Paul Gorman

The Conformist

The Conformist: Last few days of this glittering celebration of great British non-conformity from Emma, Lady Hamilton to Punk Rock and beyond

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//Details of Judy Blame jewellery with Helen Bullock bag//
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//Bullock’s window for The Conformist at Belmacz, 45 Davies Street, London W1//
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//Curator Paul Kindersely with wall of David Parkinson photographs 1970-75//

“So great to see an eclectic range of images and objects that challenge norms and play with moral codes”
The Courtauld’s Documenting Fashion blog

The Conformist – artist Paul Kindersley’s celebration of great British non-conformity of expression – is now entering its final few days.

If you have the opportunity, I recommend a visit to this fascinating exhibition (at Mayfair’s art/jewellery space Belmacz) which joins the dots between Emma, Lady Hamilton and Punk Rock, via Judy Blame, Leigh Bowery, Helen Bullock, Jennifer Campbell, Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Paul Housley, Malcolm McLaren & Vivienne Westwood, Julie Verhoeven, Rose Wylie and many other glittering and creative creatures.

Continue reading The Conformist: Last few days of this glittering celebration of great British non-conformity from Emma, Lady Hamilton to Punk Rock and beyond

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

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

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

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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.

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

‘He stuck out his tongue and made devil faces in the glass’: The Conformist to feature artists, designers, writers, performers, utopians, outsiders, posers, perverts and other figures who have affronted or inverted the idea of ‘conformity’

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I am among the participants in The Conformist, a group exhibition being organised for the New Year by artist Paul Kindersley at the gallery of Julia Muggenburg’s extraordinary London art/jewellery establishment Belmacz.

Continue reading ‘He stuck out his tongue and made devil faces in the glass’: The Conformist to feature artists, designers, writers, performers, utopians, outsiders, posers, perverts and other figures who have affronted or inverted the idea of ‘conformity’