Jim and I went to the William Morris Gallery yesterday to see an exhibition by a Goldsmith's graduate, David Mabbs, which was a display of political slogans about the education cuts.
They were written in different typefaces which associated them with specific campaigns/subjects. For example the "Stop the war" phrase was stencilled using a typeface that I think is associated with the anti-nuclear campaigns. This made me think about a recent lecture where it was said that typefaces were a strong way of subliminal messaging. While I think this may be true, and the messages on display reminded me of something, I can't say what it was that they reminded of. Maybe the intended messages were lost on me, but I would have thought they would resonate with my age group more than younger ones, because I have been around longer and should have seen all the different typefaces before!
The campaign slogans were all framed in uniform square frames, covered in Morris & Co traditional designs. This was meant to comment on William Morris's socialist philosophy, in that the maker believed Morris would have supported the education protests, but also notes that Morris products were artisan produced and therefore very, very expensive so only appeared in the wealthiest middle class/aristocratic homes, yet are now cheaply machine produced and appear in homes with conservative values! An interesting exhibition.
This made me think about how a university graduate has managed to get his work displayed in a well known gallery - his work makes a contemporary comment about a traditional material - and therefore would be suitable for the William Morris Gallery to want to display it in their environment. The product fits a specific environment. Food for thought.
I also saw David Bailey's "East End Faces" which is a photographic exhibition of the East End in the 1960s - a world that no longer exists. There were images of run-down and derelict homes in war-bombed slum areas between 1961-68, and images of the run-down Rio nightclub with local residents (black and white) - partying with high spirits in a slum area. A quote of Baileys "It takes a log of imagination to be a good photographer ... It takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary". The images of Brick Lane (in Aldgate East where I used to work) showed the awfulness of the slum. Now is is a tourist area with lots of excellent Indian restaurants run by the Bangladeshi community in that area. Thank goodness it has rejuvenated.
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