For fashion students, photography lovers and art fanatics, Claire de Rouen’s bookshop, hidden away above a sex shop on Charing Cross Road, was an oasis of rare prints, signed editions and fledgling publications. A larger than life character, with her striking ageless style and ever present alsation pug Otis, Claire’s passing last week after a prolonged illness is a loss to all who prize independence and personality and to those resisting the creeping tide of a homogeneous culture.
There was room for everyone in her shop, all were free to browse or buy, and on her shelves young talent jostled happily alongside huge names. Twin can only thank and pay our respects to a woman who strove to deliver the best and allow the young to flourish.
Herbivores, look away. Slabs of meat have never been more de rigueur and leading the pack is feted burger joint MEATliquor.
Chef Yianni Papoutsis, head of the operation, has made a name for himself as a street food pioneer thanks to Meatwagon, a burger van responsible for guerilla “Meatings” in London car parks, industrial estates and, more recently, festivals and the subsequent #Meateasy pop-up in a derelict Italian restaurant above an abandoned pub in New Cross.
Together with Scott Collins, the liquor in MEATliquor, Papoutsis has arguably revolutionised the West End identikit dining scene with cool design, jam jar cocktails and greasy Dead Hippie burgers and onion rings.
As Collins says, “The MEATWAGON has come a long way since its small beginnings in a vandalised van in a South London car park…We have taken #Meateasy to the next level, bringing meat dining to London’s West End at New Cross prices.”
As that rarity, a female photojournalist in the Fifties, Eve Arnold joined the Magnum Photographic Agency, home to the likes of Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Already in 1948, as the only female in her photography class in New York, she had distinguished herself amongst her male peers. Taught by the art director of Harper’s Bazaar, Alexey Brodovitch, and with Richard Avedon among those in her class, Arnold took her camera to the catwalks of Harlem, where an alternative to mainstream fashion had found its feet.
Over the subsequent decades her eye for an image and her awareness of her own minority status, never failed to help her cast light upon those whom the camera might have otherwise ignored. She recorded the civil rights movement, American agrarians, South African shantytowns and Mongolian horse trainers. Always interested in women’s issues, in 1971 she made a film, Women Behind the Veil, going inside Arabian hammams and harems.
In her celebrity photographs, her understanding and compassion resulted in original interpretations of the glitterati. A favourite with actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford, most famously her naturalistic aesthetic, took Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe out of the glare of the studio portrait and gave the world an enduring intimate insight into her beauty.
Her passing away last week at the grand age of 99 is a reminder of her legacy, not only of the startling images she took, but of a woman with a rare light, who lived brightly and bravely.
For our final rewind, Twin names the art shows, books and music that made it big, as well as those waiting to enter centre stage…
Francesca Gavin – Art Editor
For me this has been the year of Mark Leckey – both his solo show at the Serpentine and an hypnotic installation at the Printemps de Septembre in Toulouse. I’ve been obsessed by his work for years and think he has a massive influence on a whole younger generation on artists with his fascination with pop culture, technology, music and screens. I like many others wait with excitement at whatever comes next.
In 2012, I’m really looking forward to surviving the apocalypse and visiting the Marrakech Biennial in February. Some really great artists are in the line up including Aleksandra Domanovic, Jon Nash and Matthew Stone and I think its going to be a fascinating trip.
Elsewhere 176 new monthly programme of emerging artists, Yayoi Kusama and Edvard Munch at the Tate Modern, Rashid Johnson’s big shows at Hauser and Wirth NYC and London throughout the year, Urs Fisher at Palazzo Grassi in Venice, and the Berlin Biennial (which can only be an improvement on two years ago which was uber-dull).
Aimee Farrell – Features Director
In terms of writers in 2011 it has to be Caitlin Moran at the top of the list. How To Be A Woman managed to make feminism funny and accessible.
In 2012 I’m excited about Rachel Cusk. Her Granta essay about life after marriage, which throws a feminist light on the institution of divorce has been developed into a major new work of non-fiction, called Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation. Published by Faber the book will be a series of meditations on women’s mid-lives and family life after divorce.
Last year marked another 12 months of female dominance in the music industry, whether it was Beyonce at Glastonbury or Adele taking America. There were strong albums from the likes of Feist and a great debut from songstress Anika. For me though, the highlight was PJ Harvey storming the Mercury Music Prize for a second time. Let England Shake easily summed up the zeitgeist for 2011 and proved that there are still important albums being made.
For 2012, there’s a feeling it’s going to be the year of the viral superstar. We’ve already had Azealia Banks’ 212 and Lana Del Rey’s Video Games, now we need to hear the albums.
