#peckham pelican

[sea-of-concrete]

📸 Dawson’s Heights and the City of London

[lost-carcosa]

Goat, Kew, 5 August

Elephants, Chelsea, 6 August

Monkeys, Brick Lane, 7 August

Wolf, Peckham, 8 August (subsequently stolen)

Pelicans, Walthamstow, 9 August

[mercadona007]

what places would you recommend to visit in london?

Depends really what your vibe and interests are because London is so vast. I have a couple of set routine things I do when I’m in London, not because they’re amazing but because I associate really good memories with them. I always stay in south london and I love brixton and Peckham. Just walking around there is great, if you’re planning on cooking meals, the market in brixton on electric ave is great. Also the shops in and around brixton village are cute for drinks and eats. I eat a ton of oysters when I’m in the UK because I love them and they’re way cheaper than in Germany. I suggest borough market on weekdays when it’s less crowded or Broadway market on Saturday (crowded tho). Dumplings in Chinatown is a nice outing for a Sunday. Barbican for a walk. Having a full English is, maybe at E. Pellicis, which is walking distance from brick lane where you can eat even more food and have a beigel at beigel bake and have a good coffee. Brighton is fairly close by train, go there and have dinner at riddle & finns. Peckham pelican is nice for a casual beer and journaling. The racketeer for a fancy cocktail after Sightseeing. The royal oak is a nice pub. Walk through hampstead heath for a view of the whole city. I love walking through dalston. Mind you I’m not from London, so sorry to all my London cuties reading this and thinking to yourselves what the hell im suggesting. Those things make me happy tho.

[thogdin]

Various press and praise for Gary J. Shipley’s Warewolff

“JG Ballard on crack” — Stewart Home

“Beyond horror or the fictional… these convulsions and reassignments can be thought of as twenty-first century probabilities — those current realities of public dreaming that we accept as our present conditions” — David Toop

ABSENCES AND INHUMANITY: 5 WORKS OF ABSTRACT HORROR at LitHub

Favourite of 2017 — Dennis Cooper

Books I recently Loved — Dennis Cooper

“Warewolff! is a blistering read” — Neon Books

“Shipley has bored a hole into the inner life of a multitude of subconscious minds... The sheer intimacy of strangeness Shipley’s novel conveys is appalling. But it is also uncomfortably familiar... No one likes the sound of themselves on tape" — 3AM

“Shipley is one of the most daring contemporary horror writers, with an enviable command of prose, and has the audacity to go exactly where one doesn’t go... The Warewolff carves itself out with stolen tongues” — Heavy Feather Review

“Horrific and confounding violence. So horrific. So  confounding. So violent. So unique and amazing. All of it” — 11 Amazing Books From 2017, Neon Grisly

“Extraordinary, incantatory fiction in which the contemporary world is both observed and distorted by the feral Lovecraftian consciousness of the book’s own shape-shifting narrator. The more unsettling and uncategorisable the better seems to be the Hexus ethos” — artist Wayne Burrows, Backlit Gallery and Nottingham Writers’ Studio

"Instead of what books can do for me, I’m interested in what books can do to me. And folks, I’m telling you, this shit can be like a drug. I’m talking full-on altered states of consciousness" — Broken River Books

“Its dispersal is the horror of biomorphism: a condition somewhat akin to life that, like Shipley’s alien, ‘discloses its arrangements’ through our language centers. And this is the condition of unbinding: we are spoken by something; we pass into something without the assurance that our hunger is our own” — Enemy Industry

“Shipley's words were cast over us, with the synths growling, initially quietly, underneath... The language and imagery was everything I expected it to be -- vicious, grotesque, transgressive, obscene, and darkly comic” — The Electric Philosopher (review of launch reading)

Readings at Burley Fisher; The Peckham Pelican; The Klinker Club.

