Le Cool London presents:
Realising it’s been 25 years since he launched the seminal UNKLE, musician, artist and curator James Lavelle decided to up the ante of his Daydreaming With… series and create a multi-sensory exhibition that celebrates his collaboration with artists such as 3D, Ben Drury and Futura, launches his new UNKLE album and takes a look back at the past quarter of a century. The show’s running until 23rd February at the Lazarides Gallery on Rathbone Place.
Don’t you and Steve Lazarides go way back?
Steve’s one of the first people to ever take a picture of me for Mo’wax. He’s one of the only people who ever came to the first Mo’wax office, which was in Fulham and he was taking pictures of raves at the time. He took pictures of The Federation who were one of the first bands on Mo’wax as they were from Bristol. So way, way, way back. When he opened his gallery on Charing Cross Road, me and 3D did the first ever show there, which was called War Stories. Then I did an installation with him at his show Brutal on the Strand. I’ve known Steve for a long, long time.
Steve’s one of the first people to ever take a picture of me for Mo’wax. He’s one of the only people who ever came to the first Mo’wax office, which was in Fulham and he was taking pictures of raves at the time. He took pictures of The Federation who were one of the first bands on Mo’wax as they were from Bristol. So way, way, way back. When he opened his gallery on Charing Cross Road, me and 3D did the first ever show there, which was called War Stories. Then I did an installation with him at his show Brutal on the Strand. I’ve known Steve for a long, long time.
And this edition of Daydreaming With… celebrates 25 years of UNKLE and the launch of your new album. Were you like “Steve, give us your gallery.”?
We’d been talking about things for a while and he helped me for my Kubrick show, producing some artworks that myself and John Isaacs made. We had a meeting about three months ago about various bits and pieces and he said he had space in January if I wanted to do something. Typically I said yes and at that time I had the new record coming out and some new video works and initially I wanted to put them in a gallery and try something different in launching them and engage them with people. Then I had a brainwave that it’s 25 years of UNKLE this year, and there was going to be some re-releases around that. I thought it would be good to do a variety of different shows around that, starting with Laz. This show has a bit of retrospective feel and there is a 25 year theme, but essentially for me this is really about new stuff happening. It’s not an ultimate retrospective. In an ideal world I’d love to do something that’s more of a retrospective thing at the end of the year.
We’d been talking about things for a while and he helped me for my Kubrick show, producing some artworks that myself and John Isaacs made. We had a meeting about three months ago about various bits and pieces and he said he had space in January if I wanted to do something. Typically I said yes and at that time I had the new record coming out and some new video works and initially I wanted to put them in a gallery and try something different in launching them and engage them with people. Then I had a brainwave that it’s 25 years of UNKLE this year, and there was going to be some re-releases around that. I thought it would be good to do a variety of different shows around that, starting with Laz. This show has a bit of retrospective feel and there is a 25 year theme, but essentially for me this is really about new stuff happening. It’s not an ultimate retrospective. In an ideal world I’d love to do something that’s more of a retrospective thing at the end of the year.
How do you gather the merry band of people for Daydreaming?
Fundamentally it’s the work that people create and the communication that you have between one another. It’s a very diverse group of people but if you sat them all down together you’d find that they all had weird emotional or creative symmetry. For instance, John Isaacs was staying at my house recently and talking about Futura and on the wall I’ve got a Futura Clash poster and John’s favourite band is The Clash – there are always these weird connections. For me it’s the person and what they’re saying.
Fundamentally it’s the work that people create and the communication that you have between one another. It’s a very diverse group of people but if you sat them all down together you’d find that they all had weird emotional or creative symmetry. For instance, John Isaacs was staying at my house recently and talking about Futura and on the wall I’ve got a Futura Clash poster and John’s favourite band is The Clash – there are always these weird connections. For me it’s the person and what they’re saying.
Do you give them many parameters?