To celebrate the launch of their new website, luxury footwear brand Hogan has invited cult photographer and blogger Todd Selby to record a day in the life of 17 inspiring creatives going about their day-to-day lives and of course in a pair of Hogan’s finest.
Among the 17 creatives stars featured in Future Roots are Twin favourite, illustrator Quentin Jones, artists Gaia Repossi and Lola Montes Schnabel and director Benn Northover. Each film is up to five minutes long, enough time to reveal each person and what they represent, while leaving the viewer with some seriously stimulating thoughts. Thank you Hogan.
Brixton, and Market Row in particular, is quite the foodie destination thanks to the likes of Franca Manca and Rosie’s. But there’s a new kid on the block that’s luring the after-hours crowd. Seven at Brixton is an eclectic venue offering art, board games, pintxos and cocktails.
Paying homage to its former life as a luggage shop, suitcases take the place of shelves in the bar and the cocktail menus are printed on brown luggage tags. At £5 a pop cocktails are purse-friendly and the in-house creations are inventive; try the Electric Avenue – marmalade, apple vodka and pomegranate juice, served in a sherbet-dipped martini glass. Failing that, the classics are just as delicious – an Old Fashioned is an ideal winter warmer. The food, seemingly typical tapas fare, is a similar mix to that of the cocktails. Expect the classics done well alongside inventive, moreish little dishes like sherry-soaked figs on bruschetta.
Past a church pew and up a storey via the crooked staircase artists have been invited to produce temporary installations in each of the rooms, which will be changed every three months. Sam Cook and Joe Crowdy’s mounted paper sculpture is accompanied by A3 sheets of ‘cut-around’ instructions; these lie waiting on the makeshift road sign table for eager fans to recreate their triangular work.
In another room Adam Hemuss’ scribblings creep up the walls and onto the ceiling. Sitting up here is like taking part in a live installation; don’t be put off if half-way through your conversation an art enthusiast pops up next to you to observe the works.
Seven at Brixton is open to catch the breakfast crowd from 8am but it closes relatively early for a cocktail bar (6pm Mon-Wed, 10pm Thurs-Sat and 5pm on Sundays). The address itself surely insinuates the best time to visit. Meet you there at 7pm.
Seven at Brixton is at 7 Market Row, Brixton SW9 8LB
From Edith Head’s designs for Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds to Audrey Tautou portraying one of the 20th century’s most revolutionary couturiers in Coco Before Chanel, fashion and film have enjoyed a well-documented and fascinating relationship.
On screen, clothing embodies the unscripted role of sculpting characters – would Cruella De Vil be as villainous without her floor-length fur coats? Clothes create unforgettable moments such as Audrey Hepburn in a Givenchy little black dress outside Tiffany’s, adding to the aesthetic vision of a director – could one imagine Margot Tenenbaum in anything but her heavy eyeliner and preppy polo dresses?
Creative arts platform Test’s series of monthly film screenings and talks mark an intriguing new chapter in the genre. Accompanied by an introduction and Q&A with designer Roksanda Ilincic, the latest motion picture up for discussion will be Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter starring Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde.
More than simply a night of stylish cinema, the event is a testament to the lasting power and iconicity of fashion in film.
Test Presents…The Night Porter Introduced By Roksanda Ilincic takes place at Town Hall Hotel & Apartments, Patriot Square, London E2 9NF on December 13 at 7:00 pm.
Forget trawling the internet for Christmas presents, shopping around a market is far more de rigueur. Circus, the brainchild of the House of Hackney founders, promises lashings of festive spirit and unique gifts.
For five days, cherry-picked labels and creatives are setting up concept stalls selling their wares. Expect to find such brands as Les Chiffoniers, Lost Property of London, Olivia von Halle (top image), Paper London, Fred Butler and, of course, House of Hackney. Alongside fashion and homeware stands, as well as some more unconventional offerings from Polly Morgan, there will be a Christmas fair selling trees, roasted chestnuts and gift wrapping.
East London gem Lily Vanilli will be on hand selling Christmas hampers as festive foodie presents and her bakery and cider stand will serve up warming snacks for weary shoppers. Taking place in a disused power station in Shoreditch, the vibe is sure to unite the best of hip Shoreditch creativity and traditional Christmas fare.
Fred Butler
House of Hackney
Circus 11 takes place from 14th until 18th December (10am-8pm daily) at The Tramshed, Shoreditch circus11.com houseofhackney.com
If you’ve found yourself on the corner of Bethnal Green Road and Shoreditch High Street recently you will have undoubtedly noticed that a space which has been uninhabited for the past four decades has new residents. A cluster of shipment containers have been erected to form the world’s first ‘pop-up mall’.
