North: Identity, Photography, Fashion

#North

North: Identity, Photography, Fashion explores the way the North of England is depicted, constructed and celebrated in select photographs, artworks and fashion collections. The show brings together collective visions of the North, unpicking themes that appear regularly in design and media.

Featured objects include documentary work dating back over eighty years, and fashion media from the last thirty years. The ways in which the realities captured in the early projects have become tropes, rehashed and recreated year on year, season on season, is considered. In Looking North, the cultural historian Dave Russell writes, ‘The real skill will be in learning to look beneath the clichés and habits of imagination that lie at the heart of these myths.’
 With this in mind, this exhibition is both about the style and cultural heritage of the North, and the ways in which ideals of it – the clothes, the music, the smells, the houses, the men, the women, the communities – have spread and, in turn, been shaped by others through visual representations. It is about the evolution of tradition, character and identity as much as it is photography and fashion.

The cultural output of the North has had a global influence. On display, work by international designers shows the far-reaching relevance of North-inspired motifs and their appeal to audiences who may never have set foot in the region but feel a connection through music, graphics or style. Testimonies to this are Paul Smith’s Manchester themed pieces, which are sold exclusively in Japan under his
 R. Newbold line. To many, the influence of the North relates to highly personal reflections or formative experiences – their designs or artworks pay tribute to the heroes of their youth, the streets they used to walk or the characters they once wishes to emulate.

Also on display are interviews from designers that hail from the North of England, who discuss the impact the region and their upbringing had on their creative output. Created by the team at SHOWstudio, a platform dedicated to fashion film and live media, these original commissions are available online on SHOWstudio’s North series, which corresponds with this exhibition and features additional contributions and writing. showstudio.com/project/north

Exhibition curated by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray. Set design by Tony Hornecker. Display Units by Theo Simpson and Alisdair Simpson. Kindly supported by adidas.

Special thanks to Peter Saville, Nick Knight and the team at SHOWstudio, Mike Chetcuti, Gary Aspden and the team at adidas, and all contributing artists.

Featured artists are Alasdair McLellan, Glen Luchford, Corinne Day, David Sims, Jamie Hawkesworth, Jason Evans, Alice Hawkins, Mark Leckey, Jeremy Deller, Raf Simons, Paul Smith, Virgil Abloh, New Power Studio, adidas, Elaine Constantine, Christopher Shannon, Maxwell Sterling, Simon Foxton, Ben Kelly, Stephen Jones, Gareth Pugh, Nick Knight, Peter Saville, John Bulmer, Peter Mitchell, Nik Hartley, Claire Barrow, Humphrey Spender, Thom Murphy, Ewen Spencer, Brett Dee, Humphrey Jennings, Dave Turner, Rob Williams, David Ellison, Scott King, Shirley Baker, Greg Leach, John Davies, John Stoddart, Martin Roberts, Michael Robinson, Michelle Sank, Paul O’Donnell, Stephen McCoy, Tom Wood, John Skelton.