‘He used the city as a playground for artistic expression’: Mapping Malcolm McLaren’s London life on June 9
++ McLaren outside the empty Centre Point, spring 1979. Photo: Barry Plummer ++
Rare and exclusive images will be on display during the forthcoming event about the late Malcolm McLaren’s London life at Fora Soho on June 9.
++ 47 and 49 Carysfort Road, in Stoke Newington, north-east London. McLaren was born in the ground floor flat in the former and spent a lot of time his formative years with his grandmother Rose Isaacs at her home next door ++
++ The house in suburban Hendon in North London where McLaren lived with his parents, siblings and grandparents between the ages of 11 and 16 ++
++ Now-demolished premises of McLaren’s parents’ womenswear factory in Whitechapel Road where McLaren sometimes worked during school holidays ++
Writer Helen Barrett and I will be talking about the ways in which McLaren – a fourth-generation Londoner – used the city as a playground for creative and subversive acts, from being arrested for attempting to burn the American flag during a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square in 1966 and staging the Sex Pistols A&M signing outside Buckingham Palace in 1977 to proposing alcohol licences for public libraries as part of his manifesto for his bid to become Mayor of London in 2000.
++ Goldsmiths in Lewisham was the site of a riotous free festival staged by McLaren in 1969 ++
++ McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s wild boutique Nostalgia of Mud occupied a quiet street in the heart of the West End in the early 80s ++
++ From these first floor offices in Tin Pan Alley McLaren masterminded management of Bow Wow Wow and others as well as developing the solo career which produced the albums Duck Rock and Fans ++
The inserts in the above photos are from Situation Vacant, my map of McLaren’s London with a companion guide to the Sex Pistols in the capital. Copies will be available on the night along with signed paperbacks of The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren. You can also by maps direct from Herb Lester here.
++ McLaren outside the Tin Pan Alley Club in Denmark Street, 1979. Photo: Barry Plummer ++
If you’re in town, come along to the evening, which kicks off at 7pm – tickets here.