Urban cross stitcher Phil Davison

If ever there was an example of the mish-mashing of cultures that East London thrives on, then it is the work of 29 year old Phil Davison, the Urban Cross Stitcher.

With its fetish for all that is young, new and alternative and its equal love of ‘vintage’ and tradition, it stands to reason then, that East London is the home of the boom in cross stitch graffiti.

A bit of history before we get bang up to date – young Phil, the hero of the piece, learnt his craft from an adopted grandmother, whilst an exchange student smack in the heart of America’s bible belt. Here, where craft is second only to God, Phil removed himself from the boredom in the dust and tumbleweed by learning cross stitch.

Years later, Phil left his Belfast home to find glory as a print cutter in the terribly fashionable world of London fashion, before he realised it wasn’t quite his cup of tea. But what was his cup of tea? As he had so often before, he sat down, took up his cross stitch and allowed himself to stitch his cares away.

Unfortunately the haberdashery department of John Lewis doesn’t often cater for trendy London types (or trendy any location types, in order not to be too London-centric) and Phil found himself nauseated and impatient with the Forever Friends designs or scenes from a Victorian winter wonderland.

Banksy’s Flower bomber first inspired Phil to take his Urban cross stitching adventures to a whole new level.  “I’ve always loved graffiti. Belfast is incredible for political street art, and it’s always fascinated me – not enough to catch me with my hood up and a spray can in my hand though, that doesn’t seem too relaxing”.

Maybe if you didn’t have to do it in the dead of night with fear of getting busted, it might have been the walls of Bow that benefited from his artistic skill.

Having made one Flower Bomber, one request followed another from friends and friends of friends, and (after years of hard work) before he knew it, he had a business on his hands.

“I first started officially selling pieces from a stall in the Backyard Market, an indoor market at the Old Truman Brewery and a spin off from the Sunday Up Market just off Brick Lane. It was the perfect place, particularly as a beginner, as there’s a real passion for art in the area. It’s also great fun to be there, however hungover you are on a Sunday morning, it’s a friendly, interested crowd.”

“Street art from around the world inspires the designs. I often carry a camera around with me and even if nothing jumps out at me immediately, I might revisit that picture six months later and get an idea from it. Berlin this August was really inspirational and I’m also constantly buying books on street art – I’m really interested in Mexican designs but as I don’t speak the language I have to be fairly careful as they too can be extremely political.”

It’s not all about street art though, and designs featuring images and references to what we can call ‘marital aids’ and other adult material (is there a way of saying that without sounding prudish?) make up the rest of his offerings, with both finished pieces and kits available.

Phil originally expected his clients to be women in their twenties, but found that often the attention of men of all ages was grabbed by his stall. “When I first thought of making this into a real, thriving business, I guess I did imagine that the target audience would be the females of Shoreditch, women who maybe already have an interest in craft. But the reaction from guys coming up was perhaps the most surprising thing about it initially. They’d come up staring, saying ‘That looks cool’ and pick patterns up, and then their girlfriends would come over, grab them and pull them away, not wanting them to look at cross stitch for too long, as if that was something to worry about! Actually, the majority of business is still from women, but only by about 60–40 per cent. Maybe cross stitch is more unisex than it seems.”
Like Fraggle Rock, Space Invaders and British Bulldog, cross stitch often takes people back to their childhood and fond memories. “A lot of people on the market would come up to us, really delighted, saying ‘Oh God, I used to do this when I was 10, but there’s nothing I’d actually want to stitch’. Then they’d see the designs we do and be excited about getting back into it again.”

Not all the responses to Phil’s designs have been positive though. “I have had random older people coming up to me, with stern faces, questioning the designs. At one craft fair people kept telling me they were disgusting, but weirdly they sold brilliantly at the same time! Often the most important thing for the older stitchers is whether the final result is done neatly – if the back is messy they get really cross. It’s terrifying.”

A night of Cupcakes, Cocktails and Cross Stitch came about to enlighten the people of Hackney and beyond in the ancient art of the stitch and maybe, one day, to get the whole world stitching.

Phil held his first event, which aimed to bring together beginners and more experienced stitchers in a cool environment with a fully stocked bar and kitsch snacks, in Brick Lane in October 2008.

There have been six events throughout East London since that first triumph, and despite “millions of emails” asking for another, there are only vague dates in the diary for the next.

Success clearly does have its downsides – Phil is so busy selling and designing patterns he barely has time to answer email enquiries, let along organise the next hoedown.  Keeping up with demand for designs, meetings with suppliers and completing orders means he works like a one-man sweatshop.