Accompanying playlist courtesy of Reckless Records Blog

“This is a book to make a mockery of the Goodreads star rating system, as it's a collection of prose poetry that overturns petty value judgements of 'story' and 'character' and rolls around in the mess on the floor. Warewolff! is experimental horror that's a disquieting read with flashes of sick humour shining through the darkness.” And of course... Goodreads

[zarfpoetry]

you are invited to the launch of Toward Passion According, a new pamphlet of poems by Jazmine Linklater – with readings from Laura Elliott, Sally-Shakti Willow, and Jazmine Linklater! 

7pm, Sunday 18th February, at the Peckham Pelican, 92 Peckham Road, London

you can also find information about the event on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/201428337106581/

entry is free, and there will be a book & zine table. we hope to see you there!

ABOUT THE POETS

Sally-Shakti Willow researches and writes utopian poetics at the University of Westminster, where she is also a visiting lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing.  Her poems have been published by Adjacent Pineapple, Eyewear, The Projectionist’s Playground and Zarf.  The Unfinished Dream, a collaborative chapbook with visual artist Joe Evans, was published by Sad Press in 2016. Sally is the research assistant for The Contemporary Small Press project run by the Institute of Modern and Contemporary Culture at the University of Westminster, and is on the judging panel for the Republic of Consciousness Prize for literary fiction from the small presses.  Follow her on Twitter: @Spaewitch.

Laura Elliott is a poet and library worker in London. She co-edits the poetry publishing experiment para·text with Angus Sinclair (@paratextual | paratext.co.uk). Her debut collection, lemon, egg, bread, was published by Test Centre in 2017.

Jazmine Linklater’s lives and writes in Manchester. Her first pamphlet, Toward Passion According is published by Zarf Editions, 2017 (you can buy it here), and a second, Découper, Coller, follows from Dock Road Press in 2018. She runs social media for T-junction International Poetry Festival and works part-time at Carcanet.

[southeastdrift-blog]

[matuklon]

A small exhibition of my paintings at Summer Splash on Pelican Estate in Peckham last Saturday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXX05eRFZW9/

[oliveryuchan]

Overlap of Peckham Pelican, London, 2019, acrylic on canvas paper, 508x405m, Available 

[livfranchini]

We launched a magazine. Our submissions are now open.

[peckhampeculiar]

Painter man

TOM PHILLIPS IS A HIGHLY ACCLAIMED, PECKHAM-BASED ARTIST WHO HAS BEEN ACTIVE FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS.

Here, he talks about his fascinating and varied career and calling up his friend Brian Eno on the phone

WORDS: SEAMUS HASSON;  PHOTO: LIMA CHARLIE

Tom Phillips is a local artist who has led a rather extraordinary life. A painter and sculptor of con­siderable renown, he is also a composer, set de­signer and writer. He has received commissions to produce artworks for the likes of Westminster Cathedral and Westminster Abbey and has held high-profile positions at some of the country’s most prestigious cultural institutions.

While Tom is an artist of international acclaim, he is also known locally as the bloke who de­signed the mosaics and iconic curved lamp posts on Bellenden Road.

I arrange to meet him at the Peckham Pelican on the August bank holiday, but on arrival we dis­cover it is closed for the day. After a brief discus­sion about how to proceed, we hop on the 345 to­wards Camberwell and settle for a greasy spoon a few stops down. Perhaps not the most distin­guished setting to interview one of the country’s most esteemed artists and a trustee of the British Museum, but Tom is without pretension.

“I’m a south London boy,” he says. “I’ve lived all of my life in south London and most of it in Peck­ham.”

Tom was born in Clapham in 1937, where he spent his early years and attended Henry Thorn­ton Grammar School. From there he achieved his ambition of going to Oxford. “I wanted to go there because I wanted to act in plays and things like that,” he explains. “So, I went and studied – as they call it – English, for about half an hour a day.

“[While there] I was drawing all the time and looking at art and reading about art and wanted to go to art school. Luckily enough the one I chose was about 100 yards from where my mother had bought a house.”

Tom went to the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, where he was taught by German-Brit­ish painter Frank Auerbach. Fortuitously for him, his mother had bought a house on Talfourd Road some years earlier.