All the artists here have reacted in some way or another to something that we’ve made on the new record. That’s the premise of the show I suppose. When I started Daydreaming With… it was that people reacted to UNKLE. Then we did further experiments and then the opportunity happened to do a Kubrick-themed one, so it became more about film. Daydreaming, as it’s growing, is engaging art in the world of film and music. The art world’s changed quite a lot and the beginning of that for me was how Warhol engaged with things; now you look at someone like Damian Hirst who has the art side of things but also the whole merchandise side of it too. It’s quite interesting how those worlds are colliding. My initial reaction to start Daydreaming was about the fact that music was becoming really disposable, so if you put music in a different environment then how would people engage with it. I think that sort of works. I also think that there’s a whole other thing going on with how things work socially – people aren’t going clubbing like they used to, that social side of clubbing is different. It’s definitely not like when I was doing Bar Rumba or The Blue Note. When you used to do those older clubs they were a real mixture of cultural things coming together, artists, musicians, directors all together. What I’m hoping for this is that it’s bringing people together but not necessarily in a highbrow way, it’s sort of a cultural experience rather than a big retrospective or a traditional art show. There are quite a lot of interesting levels also, I hope to engage with quite a cross-section of people from young children to older adults.
All the artists here have reacted in some way or another to something that we’ve made on the new record. That’s the premise of the show I suppose. When I started Daydreaming With… it was that people reacted to UNKLE. Then we did further experiments and then the opportunity happened to do a Kubrick-themed one, so it became more about film. Daydreaming, as it’s growing, is engaging art in the world of film and music. The art world’s changed quite a lot and the beginning of that for me was how Warhol engaged with things; now you look at someone like Damian Hirst who has the art side of things but also the whole merchandise side of it too. It’s quite interesting how those worlds are colliding. My initial reaction to start Daydreaming was about the fact that music was becoming really disposable, so if you put music in a different environment then how would people engage with it. I think that sort of works. I also think that there’s a whole other thing going on with how things work socially – people aren’t going clubbing like they used to, that social side of clubbing is different. It’s definitely not like when I was doing Bar Rumba or The Blue Note. When you used to do those older clubs they were a real mixture of cultural things coming together, artists, musicians, directors all together. What I’m hoping for this is that it’s bringing people together but not necessarily in a highbrow way, it’s sort of a cultural experience rather than a big retrospective or a traditional art show. There are quite a lot of interesting levels also, I hope to engage with quite a cross-section of people from young children to older adults.
Do you like the distraction of having to organise a show and make music and curate stuff all at the same time?
I like a lot of distraction, I like to move around. Sometimes it can be a really positive thing, sometimes it could be a negative thing. What really excites me is working with really great people and that energy and being able to collaborate with people on that level. That’s what I love doing – bringing people together and being part of that experience. I’m a big fan of what all these people do so I’m very fortunate to have that trust.
Do you daydream?
Yes! I daydream a lot. I just disappear, I’m a smoker and that’s my poison. I have to drift – I have this weird thing where I drift and have to aggressively stop and make it all work. I’m constantly writing – whether it’s lyrics or notes or ideas – I’ve got millions of notes, which I’ve got to forge into some kind of reality. Some things can go on for years and others are very immediate. Sometimes it depends on the people you’re working with – everyone has a different process.
I like a lot of distraction, I like to move around. Sometimes it can be a really positive thing, sometimes it could be a negative thing. What really excites me is working with really great people and that energy and being able to collaborate with people on that level. That’s what I love doing – bringing people together and being part of that experience. I’m a big fan of what all these people do so I’m very fortunate to have that trust.
Do you daydream?
Yes! I daydream a lot. I just disappear, I’m a smoker and that’s my poison. I have to drift – I have this weird thing where I drift and have to aggressively stop and make it all work. I’m constantly writing – whether it’s lyrics or notes or ideas – I’ve got millions of notes, which I’ve got to forge into some kind of reality. Some things can go on for years and others are very immediate. Sometimes it depends on the people you’re working with – everyone has a different process.
