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The Photographers That Chronicled Soho Life

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The Photographers That Chronicled Soho Life THE PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT CHRONICLED SOHO LIFE From left: Bruce Bernard, Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1985 © The Estate of Bruce Bernard. Courtesy of Virginia Verran; Daniel Farson, Portrait of Frank Auerbach, c. 1950s © The Estate of Daniel Farson; Craig Easton, The Death of Francis Bacon, Colony Room, Soho, London, 1982 © Craig Easton; Bruce Bernard, Francis Bacon standing in the doorway of his studio, 1984 © The Estate of Bruce Bernard. Courtesy of Virginia Verran Tales from the Colony Room: Art and Bohemia Exhibition dates: Until 20 December 2020 Dellasposa 2A Bathurst Street, London, W2 2SD An exhibition at London’s Dellasposa gallery celebrates the work of more than fifteen photographers who have over the last 70 years chronicled Soho life, in particular those that congregated at the notorious Soho drinking den, the Colony Room Club on Dean Street. Curated by the author of a recently published history of the club, Darren Coffield, the exhibition features work by John Deakin, Bruce Bernard, Michael Woods and David Bailey, amongst others. These are being shown alongside artworks by the club’s other famous members, including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Damien Hirst. Says gallery director Jessica Phillimore: ‘This exhibition shines a light on some of the greatest post-war British photographers in the 20th century. They managed to capture a period in the history of Soho which no longer exists. It is a great pleasure to bring these photographers together in one place for the first time and see the outstanding quality of their work.’ The Colony’s photographers snapped the great and the good, from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace to the dispossessed inhabiting the slums of London’s East End, testing to the limits the boundaries of both taste and technology. But in this show, the subjects are largely other members of the club, which closed for business in 2008. One work, by Daniel Farson, depicts a young Frank Auerbach sketching on the pavement in the 1950’s, along with his celebrated portraits of Francis Bacon. Bruce Bernard, the brother of Jeffrey Dellasposa I 2A Bathurst Street I London I W2 2SD I t: +44 (0) 20 32 86 10 17 I www.dellasposa.com Bernard, captured Freud and Bacon offering a rare and intimate glimpse into these artist’s studios as they were notorious for letting only very select people inside. Coffield explains, ‘Bruce achieved lasting recognition for his photographs of Bacon and Freud. His intimate, and sometimes fraught, friendship with both artists allowed him a peculiar access which others could only look upon with envy.’ The photographs were used as points of reference by these seminal artists for their work. In particular, the work of photographer Harry Diamond was used by Bacon for his paintings and Diamond’s photographs would be littered on the artist’s studio floor alongside those by John Deakin. The eerie atmosphere of the club the afternoon of Francis Bacon’s death was announced is captured in Craig Easton’s evocative photograph, The Death of Francis Bacon. In the wake of Bacon’s demise, a younger generation frequented the club. It was a popular haunt for the YBAs, who took many photographs for posterity, unlike the founding generation where the club was a refuge and rights to photograph from Muriel were generally withheld. By its very nature, being a private drinking club, the Colony was a refuge. People went there to evade the public gaze, since the unofficial club motto of, “What happens in the club stays in the club”, gave the members some sense of security when indulging in the most outrageous behaviour. The last thing that anyone wanted was to see someone wielding a camera. In the club’s earliest days, the glamourous and uncluttered interior was shot by the artist, Nigel Henderson, but these photographic records are rare during the first four decades of the club. For although the proprietor Muriel Belcher was not averse to being painted by Bacon or Freud, during her reign permission to photograph inside her sanctuary was often withheld. The Colony’s photographers covered the whole spectrum of possible photographic subject matter, and pushed the boundaries of both taste and technology, whether it be the unflinching portraits of John Deakin, the ‘Dirty Tricks’ of Angus Forbes, the photojournalism of Daniel Farson, the serial shots of Shakespeare Lane or the uncanny eye of Michael Woods. Featured photographers: Daniel Farson, John Deakin, Bruce Bernard, Angus Forbes, Michael Woods, Amelia Troubridge, Sophy Rickett, Carla Borel, Baron, David Bailey, Brian Dawn Chalkley, Peter Quinn Davies, Harry Diamond, Craig Easton, Catherine Shakespeare Lane For press information, please contact Albany Arts Communications: Mark Inglefield Carla von der Becke [email protected] [email protected] t: +44 (0) 20 78 79 88 95; m: +44 (0) 75 84 19 95 00 t: +44 (0) 20 78 79 88 95; m: +44 (0) 79 74 25 29 94 Dellasposa I 2A Bathurst Street I London I W2 2SD I t: +44 (0) 20 32 86 10 17 I www.dellasposa.com Notes to Editors: The Colony Room Club The Colony Room, formerly located at 41 Dean Street, Soho, was founded in 1948 by Muriel Belcher. It quickly became a haven for artists, poets, radicals and free thinkers. The club attracted Soho’s artistic elite, including Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, George Melly and Jeffrey Bernard, as well as people from aristocratic and political circles such as Princess Margaret, William Burroughs, David Bowie and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bacon was a founder and lifelong member who helped to get rich patrons up its notoriously filthy stairs and into the room’s iconic green walls. After Belcher’s death in 1979, the club continued under the stewardship of her long-term barman Ian Board until his death in 1994. Throughout the 1990’s the club experienced a renaissance when the so-called YBAs (Young British Artists) including Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Tracey Emin began frequenting the club. The Colony Room closed in 2008. @Dellasposa @DellasposaFineArt @Dellasposa Dellasposa I 2A Bathurst Street I London I W2 2SD I t: +44 (0) 20 32 86 10 17 I www.dellasposa.com .
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