“We were going bankrupt I think as a family and she bought the house in Peckham because they didn’t cost anything, about £500, and let it out to art students ironically enough. I was the last art student to occupy it and took it over bit by bit.”

The property is the studio where Tom contin­ues to work, producing pieces that have been shown across the world. “My art school life was here in Peckham,” he says. “When I left Oxford, I had to get a job like people do, so I did teaching. I taught in a school in Brixton and went to evening classes here at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts as they called it then.

“The only artist I knew about who was teaching was Frank Auerbach so I joined his class and that was the deal done as far as my life was concerned. I think you always need someone who passes the baton on, you know, it’s a race that we’re all run­ning one after the other.

“So, I followed lots of his advice and learnt a lot from him as well as other people who were there who were interesting.”

It wasn’t long before the art world was taking notice of Tom’s work. His first solo show was in 1965 at the Artists’ International Association Gal­lery in London, followed by an exhibition at the Angela Flowers Gallery in 1970.

“Right away I was doing my own work, I won a prize or two and got noticed a bit,” he says. “Even­tually it seemed possible to do it as a living, which I managed to do in the end. I’m still managing.”

In 1966 he began a project that is still occupy­ing him today. “A Humument” came about when he set himself the task of finding a book for three­pence and altering every page with painting, col­lage and cut-up techniques to create an entirely new version.

The book he chose (at random) was an 1892 novel called A Human Document by WH Mallock. “It was an old Victorian novel. I picked it up by chance actually on Peckham Rye, on the exact spot where Blake saw his first angels,” he says. “I got it in a big shop called Austin’s, which is gone now.”

Although the final edition of A Humument was published in 2016, Tom has found it difficult to leave it behind. “I thought I’d work on that for a bit and I ended up working on it for 50 years,” he says.

“And I’m still working on it actually; although I’ve published a final edition. I can’t stop, it’s too interesting. It leaves a black hole in your life when you’ve been doing something for 50 years and then suddenly you say stop.

“I certainly was lucky in the book that I chose. It’s got an undertext and a sort of darkness and is full of interesting things you can find. Even the other day I was thinking how there are things in modern life that don’t crop up, when I suddenly saw in the middle of a page I was going to work on the words, ‘me too’.

“I thought, ‘Well, me too didn’t mean anything in the 1890s but now it’s got a relevance to it’, so I moved around that idea.”

A Humument was shown in an exhibition at the Royal Academy, where Tom has been chairman of the exhibitions committee since 1995.

It was also exhibited in a museum in Massachu­setts and the book illustrating the work is avail­able on Amazon.

A renowned portrait artist, Tom’s subjects have included the likes of the cast of Monty Python as well as personal friends such as Iris Murdoch and Salman Rushdie.

In 1989, he became only the second artist to have a retrospective of his portraits shown at the National Portrait Gallery (his portrait of Iris Mur­doch is still on display there).

Another of his subjects was Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. “I spent a couple of weeks paint­ing his portrait when he was rehearsing a play here,” says Tom.

“He was interested in A TV Dante [a television series that Tom directed for Channel 4] and I was showing him what I was doing. I was doing a translation of Dante with pictures and he was rather kind about it. He was just a nice, lovely man.”

Locally, Tom is involved in a photographic pro­ject called 20 Sites n Years, where he takes pho­tographs in and around Peckham of the same site, on or around the same day, at the same time each year.

It has been going since 1973 and has been made into a film by Jake Auerbach, Frank Auer­bach’s son.

Another area of the arts that has played a big role in Tom’s life is music. As a young man he sang in the Philharmonia Chorus, which he describes as being “rather grand”.

“I did singing at school of course and played in­struments very badly, which I continue to do. But I could sing without having the skill of playing an instrument, so I then joined the leading choir in the country it seemed to me.”

In the late 1960s, he gained recognition for his experimental opera, Irma, and during his teach­ing career, he taught and befriended the avant-garde musician and producer, Brian Eno.

