ICA Off-Site: A Journey Through London's Subculture: 1980s to Now

About

The project occupies the vast first floor of the Old Selfridges Hotel, a cavernous industrial raw space, situated on Orchard Street directly above the department store and entered near the Selfridges Food Hall. The project brings together up to 60 influential artists and art movements from London past and present, including Bodymap, Matthew Darbyshire, Giles Deacon, Louise Gray, Zaha Hadid, Jeffrey Hinton, Sarah Lucas, Lucky PDF, Nicola Tyson, Julie Verhoeven, Studio Voltaire, Jonny Woo and Bethan Laura Wood.

A Journey Through London's Subculture: 1980s to Now takes a closer look at the link between artistic and creative endeavour in London from the early 1980s through to the emerging talent of 2013, proposing a single thread of creativity that can be traced back over the past twenty years. The ICA holds an integral place in this history, playing a unique role in the presentation of radical work by both established and emerging talent, many of whom are included in this project, to a wider audience at critical points in their careers.

The project is formed around 50 custom-made vitrines, each curated by artists or proponents of a particular creative scene, showcasing material ranging from flyers, books, photographs, drawings and other paraphernalia that capture a specific moment in time. This eclectic and personal approach takes visitors on a journey through creative culture in London, from post-punk to the present-day. It also fittingly ties in with Selfridges' own 'Bright Young Things' project, which champions carefully shortlisted new talent and offers them the unique opportunity to become one of the store's star brands for one season, with all the necessary support and headline exposure that comes with such a position.

Part of the project includes installations of work by SIBLING, Lucky PDF, Matthew Darbyshire and Haroon Mirza. In addition there are films screened on monitors throughout the space by artists including LondonAtella, Bodymap, Jonny Woo and John Maybury.

To accompany the project a full programme of events will run throughout the duration of the project including a series of related talks. A Journey Through London's Subculture: 1980s to Now is curated by ICA Executive Director Gregor Muir in collaboration with exhibition advisors Emily King (Curator and writer), Libby Sellers (Design Gallerist) and Princess Julia (Writer and DJ).