Don't Worry I'm Sick and Poor @ICA London

About

Born from the lack of diversity in art education and disappointment in art curriculums, Don’t Worry I’m Sick and Poor is a lecture series created by artists and facilitators Ellie Harman-Taylor (whinegums), Ashleigh Williams and Georgina Tyson (Babeworld) as an essential alternative within art education. Artists are invited to give lectures based on their experiences of the art world – whether that’s in the form of a love letter to your nan, the complexities of pricing up meal deals at Tesco during your degree, or your aversion to eggs. Attend these lectures to discover how to finesse the system – from one marginalised person to another.

By creating an accessible critical framework through formatting and digestible language, Don’t Worry, I’m Sick and Poor aims to open up a new dialogue- an alternative to academic critique and its place in modern society.

Babeworld and ICA present a series of three lectures, introducing themselves and their work and featuring artists Gabriella Davies and Justin Piccirilli.

Ellie Harman-Taylor (she/her) is a CSM Fine Art graduate who also makes work under the internet persona whinegums, a poor and disabled girl identical to Ellie, except she refuses to hide her utter dysfunction anymore, instead blasting it on her Instagram page in a hope to connect with others and work against the stigma of the complex mentally ill. Ellie Harman-Taylor and whinegums are the same person, the internet simply enables whinegums to embrace her mental-ness, posting whatever the fuck she wants. Ellie’s work centers themes around the body and its mystery, accessibility, hap-hazard making using DIY methods and anything she can get her hands on from poundland.

Gabriella Davies (she/her) is a 29-year-old artist who ran away from being poor and marginalised in Stoke to live the artist dream of being poor and marginalised in London. Previously described as ‘a reasonable balance of swearing & insight’ and ‘chic & tacky all at the same time’, she is a working-class trans woman from the midlands with an answer for everything. Known as the queen of one-liners, with a knack for killer titles, she plays to her strengths; taking class and gender and turning them on the world as her lens.

Justin Piccirilli: Amid a full-blown existential crisis following a life-changing accident, London born artist, Justin Piccirilli (he/his) was left bed-bound and unable to work. After being isolated, depressed, opioid dependent then forced to defend himself in prolonged welfare tribunals, he was referred to Core Arts in Homerton, by the City and Hackney Primary Care Mental Health Liaison Service. There, he started to produce work, adopting art as therapy, adapting to disability, highlighting socio-political barriers designed to target the most vulnerable in society and agitating for on-going government policy in urgent need of reform.

Babeworld focus on themes of political and societal identity, such as disability/ accessibility, mental health, sex work, ‘poverty porn’, oversharing- otherwise known as attention-seeking on the internet. By creating an accessible critical framework through formatting and digestible language, we are opening up a new dialogue- an alternative to academic critique and its place in modern society. Babeworld relies heavily on collaboration and inclusivity. The goal is to create a welcoming and safe space for those who are marginalised, particularly in ways which are not visible, those who are restricted by their class, gender, race, and everything in between.