“He was a student. I can’t name many students who have done anything because I’m not a very good teacher,” he laughs. “But with someone like Brian it was difficult not to get things going.

“We worked together a little here and there. He made versions of things that I had done, and we were both associated with something called the Scratch Orchestra. He’s a person who always has the same phone number, which rather impresses me. I mean I don’t belong to a glamorous world like he does, but still the same old phone number gets Brian. Perhaps I’m the only person left who has that number.”

Talking to Tom, all sorts of brilliant anecdotes pop up. A keen ping pong player, he once played a tournament with the author Howard Jacobson and Salman Rushdie round at Charles Saatchi’s house. Then there was the time he got on the wrong side of the authorities in South Africa.

“I did the curation at the big African art exhibi­tion at the Royal Academy,” he says. “It all came through travelling in Africa and originally in South Africa. But then I sort of wondered how I could get involved as an artist. So, I joined a group called Artists Against Apartheid and we showed all over the world.

“I got into trouble slightly in South Africa itself because I overprinted banknotes with a slogan. In South Africa there were notices all over benches and things saying ‘slegs vir blankes’, which means reserved for whites.

“So, I made up this rubber stamp that said ‘slegs vir almal’, which means reserved for every­body and I put a rubber stamp upon every note that came through my hands. After that I was told that I wasn’t very welcome here in South Africa. It then became a little known as a slogan.”

With his days of political activism in the past and A Humument beginning to wind down, what does a typical day now look like for Tom Phillips, the artist?

“I’m doing everything I always did,” he says. “I was very lucky in the things that I did. They inter­ested me. I can’t think of anything that I want to do that I could do that I haven’t done. Not really. It filled the time – I’m 82.”

[sea-of-concrete]

📸 The Shard and the City of London 30 minutes before sunrise

[bythevayviktoria]

Peckham Pelican

Entering the place looking around like I smelt something expired from our fridge. After a few minutes of childish sulkiness I open up.  V: You know I am a bit bored with these hip-cool-white-middle-class-beanie-and-yellow-socks wearing places all over London. I want dirt, I want ugly, I want real, I want to see colors, I want to see true interaction between people which is not this English distant bullshit on an avocado toast next to an oat flat white.

N: I believe you are a bit delusional if you think you are going to find this in Camberwell, when you are sitting in a coffee shop where a proper winter market is taking place. 

V: ( shrugs shoulders) You are not wrong.

[cordasursumcorda-blog]

https://www.facebook.com/events/253114811781819/

CORDA MAGAZINE is a new journal exploring communal experience of connections in the time of new borders, edited by Livia Franchini and Sean P Haughton. Issue One launches March 2017.

To celebrate, we are holding a launch party at The Peckham Pelican, on March 23d, from 7pm.

With readings from: ARIA ABER ALICE ASH JOE BRIGGS EFE DUYAN CHARLOTTE HEATHER DIZZ TATE

And DJ sets from: B P (Another Subculture/Pub Classics) KAI DOLLA $IGN (Self Defense Family/Dregs/Bloomer) MARIA CECILIA (Es/Gold Foil/Primetime) MATT FISCH (Free Movement)

This is a free event. Print copies of CORDA will be available to buy.

You can pre-order Issue One here: http://cordamagazine.tictail.com/

The Peckham Pelican is an accessible venue. Beer and coffee is cheap. Hot food is available throughout.

http://cordasursumcorda.org/ http://www.thepeckhampelican.co.uk/

[contextualstudies]

PROJECT 1: KEEP WALKING INTENTLY

Walk 3

Taking inspiration from Keg de Souza’s mapping methods for my last walk, I decided to use those techniques again this week for a longer walk. I created a map of certain parts of central London that I have a personal connection with. This is similar to the map Keg de Souza created of the local children's experiences of Pelican Estate in Peckham. I wanted my map to have images and writing around each location, such as my opinion of the place and memories there. 

