just kids: magnum photographers on youth culture

44 great russell street, wc1b 3bn (opposite the british museum)

17th may – 21st may 2017, 11am -7pm weds – sat, 12-5pm sun.

the magnum home incorporates an exhibition drawn from magnum’s archives curated by ekow eshun, and immersive design within a georgian townhouse and courtyard gallery, curated by yinka ilori. a programme of talks and events accompanies the show.

in may, plinth, magnum photos and publisher thames & hudson will present the magnum home, a pop-up space combining radical interior design with photography from the magnum archive. with an emphasis on some of magnum’s most contemporary and intriguing work, the magnum home will stage photography in a distinctly domestic environment – a listed georgian townhouse, opposite the british museum. curated by ekow eshun, and following the critical acclaim of his project made you look: dandyism and black masculinity at the photographers’ gallery, the exhibition will both span magnum’s archive and urge the viewer to look at it anew. just kids: magnum photographers on youth culture will explore how magnum photographers have documented youth culture in britain and internationally from the 1960s to the present day.

just kids focuses on style, deportment and attitude as key factors in how young people have asserted their personal politics and perspectives on gender, race and social status. it demonstrates the depth of insight that magnum photographers have brought to the perennial – and necessarily transient – subject of being young. youth itself is framed as performance, a means of standing apart from the mainstream and gleefully confounding expectations of respectability.

chris steele-perkins whisks us to late 70s wolverhampton, and into the dancehalls, church congregations and house parties of the city’s varied inhabitants. young black men in flares and leather jackets gather around a record player; indian children play in the streets and a trio of sikh builders stare the camera down. from the west midlands to central america, michael christopher brown’s paradiso series, cuba 2015, captures boys with long hair and no shirts sprawled on beds in rooms crowded with friends, similarly loose and happily aimless. they pile into junky cars and piss against walls in the city where we find a picture of young love – dangerous, precarious, and completely intoxicating. a couple sit, knees up and entwined, on a wall behind which roars the ocean. one millimeter misjudged, and they’d fall – but then, that’s the point.

just kids will feature experimental work from magnum photographers at the beginning of their careers. just as in david hurn’s isle of wight festival project, documenting 150,000 people who turned up to see bob dylan, joan baez, the who and joni mitchell, the selection of images will ‘bring it all flooding back’ without lapsing into nostalgia.

throughout the building, young designer yinka ilori will stage his characteristically vibrant interventions; born of passions for interior design and the bold colours of nigerian prints and textures, his work has spanned furniture making to full-scale installations: ilori recently redesigned london’s iconic africa centre. in the magnum home, ilori will conceive an ambitious response to ideas of the home as they intersect with those of youth. rooms such as studies, bedrooms and salons will operate as fully immersive spaces – get in touch with your inner teenager and compose some tortured poetry in the library, slouch at the desk or nap on the sofa. the photographs will serve as a catalyst for, and unifying force between, ilori’s design and eshun’s practice.

magnum have collaborated with plinth to produce a range of unique merchandise, launching alongside the magnum home to coincide with a programme of anniversary exhibitions and events planned across the globe. the range will offer the public a chance to engage directly with the work of some of the best photographers in the world; established names like martin parr will sit beside those of magnum’s contemporary photographers on products such as silk scarves, tote bags and resin badges. as well as this in-house collection, shelves in the magnum home will be stocked with monographs, field notebooks, sketchpads and other print materials supplied by thames & hudson and reflecting magnum’s long association with and love for the photobook – including magnum’s official 70th anniversary publication magnum manifesto, a landmark photography publication by editors clement cheroux and clara bouyeresse demonstrating magnum’s ability to navigate the points between photography as art object and photography as documentary evidence.

established in 2015, plinth has fast gained a reputation for their radical approach to art and design in situ. just as magnum photos have forged their own unique stance comprising both artistic and journalistic photography, so plinth have positioned themselves across the spheres of art and design. both organisations are committed to the accessibility of their work, and to the spirit of collaboration in which each entity was born.

the magnum home will be at 44 great russell street, wc1b 3pa, between may 17th and 21st, and open 11am – 7pm wednesday to saturday, and 12pm – 5pm on sunday. the exhibition will be free to visit, and incorporate a daily programme of events and talks, including a tile making workshop with yinka ilori, sunday 21st may, 3-5pm. further details can be found on plinth.uk.com. request a full press release and more details at info@plinth.uk.com.

plinth at 10a thurloe place.

Sep 15, 2016

plinth commissions unique artist products and limited editions from the world’s leading contemporary artists, photographers and designers. following the success of our first pop-up and critically acclaimed exhibition within a georgian townhouse in bloomsbury during spring 2016, plinth is delighted to announce their next project space. we’ll be moving into 10a thurloe place in south kensington, to offer an incredible exhibition and events programme, over september and october 2016.

plinth will exhibit editions from our first series made in collaboration with ikon gallery, by artists richard wilson, richard deacon, cornelia parker, ding yi and beatriz milhazes. as well as this core collection, our range will include two new editions, both to be launched over the summer, by michael craig-martin and richard wentworth. these new ceramic editions chime perfectly with our philosophy of accessible art objects, and with our interest in the domestic as it meets design.

we’re committed to the format of the ‘pop-up’ because it means that the space can dictate much of its own design, and commissions are always site-specific. our show-stopping commission from british artist jacques nimki, who will create a living english meadow inside our gallery’s ground floor, is an elegant extension of our investigation into the possibilities inherent in spaces themselves – this time, bringing the outside in.

the interstice of design and art are key to our philosophy, and we’re thrilled to announce our collaboration with raw edges, who will display their hand-made furniture amongst the flora of nimki’s meadow and alongside papercuts and photographic work on the walls. raw edges’ unique and playful approach has birthed incredible collaborations, and they have developed products, installations and concepts for brands such as louis vuitton, stella mccartney, airbnb and kvadrat. international awards include elle decoration edida award, wallpaper design award and design miami’s designers of the future. they have also been nominated several times for the designs of the year award at the london design museum.

we will show new work from gaetan james, alongside screenings and performance art from emerging artists. our exhibition programme will be complemented by events timed to coincide with london design festival and frieze art fair. we will hold talks from leading photographers, journalists and curators, as well as workshops from london’s best designers and artisans.

10a thurloe place will be a dynamic space – one of the must-see events of 2016. we have two major collaborations underway; for updates on our programme as they are confirmed, please visit plinth.uk.com.