So now, leaps and bounds away from the original, serene way to pass the time, is it less enjoyable, less therapeutic? Apparently not. “It has an added dimension but it hasn’t really changed for me – the business side has added stresses but luckily I still enjoy it. If I think I’m stressed all I need to do is speak to my friends about their day jobs, that soon puts it into perspective.”

Wiebke Dreyer: Der Seidene Faden

This new exhibition in Stoke Newington, ‘Spirits of Turpentine‘, showcases works by two artists: both female and originally from Germany, but the similarities end there.

Gburek is primarily a photographer, and most of her works here are digitally-manipulated self-portraits.

In various guises (‘Aphrodite’, ‘Addict’, ‘Lover’), Gburek’s expressionless face regards the camera flatly from behind an assortment of wigs, make-up, and digitally-superimposed filigree patterns or text.

These large, clean, lustrous photographs are visually appealing, with a distinctively Oriental aesthetic, although it’s difficult to draw out definite meanings from these (re)presentations of the self.

The gallery itself is an unusual space of hidden nooks and staircases; the heavy wooden beams and metal chains that hang from the ceiling evidence its former role as a sculptor’s studio.

Gburek has exploited its potential; the charred fireplace in the gallery wall holds ‘Paradox of Intension’, a pair of shiny red Carvela shoes atop a pyramid of salt, and ‘I Love Your Brain’, a delicate Chinese fan, while an oryx skull draped with pearls is presented on the wall above.

Meanwhile, Dreyer’s paintings contrast sharply with this contemporary glossiness. Describing herself as a landscape painter, she creates works that are vivid, near-abstract explosions of colour and texture.

‘Sand Circle, Large’ is a glorious spread of gold, silver, and dark chocolate trails of paint on a grainy background, with a cluster of grey pebbles in one corner, while ‘Energy Line’, a tall slim rectangle of oranges and yellows with a thick line of dark red paint curling its way up the length of the canvas, glows from one corner of the gallery.

‘Sleepthief, Large’, a stand-out work, is a lush burst of deep blues and purples, streaked with lumps of whites and paler blues and suggesting some kind of moonscape.

These are unusually direct and unpretentious paintings which communicate a powerful sense of the richness of the natural world.

‘Spirits Of Turpentine‘ is at Madame Lillie’s Gallery, 10 Cazenove Road N16 6BD, until Sunday 8 November.

Opening hours Friday – Sunday 12-6pm. To view by appointment: 07990 695 363.

Octavia Arts: The Scream, 2008 - video still

CONSIDER Hackney and you might find yourself asking familiar questions – is it a safe place to travel about in; is it a place with little going for it? Is it a pool of deceit and violence, a cheap copy of Harlem in New York?

Whatever the answer, it is without a doubt a borough of contradictions, with neighbourhoods that are anything but predictable.

Such were my thoughts as I entered a church on Homerton High Street for an evening with Core Arts which explored the issue of mental health through film and other media.

‘Scare in the Community‘, was a fitting title for the event, with a location to match.

Exhibiting the works of mental health service users alongside that of leading contemporary artists, the theme of the show sought to examine society’s response to the idea of ‘care in the community’ for the treatment of mental health problems over extended hospitalisation.

The event showcased a selection of art works (videos, performances, 2-D and 3-D works) that highlight the problems faced by those suffering from mental illness.

It sought to challenge perceptions of those suffering mental distress and confront the fear of communities at the idea of free integration.

In the back room of the building people stood in awe as they watched a series of documentaries. Each addressed a controversial issue that is all too often dealt with insensitively. In these short films – between five and ten minutes long – it was sensitively and imaginatively explored.

But the message -that a change needs to occur in peoples’ attitudes towards mental health- may fall on deaf ears somewhat, due in some part to the limited resources available to the production team.

‘Scare in the Community‘ by Core Arts was at St Barnabas Church, 109 Homerton High Street on Saturday 24 October.

Octavia Arts: The Scream, 2008 - video still

ON Saturday 24 October 2009, Core Arts hosts a free evening of video and performance, ‘Scare in the Community’.

Exhibiting the works of mental health service users alongside those of leading contemporary artists including established names such as George Barber, David Blandy and Laure Prouvost, the theme of the show resonates with the current movement towards prioritising principles of ‘care in the community’ for the treatment of mental health problems over extended hospitalisation.

It challenges perceptions of those suffering mental distress and confronts the fear of communities at the idea of free integration.

The art world has long been fascinated by the notion of ‘outsider art’ and this idea of unbridled and untrained creativity has previously led to exhibitions like Inner Worlds Outside at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2006.

