILT at the V&A, a shop named SEX & fashion

Hacienda exhibit at the V&A

"The history of dance music is littered with stories of excess, success against adversity and club owners with a distinct lack of business acumen. But none more so than that of The Hacienda. Opened by Factory Records boss Tony Wilson and New Order in 1982, the Manchester club became the epicentre of the acid house explosion and was universally declared the greatest club in the world, before disappearing in a blaze of gangland violence and financial disarray in 1997. But now, The Hacienda is back, albeit as part of a gallery exhibition. Original designer Ben Kelly has erected a smaller version of the club inside London's V&A as part of an exhibition celebrating great British design. Speaking of the decision to include the Hacienda in the exhibition Kelly said, "It was so influential. I’m, of course, hugely honoured that they chose the Haçienda as one of the items and that I was asked to work on the overall design." The model will be displayed alongside one time Factory Records in-house designer, Peter Saville's seminal album covers". The exhibition titled, 'British Design 1948-2012' runs at The V&A from March 31-August 12. For more details click here.

By Sean Griffiths, MIXMAG

 It is strange to think that a part of Manchester is now replicated in The V&A museum. It would make Tony Wilson smile to see his club centre stage in a mainstream exhibition. Nice one Tony. The theme of margins, outsider, elite, keeps popping up in the blog. I think that a good idea is original, different and able to survive over extended periods of time. It gathers people as it grows and eventually is accepted by the main stream. Then one day it becomes a classic and is seen in a gallery or a museum. Finally the next generation study it for their GCSEs.

Collage by Ben Kelly for the exhibitionContemporary interior design by Ben Kelly

I was interested in how Ben Kelly developed as a designer after the Hacienda. In this current interior I can see his early style, in the clean lines and warehouse style fittings. He collaborates with Urban Splash who have worked on many reclaimed and redesigned building projects in Manchester and surrounding towns.

Factory records cover design for the Mondays by Peter Saville, reminiscent of Pop art.

Chequers; Fashion - plate

Terence Conran initially designed the 'Chequers' pattern on this plate to be used on a David Whitehead fabric, which was displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain on South Bank. Roy Midwinter, from the Staffordshire Midwinter pottery, recruited Conran as a freelance designer after seeing his textile designs, thinking they showed "a lovely loose and free style". Conran adapted his 'Chequers' pattern to be applied to ceramics, and the range went into production from 1957.

Calyx textile print by Lucienne Day

Calyx, a multi-coloured design printed with unusual abstract shapes, was to make her famous. The inspiration for Calyx was taken from the paintings of her favourite artists Paul Klee and Joan Miro. The fabric was first exhibited at the Festival of Britain in 1951. The original design was lime yellow, vermilion, black and white, on an olive background, but she later extended the colour ways of the print.

I have always liked the designs produced for the Festival of Britain in 1951. These were an influence on British design for many years. Terence Conran became a design Guru and provided stylish furniture and accessories for average people who were eager to have very different homes from their parents. Lucienne Day has been and still is an influence on textile design.

 T-Shirt designed by Vivienne Westwood worn and adapted by Johny Rotten

Westwood and Mc Claren opened a shop selling her designs in 1970. It was always full of anarchic clothes, music and people. An event rather than a retail experience. It is now called Worlds End, but today you cannot walk in, first you ring the bell and wait. She started at the margins but is now in the centre of fashion.

 

Westwood started her career by shocking the public. She has always produced work that has caused controversy. She is very serious about her work and despite being seventy this year, has continued to design collections that are timeless, outrageous, exciting and tailored with perfection. Like Conran and Day, she is a great British designer.

Dame Vivienne Westwood, unbelievably outrageous

Mini-crini

Retro exhibition at the de Young Museum  “A sense of history perpetually reinventing itself percolates through Westwood's clothing. Punks, pirates, witches and English royalty all take a turn on the artist's stage  "Oh, my god," one museum goer said Saturday, after admiring an elegant, creamy white suit. "It's made of rubber." Suddenly, the dramatically oversize pocket flaps could be seen as shower caps as well. Seeing double, and triple, is a big part of enjoying Westwood's clothes”.

Excerpts and quotes from  “Westwood fashion retrospective -- from punk to plaid to pornographic"  An article by Steven Winn  This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle 2007.

Crown modelled by Sarah Stockbridge  Photograph by Nick Knight

What I admire about Westwood is her ability to keep on pushing her creativity out to the edges of what is “acceptable, normal and commercial”.  Her garments are constructed to make us look, see, stare and finally gape at the unbelievable and outrageous.   This video is too long if you are not into fashion, but worth it for the soundtrack and the cute eye makeup, which I think she may have borrowed from “Blade Runner”.  Now I have seen the image of Pris again, I see it is very Punk in style, perhaps it’s the other way around, they “borrowed” from Westwood .   Warning do not try this at home!