Civilisation
An exhibition I installed single-handedly and carried under my arm on the bus
Civilisation: Barbican Library, London EC2. Until 28th August, 2025. Mon, Wed + Fri 9.30am - 5.30pm; Tues + Thurs 9.30am - 7.30pm; Sat 9.30am - 4pm. I intend to be there every Monday and Saturday from 11.30ish.
The above exhibition has been on for a week and I have failed to mention it properly. Everyone in my marketing department will be sacked with immediate effect.
I’m particularly proud of myself because the entire show was single-handedly installed and transported, on buses-trains-shanksies, by yours truly. It was a struggle, mind.
If you wish to buy something, the procedure is very similar to the one we had in Foyles in 1989.
First you visit the Barbican Library and decide what you would like to buy. Then you go to the desk and fill in the paper form. Helen, the Librarian, scans the form and emails it to me. I decipher your email address and invoice you, or someone else with a similar email. You pay. I tell Helen. You collect your art from EC2 on Friday 29th August, 9.30am - 5.30pm, or within a couple of weeks of this date.
The show is in five sections:
New ‘Civilisation’ collages (pictured above). I have been spending early mornings and evenings butchering ‘Civilisation’. That’s the book to accompany the ancient TV series by Lord-Sir-Kenneth-Clark, a man born into a wealthy ‘textiles family’ and responsible for my questionable early art education (didn’t include female artists). Anyway, I’ve never cut up a serviceable book before, due to deeply ingrained ‘respect’ for the printed word. But recently, I decided not to give a shit. I have turned each page (along with old Tate/ V&A magazines) into collages with a joyful vengeance.
They measure 24.5 x 17cm and are £50 each. Too cheap for one-off, original pieces of art, I know, but I wanted to guarantee sales so that the library could make a few bob. Eighteen have sold so far.
The Audience 2025, The Audience 2024, The Audience 2022, The Audience 2020 and The Audience 2019. None have been shown before, except the 2020 one. None are for sale except The Audience 2024, which is £2800.
Three huge A0 prints (top image) of my Exile Textiles (photographed by Phil Shelly). That’s Exile Textile, Exile Textile II: The New Normal, and Exile Textile III: The Prequel. I had them printed in a panic because the originals were sold, therefore excluding them from the exhibition.
They are £238 each. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU BUY ONE OF THESE PRINTS YOU WILL BE BUYING THE DISPLAY COPY. The regular price for a print of this size (119 x 84cm) is £350. I am selling them at cost price because of the nail holes and hammer marks. There’s a white border and said blemishes could be easily trimmed. Each archival quality giclée print, on FSC-certified Hahnemühle 290gsm acid-free paper, comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. I paid £537 for the three prints, making them £179 each. The cost to you is £238 because I want to break even and this includes 20% to the library and 5% to Arts Emergency.
RA Bastard Shites. It is not a print, it’s the original hand-stiched cloth that Joe Lycett smuggled into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2022, depicting over 30 years of Summer Show rejections. It is not for sale.
Two glass cabinets containing Sheltered, Are We All Sitting Comfortably? and Rift, none of which are for sale. Most visitors completely miss the cabinets, which is a shame because they contain my best work.
Page 25: resist dyeing ‘Anglo-Saxon crucifixion from the Ramsey Psalter (c.980). British Museum, London’. Kimono, crepe silk, resist dyeing and embroidery, Kyoto, 1710 - 40. Joshibi University of Art and Design Museum. From an interview/article with Anna Jackson (Keeper of the Asian department specialising in Japanese dress and cultural exchange between Japan and Europe) curator of ‘Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk’, Feb - June 2020, V&A Museum, London. V&A Magazine, Winter 2019. 50p from a charity shop
Can you reserve the best (i.e. your favourite) Civilisation piece for me from those remaining? I’m hoping to come to the show soon but I don’t want to miss out. It’ll be part of Kate’s birthday present. The purchasing process appears to be suitably Byzantine.
These all look wonderful - I hope you get plenty of attendees (and sales!)