Those behind ‘Scare in the Community’ however, feel that though giving the self-taught artists credibility by exhibiting their work alongside that of more established artists, such exhibitions do not sufficiently challenge the authority of the art institution to select who is included and who is not.

‘Scare in the Community‘, unlike previous ‘outsider’ art exhibitions, shows work that attempts to break down the walls of the art gallery alongside work that responds to the implications of the closure of asylums over the past decades.

“As artists we challenge the authority of the art institution and question the idea that you are either ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ the art system,” says Jon Purnell, who has curated and organised the event with Julika Gittner.

“We’re showing videos, performances and installations by artists with and without mental health issues in order to challenge ideas of normality and exclusionism.”

The one night event will showcase a selection of art works (videos, performances, 2-D and 3-D works) that highlight the problems faced by those suffering from mental illness, and question ideas of cultural identity, and challenge our traditional view of art itself.

In ‘Upside Down Minutiae’ (2001) George Barber films several people suspended head down on the back of a lorry that drives through the city, breaking art out of the gallery confines by using a mobile art space to take it directly into the public domain.

Scare in the Community
Core Arts
109 Homerton High Street
6:00pm Saturday 24 October
Free entry

Boyle and Shaw: GAZZA, 2008 - video still

Cack-U-Like (Jon Purnell): 'Let Us In', 2009 - video still

Julika Gittner 'Personal Capability Assessment', 2009 - mixed media installation

'Banksy' graffiti, Stoke Newington Church Street Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

March of the Penguins, Bouverie Road Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

Bins, Old Street Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

Graf, Shoreditch High Street Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

Graf, Shoreditch High Street Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

Figures, Leonard Street car park Photo: © 2009 The Hackney Citizen Ltd

Hollywell Lane

Previous story on public art here.

Mosaic, by Clapton designer Jo Thorpe

Jo Thorpe has become a name synonymous with mosaic.

“Not many artists are doing what I’m doing,” she declares, “it’s for older people really.”

But Thorpe is making the age-old tradition of mosaic trendy again. With an eye for colour and composition, she delicately constructs mosaic for wall hangings, table tops, bathrooms and outdoor spaces.

The only other mosaicist she mentions is Space Invader – an anonymous Parisian artist who pastes coloured tiles on walls to form cartoon-like mosaic.

Enthused by the idea of the art-form being implemented as street art, Thorpe has considered filling the cracks in pavements with beautiful mosaic tiles, but wonders what implications this will have as Hackney Council does not currently recognise the concept of street art.

Thorpe completed a Fine Art degree at Wimbledon School of Art (now Wimbledon College of Art) before setting up a studio through SPACE on Martello Street – sharing her workspace with a photographer and producing plaster sculptures.

She was living in Brixton at the time and on her way home one evening, as she was walking past the Gypsy Caravans, she got bitten on the bottom by an Alsatian.

“Hackney was really rough back then,” she explains, “and that was the last straw. I had to get all the way back to Brixton and I was really upset – I’d had enough of the to-ing and fro-ing so I decided never to go back to that studio.” She began waitressing.

Earlier this year, after a joyful 15 year stint in Brixton, Thorpe decided to move to East London. “Most of my friends lived out east and I spent a lot of my time going out in the area so I decided to move here”.

Leaving her well-established home and studio and chucking out a life-times hoarding worth of black sacks, she moved to Clapton and settled into the ground floor flat she now shares with her partner.

Thorpe enrolled on a mosaic course at City Lit and, keen to launch her career, forged herself as an established mosaic artist to her landlady who was a director at Mosaic Workshop.

Her first job was to make a walk in shower cubicle out of Cararra, a white Italian marble, for Sophie Anderton who was living with Robert Hanson, son of Lord Hanson, just off Marble Arch.

Thorpe recollects the muscles in her hands aching beyond belief as she slogged on to prove her capability. She now charges anything between £700 and £1000 per square metre of bathroom tiling.

Following a recent dry patch, Thorpe was featured in an article displaying pictures of the house Rob Da Bank (BBC Radio 1) shares with his wife. “Robbie has some of my work in his house and the first page of the article had a huge photo of my mosaic with my website next to it.”

She is now, of course, inundated with commissions.

Currently working on the swimming pool of Boddington Manor, she has been commissioned to adorn metre upon metre of step and stone paving with her vibrant mosaic.

At her house I witnessed the intricate laying of different coloured ceramic and glass tiles as she placed them onto a brown paper template taken from the area around the swimming pool.