I started from Leicester Square again and this time I walked down Shaftsbury Avenue where there are lots of theatres but is also quite touristy and in my opinion has rather tacky shops and doesn’t offer much for people who live in London. Then I came to Piccadilly Circus, it was big and busy and there was lots of traffic. I hate the giant billboard and I feel like the lovely looking Eros statue and buildings are almost ruined it’s brash commercialism.  The thoroughfare Piccadilly was much nicer. I passed all the nice classy restaurants, bars and shops. I had a look in Fortnum and Mason but unfortunately couldn't buy anything. I went past the Royal Academy and walked into the courtyard. I have quite a few fond memories here, one was when I came on a school trip in sixth form with my A level art class. I reflected on how much I have developed and grown as an artist since then and felt very proud of myself as I don't often think about how much I have improved. 

 I then took a shortcut through Burlington Arcade which is very pretty with its fancy looking shops and quite nice to walk through, even though its very elite. At the other end of the arcade I came to Cork St, which at first doesn't look like much but then I stumbled across a few nice small art galleries. I then turned into Bond St which had expensive shops and jewellers which aren't really my thing so I decided to cross Regent Street and turned into Fouberts Place which had nicer shops and smaller old buildings and I found it quite quaint. I felt excited as I headed into Carnaby Street which has some funky interesting shops and nice pubs, bars and cafes. There were a lot of young trendy people socializing and having a good time, as opposed to the busier streets like Bond Street where it's very crowded and people tend to get in the way of each other. I have some nice memories of going to Carnaby Street with my friends and browsing around the shops so I associate the place with good memories. To finish off my walk I went to Oxford Circus and got the tube home where I slumped down onto the seat, knackered from the long walk and struggled to stay awake during the journey home. I always find the train journey home relaxing and peaceful after an exciting and active day around central London, it's the best way to finish the day, 

[souldart]

WOM Inspired 2022 Mural Trail

If you are into street art and want to see something special, around 50 amazing graffiti women, from the WOM Collective have come together to create an awesome and huge Art Trail. When I say huge… I mean it covers the whole of London! Inspired by International Woman’s Day, there will be more live sprays happening around March. Many artists have collaborated together to create some unique pieces, as well as some creating their own. An online map (below) will help lead the way, as you want to know where to head...

On the doorstep of Peckham, we have our own collaboration piece, near the Peckham Peculiar café. I, Soul’D and 7th Pencil meet in the group and have been friends ever since. We are also stencil artists, so it nice to have that in common and be able to discuss different techniques and materials. We got together to create our piece for International Woman’s Day (with a supportive hint to Ukraine)

Our mural celebrates the uniqueness of all women from all backgrounds. Women Standing together as one, supporting each other and enjoying life.  

Flying around their heads are butterflies which is symbolise the 'Butterfly Effect" and aims to inspire and remind us all that actions and words create a knock-on effect, and to fill our words and actions with beauty and kindness. This has a continuous rippling effect on those around us. 

Always within Soul’D pieces, are hidden activation codes that activate the subconscious into taking action. They represent a unique mantra that she created; learn, understand, collaborate to protect our earth... This is the ethos behind all of Soul’D work and subliminally the aim is to help every single person become an earth warrior.  

The Flying aerosouls are a signature of 7th Pencils work. The used cans, after creating amazing pieces are then recycled and given a new lease of life. They represent freedom and liberation from oppression, from being stereotyped. Being reused and not discarded acts as a reminder of the circular economy which is a huge movement and ethos that will help save our planet. 

 You can find this art piece at: 102 Peckham Road, SE15 5BE  (Walmer Castle Court). It’s near Peckham Pelican, so grab a takeaway drink and go and have a looking at our mural. Let me your thoughts on this new piece.

What is WOM Collective: They are a grassroots collective of London based female artists passionate about inspiring and empowering each other and our communities. #internationalwomensday #internationalwomensday #womensrights #womensrightsarehumanrights #EachforEqual #beboldforchange #IWD #IWD2022 

[southeastdrift-blog]