It seems surprising in retrospect that the term ‘sexism’ didn’t enter the language until the late 1960s, long after the suffragette movement gained worldwide attention, and over a half a century after the first International Women’s Day, which is observed for the 102nd time today.
If you’re in London this January, there are three exhibitions worth catching before they close later this month. Each one will strike a chord with anyone interested in Centre Point and the visual culture of the 1960s.
While millions flood onto Oxford Street to grab their last-minute gifts, it’s interesting to reflect on how tastes have changed over the years.
The use of ‘happening’ as an adjective came about through a meeting of two contrasting cultures: conceptual art and street talk.
Centre Point is the product of a fascinating period in British architecture: a time of confident experimentation and optimism about the future. It has been cited as part of the Brutalist movement, but the story is more complex than that.
The Frieze Art Fair commences in London today and runs until the 14th of October. It is one of the best places to get a sense of what’s happening in contemporary art. To coincide with the opening, we’re taking a look back at the art that defined the 1960s.
With the London Design Festival under way – a celebration of commercially-minded creativity across the capital – it seems a good time to look back at the visual culture of the 1960s. This was a time when sophisticated branding was suddenly everywhere: posters, packaging, glossy new magazines, and on the colour televisions that became a fixture in people’s living rooms.
As London Fashion Week gets under way, it’s a good time to look back at one of the key trends that influenced London in 1966 – one which you could argue has parallels with Centre Point itself.
Grooves have been around since at least the 15th century and probably long before. Back then, the word referred solely to furrows or ditches. In the 19th century, people even talked about things being ‘groovy’, but strictly in the sense of ‘possessing the physical qualities of a groove’.
If good photographers capture the mood of an era, great photographers help create it. Three photography greats were at the centre of the Swinging London scene throughout the 1960s. David Bailey, Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy were all native, working-class Londoners, and the city in which they worked was a continual source of inspiration.
