A Journey Through London’s Subculture: 1980 to Now

The Old Selfridges Hotel is hosting the ICA’s off-site exhibit, showing all that London has to offer in artist weirdness

The exhibition consists of 56 vitrines, which were given to 60 individuals and collectives to fill with whatever they liked. The work displayed brings together a range of multi-disciplinary practises, which include art, fashion and graphics from different influential figures. For example, one box was filled entirely with glitter, one was filled with photograph films and another had bits of pig bones in it. The vitrines work as a visual diary from 1980 to now.

The exhibition opens with work from the early eighties, such as the ‘mudlarking’ movement. Designers such as Judy Blame and John Moore spearheaded this movement by incorporating mudlarking into fashion and art. Moving later into the eighties, a section of the exhibition is dedicated to the Young British Artists. The YBA were a group of visual artists who first began to exhibit their work together in the late 1980s; famous artists such as Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin were amongst that group. The exhibition also features artefacts from famous nightspots Kinky Gerlinky, Delirium and Boombox, which represent the underground rave scene. Although each vitrine is different, the Curator Gregor Muir hoped to show how there is a common thread woven throughout all the work displayed. The post punk era has influenced modern day London and the endless vibrancy of London’s underground scene still exists today.

You cannot help but detect a touch of irony as you climb the little derelict stairway of the Old Selfridges Hotel, which remains tucked discreetly behind a little doorway amidst the bustle of Oxford Street. What would have been a bastion of upper class privilege in its day now houses the ICA’s exhibition, which explores the sub-cultures that have inhabited London’s back streets, squats and warehouses. The exhibition spans from the post-punk hangover of the 1980s to the Acid rave scene of the mid-90s.

Crudely constructed and trough-like caskets built of MDF scatter the neglected room, and the orange glow of industrial light bulbs bathes what would otherwise be a cold space in the warmth of a post-sunset glow. The exhibit itself represents a departure from the typical linear chronology that one might expect from a visual biography of London’s artistic underground. Rather than presenting us with a typical A to Z journey through the development of London’s subcultural spectrum, the spectator is treated to a spider web-like construction that starts with G and then attempts to show us how D, E, F and A have informed and inspired the former. The exhibit illustrates the inter-connectivity between the varied disciplines on display. It seems to imply that perhaps the emergence of the Young British Artists movement was a progression from 80s DIY fashion culture, and that the bizarre exhibitionism of performance artist Leigh Bowery could have at least partially inspired the work of fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Even if you weren’t, or aren’t adventurous enough to sample the different lifestyles on display at the ICA exhibition (the vitrine exhibiting the Anal House Meltdown club night, founded by artist George Henry Longly, caught me a tad unawares) the exhibition offers a visually stimulating and intellectually challenging snapshot into each contributor’s aesthetic. As I wandered through the trinkets, cuttings and artefacts of times gone passed and made my way back to the little derelict stairway that would take me back to the animation of Oxford Street, I could not help but wonder if in three decades time, the public would look back on the subcultures that inhabit contemporary London society with the same sense of intrigue.

Throughout this project, the individual vitrines come together to create a narrative, which is open to interpretation at each stage. So each visitor can gain an individual understanding of the city of London throughout the decades since the 1980s. The main connotations gained from the exhibition is the powerful evidence that the present is hugely linked to the past. The current trends and subcultures presented around London can be located within London’s past cultural archives. This exhibition demonstrates that London’s vibrant subcultural scene didn’t disappear with the post-punk era. Trends in fashion, art and music regenerate, and the past can influence the now.

British DJ and song writer Princess Julia was heavily involved in the construction of the exhibit, and commented that “there’s never been an exhibition like this before”.

Ben Luke of the Evening Standard has described the venue as ideal for “documenting countercultural movements and individuals, whose work was not often seen by many when it was made but was frequently hugely influential later.”

I believe this exhibition will provide both a sense of nostalgia and a desire to celebrate the past, for those who were and were not there to experience these subcultures first-hand. It provides a glimpse into the past, present and possibly a peek into the future of London’s subcultures.