Paul Gorman

Design

Graham Wood on the series of 24 posters inspired by a 1968 design for Oz magazine

//Selection of poster prints Graham Wood made for Magick Is Freedom! (After Barney Bubbles)//

Best known as one of the founders of British design collective Tomato, Graham Wood chose a 1968 poster for underground magazine Oz as the wellspring for a series of 24 poster prints.

I corresponded with Wood about the ways in which the original artwork- made by Barney Bubbles and his 60s design partner David Wills with a team of contributors – sparked inspiration for the two dozen A0-size posters, which were exhibited in Stockholm in November 2012.

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Flocked + tiger-striped: The Paradise Garage Ford Mustang

//Trevor Myles, Mustang and 430 King's Road, late summer 1971. Photo: Michael Roberts//
//From Michael Roberts' article Men & Their Machines, Club, October 1971//

Trevor Myles’ decision to incorporate a flocked and tiger-striped 1966 Ford Mustang as part of his retail space Paradise Garage naturally attracted a lot of attention during the brief existence of this unusual fashion outlet at 430 King’s Road in Chelsea’s World’s End in 1971.

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The Peter Small connection: George O’Dowd at Street Theatre, The Regal + The Foundry

//George O'Dowd in Street Theatre, 12 Ganton Street, central London, 1978. Photo (c): Boy George Collection//

I’ve been acting as a consultant to artist Lucy Harrison on her latest site specific project Carnaby Echoes, which focuses on the culturally fertile area of central London adjacent to Soho.

With the starting point of the opening of Murray’s Club in Beak Street in 1913, Harrison is mounting her artistic response to 100 years of musical history with archival material and fresh interviews with some of the area’s leading lights.

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The Photo Kid: Ben Kelly at the Royal College Of Art, 1974

This is designer Ben Kelly at his 1974 degree show at London’s Royal College Of Art.

Kelly adopted the alter-ego The Photo Kid, who is portrayed in the work by which he is standing. The Photo Kid wore clothes – in particular brothel creepers – from Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s shop Let It Rock, as did Kelly; the shoes, pink socks and belt in this photograph all came from there, while the Hopalong Cassidy & Topper top (see Ian Harris’s comment below) was picked up at a Paris flea market.

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Practical Styling: Previously unpublished photos of the shop of the 80s

//An early 80s window display by Simon Haynes: Geometrically arranged brightly coloured platforms and ladders//
//This giant "toy" portcullis was produced by Haynes for Practical Styling in the mid-80s//
//Haynes' neo-classical backdrop for another mid-80s display//

These photographs from the archive of artist/set designer Simon Haynes convey the scope and ambition of the great 80s British independent retail outlet Practical Styling, operated by Paul Jones and Tommy Roberts on the ground floor and basement of London’s brutalist CentrePoint building.

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