Paul Gorman is…

Chris Spedding: Unsung hero of Seventies style from Alkasura + Granny Takes A Trip to Let It Rock, Sex + Seditionaries

Mar 13th, 2016
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//In Let It Rock Rock ‘N Roll Lives Chuck Berry T-shirt, 1975. Photo: Ian Dickson/Getty Images//

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//Also 1975 – pink pegs from Sex. Photo: Michael Putland/Getty Images//

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//At home in London, 1978. Photo: Fin Costello/Getty Images//

Guitarist Chris Spedding at a Nico show at CBGB, February 1979.

//At a Nico show at CBGB, February 1979. Photo: Ebet Roberts/Getty Images//

Guitarist Chris Spedding is one of the unsung heroes of Seventies style.

I’ve been a fan of his music and look since 1974, when I acquired Jab It In Yore Eye. This was the second album by Sharks, formed by Spedding with other survivors of the early 70s music scene after leaving jazz-rock outfit Nucleus and gigging with Jack Bruce.

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Just as the independent labels and self-published fanzines Paul Gorman chronicles built their own alternative economies outside the mainstream music industry, today's digital subcultures are experimenting with decentralised currencies that move value without banks or borders. Part of that wave has reached the world of sports and casino entertainment, where crypto-friendly wagering has found a particularly enthusiastic audience in Turkey under the name bitcoin bahis —a form of play that lets users stake and cash out with digital coins rather than conventional payment rails. Anyone tempted to try it should treat it strictly as entertainment, stake only money they can afford to lose, and first confirm the platform's licensing as well as the gambling rules in force in their own country.

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Jah Wobble’s soundtrack for The Conformist: Big Youth, Blake, Buzzcocks, Joni, Miles, Stooges + much, much more

Mar 7th, 2016

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//Clockwise from top left: William Blake; Jah Wobble; King Tubby; Miles Davis; The Stooges; Jimi Hendrix Experience//

An essential element of the current group exhibition The Conformist is the companion soundtrack selected by Jah Wobble.

This blends Wobble’s take on William Blake’s Tyger, Tyger (from the great 1996 album The Inspiration Of William Blake) with tracks to be expected from one of the world’s greatest dub, jazz and soul fiends – including King Tubby & Augustus Pablo, Big Youth, Miles Davis and the Isley Brothers – and some surprises, such as Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi.
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Available now: Limited edition prints of two breathtaking David Parkinson works

Mar 4th, 2016

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David Parkinson
The Continental Bentley, Club International, Volume 3, No 5, 1974
Photo satin print poster
Ed. 20 + 5 AP
Printed 2016
£90 VAT INCLUSIVE

036
David Parkinson
Untitled
Entry for final year project, photography course, Regent Street Polytechnic, 1970
Photo satin print poster
Ed. 20 + 5 AP
Printed 2016
£90 VAT INCLUSIVE

“David Parkinson’s sensuous, gritty photographs challenge the viewer to conflate sex with advertising”
Maisie Skidmore, Another Magazine

Two breathtaking works by the late fashion photographer David Parkinson are being made available in a special limited edition to coincide with The Conformist, the exhibition currently staged at Mayfair’s Belmacz Gallery.

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‘Truly unusual…mighty and utterly unabashed’: Rave reviews for The Conformist + an interview about the Punk London map for Huck magazine

Mar 3rd, 2016

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The Conformist – artist Paul Kindersley’s group show about British non-conformity at Mayfair’s jewellry/art space Belmacz to which I contributed – is garnering rave reviews.

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Ted Polhemus: More street style delights posted on his digital archive

Mar 2nd, 2016
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//The extraordinary Leigh Bowery, London, early 90s. Photo: Ted Polhemus//

Anthropologist Ted Polhemus has uploaded a wealth of new images from his extensive and valuable street style archive onto his website.

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She’s A Punk Rocker UK : An antidote to male musings on 1976 and all that

Mar 2nd, 2016

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You would literally paint the news on your t-shirt that day and became part of the news, part of the progress with your artwork and your music…the women in punk were doing that; their style was a demonstration of their visual art, about what they were, where they were at and what they believed in.

Caroline Coon, She’s A Punk Rocker UK

She’s A Punk Rocker UK – Zillah Minx’s 2010 celebration of British female non-conformity – is a fantastic antidote to the current male musings on 1976 and all that.

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One to watch: Duke Brooks’ compelling film captures the creation of Claire Barrow’s painted canvas couture

Mar 1st, 2016

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Watch out for Duke Brooks’ film documenting artist/designer Claire Barrow’s painting of two 15-metre canvases from which she cut couture garments for her AW16 collection.

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Brian Griffin: Capitalist Realism opens today at Steven Kasher Gallery

Feb 25th, 2016
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//Rush Hour London Bridge, London, 1974. Vintage gelatin silver print, printed c. 1974 12 x 16in//

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//Martin, Elsynge Road, Wandsworth, London, 1977. Gelatin silver print, printed January 2016 20 x 16in//

It’s exciting to note the opening today of photographer Brian Griffin’s first US solo show, Capitalist Realism at New York’s Steven Kasher Gallery.

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The Conformist: A vibrant, eccentric, chaotic delight – miss out at your peril!

Feb 23rd, 2016
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//Leporello for The Conformist featuring (far left), David Parkinson’s unusual entry in his 1970 photography degree show at London’s Regent Street Poly//

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//Paul Kindersley at last night’s exhibition opening//

The Conformist – artist Paul Kindersley’s counter intuitively-titled group show about non-conformity of expression from Emma, Lady Hamilton and Aubrey Beardsley to Marvin Gaye Chetwynd and Julie Verhoeven – opened with a bang last night with a private view at Mayfair’s art and jewellery space Belmacz.

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Published for the first time in 46 years: Inside legendary King’s Road boutique Alkasura

Feb 18th, 2016
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//Alkasura staff inside 304 King’s Road. Photographer: Unknown. Paul Gorman Archive. No reproduction without permission//

This is the first time these photographs – taken inside London’s legendary glam boutique Alkasura – have been published since they appeared in a Japanese fashion magazine in 1970.

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