Wednesday 12 February 2014

Weds 12th Feb: ICA Off-Site: Dover Street Market




















I can't believe I didn't know that Dover Street Market was the original location of the ICA (between 1950 - 1968)!  Well, now I do and it makes sense that when you exit at Green Park station to walk down the Mall to the gallery, you can also pop up onto Piccadilly in the other direction and get to Dover Street.  The Commes Des Garcons store is currently the latest ICA Off-Site project with archival material reproduced and installed across all six floors.  Large Vinyl artworks of scans from original documents cover the walls, floors and squares in the ceiling.   This was the institution where Pop Art and Op Art were born with ground-breaking exhibitions by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock.  The venue also staged some of the most important shows in the history of post-war British art with members including Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi.  The whole story has been documented and catalogued into a new publication for which the city's cultural community came together to discover at a launch on Monday night.  Here are Princess Julia, Louise Gray and Bethan Wood adding colour to the proceedings and a selection of snaps of my favourite garms currently in-store alongside the show (inc. Craig Green's tie-dye menswear).  

ICA Off-Site: Dover Street Market
11 Feb – 6 Apr 2014
Free Exhibition
Dover Street Market, 17-18 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LT

No comments: