Judy Blame: Never Again / Artistic Differences

Judy Blame: Never Again
June 29–September 4, 2016
Lower Gallery

The first major solo exhibition by accessories designer, art director and fashion stylist Judy Blame.

In the early 1980s Blame’s nonconformist attitude and desire to distinguish himself within the London club scene motivated him to produce jewellery. His modest resources shaped his DIY approach and led him to incorporate found objects; early creations questioned material hierarchies and were testimony to the harsh realities of industrial and economic decline. During this period he encountered a range of creative individuals including Derek Jarman, Anthony Price, John Maybury and Leigh Bowery who championed his inventive approach to making fashion accessories.

In 1985 Blame helped John Moore set up The House of Beauty and Culture in Dalston, London, a craft collective of like-minded artists. This collective experience proved to be the first of many collaborations as a consultant for various designers including John Galliano, Rifat Ozbek, Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons, Gareth Pugh, Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones at Louis Vuitton.

His work as a fashion stylist has produced iconic editorials with photographers including Mark Lebon, Mark Mattock, Jean Baptiste Mondino and Juergen Teller for publications such as i-D, BLITZ and The Face. His instinctive ability to create images that embodied radical elements of popular culture and fashion led to an extensive career in the music industry as an art director and image consultant for iconic figures such as Boy George, Neneh Cherry, Massive Attack and Bjork.

The exhibition is presented as a montage rather than a chronology that brings together an arrangement of artefacts, including clothing, collage, jewellery, fashion editorials, sketchbooks and T-shirts alongside unique commissions that bear witness to Blame’s tactile, thought-provoking, approach to fashion and his propensity towards collaboration and experimentation.

The exhibition is accompanied by a limited edition zine compiled by Judy Blame.­
 

Artistic Differences
June 29–September 4, 2016
Upper Gallery

To coincide with the Lower Gallery exhibition Judy Blame: Never Again, Artistic Differences celebrates Judy Blame’s life and work with the aim to present Blame’s work within a wider artistic context, drawing on connections in the art and design worlds in the UK from the 1980s and 1990s.

The exhibition brings together artists and designers that have been directly linked to Blame throughout his career, and those who have been influenced by his work and share his distinct artistic approach and style. Participants include Charles Atlas, Dave Baby, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Derek Jarman, Jim Lambie, Mark Lebon, Linder, John Maybury, Jamie Reid, Peter Saville, Juergen Teller, Nicola Tyson and Tim Noble & Sue Webster.

If Charles Atlas’ film Hail the New Puritan (1987) evokes a particular moment in British cultural history associated with Blame and his work during 1980s London, it also provides context to contributions by other artists and designers of that time such as Dave Baby, Mark Lebon, Linder, Barry Kamen, John Maybury, Trojan and Jamie Reid. Other works in the exhibition show a direct personal and artistic relationship with Blame such as a previously lost film by Derek Jarman featuring Blame, or indeed the film Judy Blame on Southwark Bridge (1983) by Nicola Tyson, and the intimate photographs by Juergen Teller of Blame in his studio.

Artistic Differences will also feature an interview with Judy Blame by ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir, which provides a unique insight into Blame’s significant life and work.