She affixes the tiles face down with PVA glue so that when the piece is complete, she can take it to Boddington Manor, lay it face down, splash with water to loosen the glue and voila! A mosaic transfer is laid. Magic.

Other projects have included the restoration of Aston Villa’s gold lettering outside the stadium – an extravagant project with each tiny handmade gold-leaf tile costing £1 (she used 5000).

Also an elaborate restoration venture at the National Portrait Gallery where Thorpe used brewed tea to colour-match the ancient marble with the new tiles – ensuring a perfect match.

Importing glass mosaic from all around the world can result in frustrating batch variation – ranging from subtle shade differences to the extreme – where the tiles are almost another colour entirely. Mexico has proven prime culprit for sending over boxes of tiles that could almost be perceived as two different colours.

In the future, Thorpe would like to work more from nature and flowers whilst securing orders for her button-mosaic vintage coffee tables. But with a growing list of commissions, including a bathroom moonscape and a tarot-readers favourite ‘high-priestess’ card embossed on her floor, it might be a while before she can return to creating art for art’s sake.

Having been exposed to a wide-ranging clientele, Thorpe exposes men as being less inclined to become creatively involved in the design – tending to leave her to her own devices. Women, however, love to discuss colours and shapes.

But then, proclaims Thorpe, “Women are just more creative, aren’t they?”

Button table, by Clapton designer Jo Thorpe

Alfie Dennen Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0

What gave you the initial idea to begin your bus-top project?

It wasn’t any one thing, aside perhaps from the inspiration taken from other artists’ use of bus shelters.

Other artists in Hackney have done things like place a series of beautifully coloured potatoes skewered with toothpicks on bus stop roofs across the 243 bus route.

Another has placed heart shaped turfs of grass on them.

For me the inspiration really came from looking at these drab and unused pseudo-public spaces and imagining what we could turn them into.

Can you explain how it will work?

Once the panels are installed, anyone who comes to the website will be able to select either one bus-top or many and create artwork or text for it.

There will be a set of drawing and text tools online and once they have finished their work it then gets submitted to the site and is open to the community at the site to look at.

The community itself then votes work up or down, with the best work for any particular bus-top then being sent to the panel at whichever bus tops the artist has decided to use.

The key thing here is that we are hoping to completely democratise what work gets seen on the installations, and remind people that everyone is creative, everyone is an artist if they want to be, all it takes is the desire to create.

Have any famous artists agreed to contribute their work?

At the moment we are developing the project after having been awarded a small grant from the Arts Council Artists Taking the Lead fund, and so are still doing outreach to Artists and Art organisations.

Working with famous artists will be just one element of the work, what I am most excited about is to be working with what we are calling the ‘Art Public’ – everyone who is inspired enough by the project to create work for it.

How long do you hope the project will go on for?

At the very least it will run until the end of the Olympic Games, however we are already speaking with organisations that may provide the resources necessary to keep the installations in place well beyond this time, providing a lasting legacy for Londoners.

Are you concerned about possible vandalism?

Of course. As part of our engineering and design phase, anti-vandalism elements will be a core part of the design from the very beginning.

Who are you hoping will benefit from the project?

We see the project as a way of bringing together schools, community groups and individuals throughout London, uniting us all in a common wonder at the creativity in all of us.

So I hope that the lasting benefit, the legacy of the project, is to inspire wonder in Londoners and London’s visitors.

More on Alfie Dennen’s Bus Tops here.

More on public art here.

Alfie Dennen's bus tops

Gilbert & George, Union Wall Dance, 2008

This week is your last chance to see Gilbert and George’s Jack Freak Pictures at White Cube (Hoxton Square and Mason’s Yard spaces), which ends on Saturday 22 August.

The Jack Freak Pictures figure the national flag in a variety of guises, combined with G & G’s familiar self-portraiture, fragments of East End street life, and a collection of vintage medals, all mixed up in kaleidoscope-style images that multiply and distort flags, bodies and local motifs.

From the bawdy and the irreverent to the intimate and the philosophical, this exhibition has it all. Be titillated, captivated and set to ponder the essence of Britishness.

Gilbert and George interview with Alastair Sooke of the Daily Telegraph here.

Mission Arts Club Photo: © Jessica Mudditt

The Museum of Hackney Wick Photo: © Jessica Mudditt

Dogs at the festival Photo: © Jessica Mudditt

Main Yard gallery rooftop festivities Photo: © Jessica Mudditt

Untitled, Seungwon Hong, Main Yard Gallery

Graham Elder and his untitled gestural action painting Photo: © The Hackney Citizen Ltd

More on the Hackney WickED Arts Festival here.