In the words of disembodied head and professional Cockney Ray Winstone: “Nah that’s a proppa toow”. I can’t do accents, but that’s my impersonation of his impersonation of a Cockney. Anyway, the Tooled Up exhibition is sure to be Ray’s favourite cultural event of the year so far; some of today’s most exciting artists, illustrators and designers have been tasked with taking a recognisable craft implement and turning it into something completely different.
Art&Graft are the organisers of the event which is being held as part of Shoreditch Design Triangle and London Design Festival. So what have the imaginative contributors been up to then? The humble toolbox has been given a kaleidoscopic makeover by Saskia Pomeroy, Marie O’Connor’s carpet tool sculpture has found the right balance, while Jenny Bowers has re-purposed her screwdriver to winkle out the last bit of paint from the tube. Tooled Up is on show at Art&Graft’s studio on Brick Lane until 20 September as part of this year’s London Design Festival.
Untitled – Merijn Hos,
Hacksaw, wood, emulsion and Styrofoam
Duchess – Kustaa Saksi
Screwdriver, acrylic paint,
jacquard weave (mohair wool, wool & cotton)
Untitled – Marie O’Connor
Latch hook, wood, cork, polystyrene, clay,
fabric and leather cord.
Untitled – Jenny Bowers
Screwdriver and gouache tube
Photography, John Hooper