Founded by Boxfresh’s Roger Wade, whose ethos is all about the ‘brand experience’ rather than sales, the 60 containers house retail outlets with a streetwear slant. Up-and-coming designers like OnePiece and Playful Promises vie for attention amongst established brands Evisu, CalvinKlein, Nike and Phaidon.
Diesel has launched its Fifty Five DSL line here and, alongside such nosh outlets as Foxcroft & Ginger, Frae frozen yoghurt and Hop-Nano, charities Amnesty International and Art Against Knives have spaces on the first floor selling artworks and collaborative designs by such East London-based designers as Lucy Jay and Tracey Emin. Welcome to the anti-high street.
Boxpark opens on Saturday 3rd December boxpark.co.uk
Twin loves the posters designed for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games so much we thought we’d give you a little pre-peep show. Artists such as Howard Hodgkin, Tracey Emin and Martin Creed were chosen to give forth their thoughts on the Games happening in London, and the ideals that sit behind it. And the result? An amalgamation of colourful, minimalist, quirky art created with words, a pencil, or paint. Perfect.
The posters will be showing as part of the London 2012 festival next July at the Tate Britain, free of charge.
Baker Lily Vanilli is terrifyingly good at cakes. Often appearing to involve more blood and guts than sugar, they are the antithesis of the girly cupcake. And not content with making the kind of confections that we want to devour, she’s also got the recipe for the sort of private members club we want to join. Pop-up cake and cocktail club 180 is a world’s first of its kind, and this Wednesday its celebrating all things dark and delicious at the Baby Bathhouse.
Winter Witchcraft and 180 Club will herald in the new season pagan style. All Souls Cake and Absinthe and Chocolate Mini Eclairs are just two of the cake canapes that will be served along side equisite cocktails. Noemi Klein will be on hand with her beautiful, haunting jewellery, while Marawa the Amazing will revisit the plague years in her performance piece Ring a Ring of Roses. It promises to be a night of dark arts and decadence.
When Kathryn Bigelow won a bevy of awards including two Oscars for her 2008 film Hurt Locker she made history as the first woman to ever be named best director. That said, three years on the fact remains that women are still marginalised, not to mention underrepresented and oversexualised in cinema.
UnderWire plans to change that. As the UK’s only short film festival dedicated to showcasing women’s work it already has the support of such seminal female creatives as Laura Mulvey, author of Visual and Other Pleasures, Fetishism and Curioisity, journalist Samira Ahmed and Nira Park, producer of Scott Pilgrim v the World and Attack the Block. Established by Gabriella Apicella and Gemma Mitchell in 2010, co-directors of UnderWire 2011 Mitchell and Helen Jack hope to recognise women’s talents through awards, open up the dialogue about women in film and, ultimately, readdress the gender balance within the UK industry.
Comes But Once a Year, dir Justine Barker
(Top) Prohyb, dir Katarina Complova
UnderWire 2011 is at Shortwave cinema and Bermondsey Square Hotel from 23rd – 26th November 2011. See the full programme here
The French artist, photographer and activist known as JR has created Women Are Heroes in a tribute to the bravery of those in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Phnom Penh, Delhi, and Kenya.
Known for his guerilla style, public photo exhibitions such as Portrait Of A Generation and Face 2 Face, the 2011 TED Prize winner spent three years crafting the documentary, the third part in his 28 Millimètres series. The result is a film which is an emotional tour de force, confronting its viewer with the hard-hitting reality of violence, war, poverty and oppression women around the world face every day. But far from viewing his subjects as victims of their environment, JR portrays a group of individuals who are not only fearless, but also optimists of change.
By mounting large-scale portraits of them on public buildings in France, Brazil, Cambodia, India, and Kenya, he proves that the women living their life in the danger zone are not just heroes. They are a poignant reminder that strength, and happiness, can be found in even the darkest of places.
Carsten Höller’s (BELVEDERE)RED Double Sphere Hanging, debuted at the pre-Grammy Awards party in Los Angeles, is truly a more than meets the eye piece of art.
Composed of red and white flashing bulbs, the light installation was inspired by Höller’s desire to unbalance the rational mind and create a piece which puts the viewer’s personal experience at the forefront of its purpose.
Built in partnership with Belvedere Vodka and (RED), the piece will be auctioned off at Art Basel Miami in December. All proceeds from the sale will go to the Global Fund, an international organisation dedicated to fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, making the Double Sphere Hanging both benevolent and beautiful.
VICE magazine has forged a reputation for profane humour – no more apparent than in their DOs & DON’Ts column where ordinary people’s fashion failures and eccentric behaviours are surveyed with a caustic wit that is no holds barred.
