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.
Belmacz’s Julia Muggenburg and Kindersley roped me in on certain aspects of the exhibition including a wall dedicated to the late fashion photographer David Parkinson and the inclusion of a work from the Malcolm McLaren Estate archive: a first-run I Groaned With Pain t-shirt made with Vivienne Westwood in the summer of 1974 for sale in their shop Sex.
I also hooked them up with one of our greatest living non-conformists, Jah Wobble, who has supplied a soundtrack for the show which includes his masterly musical take on William Blake’s poem Tyger, Tyger. Wobble will also take part in a panel discussion I am hosting on March 24.
//Both sides of the leporello//
Belmacz has cleverly produced a leporello with examples of works on one side and a must-read overview by James Cahill on the other.
With pieces by the late Leigh Bowery, milliner Stephen Jones and stylist extraordinaire Judy Blame, revelatory art by the 89-year-old Rose Wylie and much, much more, The Conformist is a vibrant, eccentric, chaotic delight. Miss out at your peril.
The Conformist runs until April 16 at Belmacz, 45 Davies Street, Mayfair, London. More details here.