Your Cream Live Two album with the Streetfighter intro was pretty much the most pirated thing at my school. With this exhibition you’re reaching to times even before that, what kind of memory lanes have you walked down?
There’s been a mixture of different things; there’s archival things that we’re selling, there’s new stuff that we’ve made and as there are things happening throughout the year I’ve been back into the archive and gone deep into it. There were so many things I came across that I’d forgotten about – loads of articles and photographs, to notes and artworks I’d forgotten about. The biggest one I found was the first baseball jacket I had as a kid, which was a gold DMC jacket. The gold ones were only given to the DMC world championship winners and this one belonged to Sefton the Terminator, the world Beatbox champion, and he’d given it to me when I was 14 at Bluebird Records. I remember wearing that in Oxford and literally having three people trying to mug me. I also found one of my original Filofaxes, which was incredible. It had everything from Geoff Portishead right through to Marley Marl, and Mike D to the editor of Blues and Soul. It’s got all kinds of people, some who aren’t alive anymore, some who’ve gone on to do incredibly well and it’s all handwritten in a telephone book. It’s a real snapshot of the world I was in at the time. Oh, and I found an old Blockbuster card too.
There’s been a mixture of different things; there’s archival things that we’re selling, there’s new stuff that we’ve made and as there are things happening throughout the year I’ve been back into the archive and gone deep into it. There were so many things I came across that I’d forgotten about – loads of articles and photographs, to notes and artworks I’d forgotten about. The biggest one I found was the first baseball jacket I had as a kid, which was a gold DMC jacket. The gold ones were only given to the DMC world championship winners and this one belonged to Sefton the Terminator, the world Beatbox champion, and he’d given it to me when I was 14 at Bluebird Records. I remember wearing that in Oxford and literally having three people trying to mug me. I also found one of my original Filofaxes, which was incredible. It had everything from Geoff Portishead right through to Marley Marl, and Mike D to the editor of Blues and Soul. It’s got all kinds of people, some who aren’t alive anymore, some who’ve gone on to do incredibly well and it’s all handwritten in a telephone book. It’s a real snapshot of the world I was in at the time. Oh, and I found an old Blockbuster card too.
James Lavelle: Daydreaming with UNKLE Presents…THE ROAD: SOHO is at Lazarides Gallery, Rathbone Place and runs until 23rd February
More on Lazinc
James Lavelle takes over Lazarides with his latest Daydreaming with... exhibition!
Tuesday 17th of January 2017
James Lavelle is renowned for many things, from his work in the music industry to his art exhibition series; Daydreaming with… Lavelle has managed to create a unique experience within these shows by partnering various different mediums such as films, sculptures, music and even smell within an art gallery environment. The aim is not only to bring all forms of creative art together but also to encourage collaborations that may not be seen elsewhere.
The unique part of his shows are the various reactions from this sensory overload: whether it's a toy or a music piece there's something to enjoy for every age and every background.
Lavelle's Lazarides show will celebrate 25 years of UNKLE and will kick-start the release of his brand-new album, THE ROAD. For UNKLE, this will be the start of a multitude of events celebrating his history in music so it was only logical that the first exhibition takes place where it all began: Soho.
The event will take place at Lazarides Rathbone. It will focus on creating a different way to experience and engage with UNKLE's new music and combine the past, present and future of UNKLE. Lavelle will be taking over two floors at the gallery, with the first floor being a virtual reality experience.
Exclusive prints and unique items will be available within the pop-up shop on the ground floor and a variety of events, including new music releases from UNKLE, will take place over the exhibition period.
Exhibition dates
The exhibition runs from 20th January 2017 to 23rd February 2017
The exhibition runs from 20th January 2017 to 23rd February 2017
Opening hours
Wednesday–Saturday 11am–7pm. Admission is free!
Wednesday–Saturday 11am–7pm. Admission is free!
Address: 11 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HR
Closest tube stations: Tottenham Court Road (5min walk); Goodge Street (7min walk); Oxford Street (10min walk)
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