McLaren opened up the frontiers between artistic and wider cultural attitudes by taking fashion and music out of their respective contexts and translating them into new formats that captured the wider popular zeitgeist. A closer look at his seemingly disarticulated, exuberant and streetwise oeuvre shows it to be consistent and, in its own way, profound.

David Thorp

On Wednesday (June 3) I’m introducing a screening of Malcolm McLaren’s Paris: Capital Of The XXIst Century at The Performance Studio in Peckham, south London.

This is a the first-ever opportunity in this country to see the final work, which McLaren completed a matter of weeks before his death in April 2010. A working version was shown here just once, at Newcastle’s Baltic in November 2009.

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Tags: Alexander Trocchi, Asger Jorn, Baudelaire, David Thorp, Guy Debord, John Hansard Gallery, King Mob, Paris Capital of the XXIst Century, Situationist International, The Performance Studio, Tracey Emin

//Left: Among the contributors Ian Johns, Mark Wigan, Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky and Andrew Gallix. Right: Fred Butler 1995-2001 and Tracey Emin in 1995//

//Winston Milton and friends, Hackney 1993-8//

Into the over-worked field of ‘street style’ comes a breath of fresh air: What We Wore – A People’s History Of British Style.

Free of cliche and pretension, Nina Manandhar and Eva Dawoud’s book compiles the personal images and anecdotes of a hugely diverse set of contributors.

//Left: Caroline Milne, Ghetto, London, 1999; DJ Dazee and DJ Rap, Bristol, 1997. Right: Nancy Thornber, Essential Festival, London, 2001//

//Juliette Hedoin and friends clubbing in London and Ayia Napa 1995-2002//

//Gavin Watson and friends on the skinhead scene, 1982-5//

The book is not dominated by well-known people and the usual suspects who patronise this narrative (though I snuck in there) and so is true to the subtitle; What We Wore celebrates in a thoroughly egalitarian manner “the presentation of self” – Erving Goffman’s phrase as cited by Ted Polhemus in his excellent foreword.

//Don Letts with friends, London, 1971 (right) and 1973//

//Russel Coulthart and friends at Rockley Sands, Dorset, 1988//

//Left: Diane El Dabi, London, 1979. Right: Cassie Clarke, London, 2002//

//Left: Mimi Joshua-Olushoga, London, 1971. Right: John O’Connor, Leeds, 1982 and Teo Connor, London, 1994//

//Left: Michael Dipple and friend, London 1980. Right: Jock Scot and Anna Chancellor, London, 1986//

//Me, London 1973, Ibiza, 1986, Portugal, 1982//

What We Wore is a fitting testament to our collective visual invention. I recommend it highly.

Buy What We Wore here.

Tags: Andrew Gallix, Anna Chancellor, Caroline Milne, Cassie Clarke, Diane El Dabi, DJ Dazee, DJ Rap, Don Letts, Eva Dawoud, Fred Butler, Gavin Watson, Ghetto, Ian Johns, Jock Scot, John O'Connor, Juliette Hedoin, Mark Wigan, Michael Dipple, Mimi Joshua-Olushoga, Nancy Thornber, Nendie Pinto-Duschinsky, Nina Manandhar, Rockley Sands, Russel Coulthart, Teo Connor, Tracey Emin, What We Wore, Winston Milton

John Beck and Matthew Cornford’s intelligent and measured book The Art School And The Culture Shed may be a slim volume but it packs a hell of a punch in locating the ravages wreaked on our cultural life over the past 20 years by privatisation, the failings of local councils and town planners and the depredations of property developers.

//Left: Moseley School Of Art, closed 1975. Right: The site of Sidcup School Of Art, occupied since 2010 by a Morrisons and a car park//

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Tags: Adrian Andrew, Caught By The River, David Chipperfield, John Beck, John Montgomery, Ken Worpole, Matthew Cornford, Q-art Books, Thanet School Of Art & Crafts, The Art School And The Culture Shed, The Public, Tracey Emin, Turner Contemporary, Walsall, West Bromwich, Will Alsop

My essay on artist Derek Boshier’s engagement with popular music is in the new catalogue from Pallant House Gallery, home to the forthcoming show Derek Boshier: David Bowie And The Clash.

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Tags: Adrian berg, David Bowie, Derek Boshier, Dr Norman Shaw, Pallant House Gallery, Paul Huxley, Paul Weller, Peter Blake, The Pretty Things, Tracey Emin