For fans of their funny photos there’s a new book of over 400 brand new photos complete with VICE’s trademark captions. In VICE’s own words, “The DOs are put on a pedestal that soars way past God, and the DON’Ts criticise beyond redemption.” Enjoy.
In the Nineties a three-piece band from Seattle unwittingly created a cultural shift that ensured grunge would be one of the most enduring phenomena of the decade. This September marks twenty years since the release of Nirvana’s seminal album Nevermind. To celebrate The Loading Bay Gallery are hosting and exhibition of the bands work. A hoody worn by Kurt Cobain, tour posters and other memorabilia, it’s all about Teen Spirit and a mark of the ongoing influence Nirvana has with their fans old and new.
Bloom: The Nirvana Nevermind Exhibition is at The Loading Bay Gallery, Brick Lane until 22 September 2011.
For Twin V we’ve gone to the roots of female creativity and taken a look at the growing young talent working right now. Twin spoke to Grace LaDoja, whose ambition and hard-work has singled her out from her peers. Grace’s eyes and ears are firmly locked on the youth culture pavement. The filmmaker has been documenting youth sub cultures since her first job at 17 and it was her childhood in London that shaped her world.
“Growing up in a three bedroom house with eight other kids around me I learnt if you don’t get up and do something you’ll be unnoticed,” says Grace. “In London you are surrounded by everything culturally relevant. I sucked it all up. I wasn’t the stereotypical black girl living in north London. I was into different music, different scenes on every level. I started running with the things surrounding me. I didn’t even skate but I was fascinated by the scene.”
As part of her first job at sneaker community Crooked Tongues, Grace flew around the world shooting films for brands like Adidas, Stussy and Etnies. Finally a year ago she set up her own production company LaDoja and Sons and has since worked with brands like Nike and Swatch as well as making documentaries such as London to Paris – a film about the cycling scene.
“I love youth culture and I want to document what’s happening now. In the same way as people look to the Eighties and Nineties I want to give kids in the future something to reference from this era. Eventually I’d love to make films like Spike Lee and Martin Scorcese, telling the story of what’s happening.”
“We live in a generation where everyone’s someone and wants to be their own boss. I feel proud to be where I am. I’ve got a space with 15 people working in there and we’re working with big brands. I’m doing something I love and I’m making money. I’m not faking it.”
Twin is green with lust for Veja’s new Gisèle bag. The French ecological brand, known for their fair-trade sneakers, have designed a range of suede bags that have style and ethical substance. While the modern tanning industry uses chromium or another heavy metal that is bad for the environment, Veja has used vegetable-tanned suede, which is dyed using natural pigments. The leather used is tanned with acacia extract, so no fluocarbons are applied. Helping the environment has never looked and felt so good.
Last night, Polly Jean Harvey took home her second Mercury Prize. From being the first woman to win the prize, she’s now the first person to win twice. In 2001 she first won with Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea, however the singer-songwriter was absent from the awards ceremony as she was on tour in the US. More than that, it was September 11th and Harvey spent the day watching the Pentagon burn from her hotel window.
Ten years on and aptly her eighth studio album, Let England Shake, is a conceptual work about conflict and war. “I wanted to make something meaningful not just to me but to other people,” says Harvey. With songs inspired by the WWI battle at Gallipoli the 41-year-old has set herself apart from other musicians as an artist unafraid to address ideas politically and melodiously.
This time around Harvey was very much present at the awards ceremony, dressed in a flowing white dress and feather headdress she looked like a punk-rock angel. And with Patti Smith winning the Polar Music Prize in Sweden, now is clearly a good time to be a woman in rock.
There’s little doubt that Hattie Rickards is one of the most exciting jewellery talents out there. The Central St. Martin’s alumna has honed her skills along side jewellery designers such as Kara Ross and Solange Azagury Partridge, for whom she set up her NYC store. Having now gone solo she’s focused on a select collection of luxury rings, all with a strong ethical focus, but without sacrificing the glamour.
Her collection, Revealed, features a range of limited edition kinetic and fixed rings created from 18ct ethical gold and precious stones set in their rough, uncut and natural form. Each piece is registered within the Fairtrade system to ensure that her concept and inspiration “to blend aesthetics with a story and knowledge of origin” is achieved.
While we love the raw ethical sentiment behind her collection, we adore the playfulness of her designs. The Rubix ring, inspired by the Rubik’s cube, is made with multicoloured stones set in three rotating bands and The Revolver ring features a spinning barrel of stones. Each one is a sparkling masterpiece.
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