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Thrilled to be selected for this International Visual Arts Competition. I will be installing ‘Sunday Best’ assembled from 10,000 used clothing labels. The Exhibition will be held at the historic Wells Cathedral, Somerset, Cathedral Green, Wells, BA5 2UE. Open to the public: 20 July – 11 August 2019, 9am – 4.30pm daily. Private View on Friday 19 July 2019.
Sunday Best
The commission to mark 200 years of the Library was unveiled yesterday at Nottingham.
Turnbull & Asser were favoured by Churchill, pattern cutting and crafting his shirts and spot silk bow ties. Later referring to Churchill simply as size 46 and designing his famous ‘siren suit’. READ MORE
Turnbull & Asser, 71-72 Jermyn Street, London. SW1Y 6PF (displayed in store next to Churchill's famous green siren suit) until November 30th 2016.
Artist Joy Pitts started working with garment labels 15 years ago in college. To build each piece, Joy uses thousands of recycled clothing labels collected from charity shops and clothes that would otherwise be turned into rags............CONTINUE READING
Artist-in-Residence at Erewash Museum 11th September – 31st October 2015. This residency provided an opportunity for me to present a body of work to the specific community that generated the material to produce it. The response was overwhelming and over the seven-week period I received over 600 visitors.
For 15 years I have gathered used labels from local charity shops, unpicking labels from the neck of rag garments. The 30,000 used labels in this collection have all been gathered from the High Street; therefore local residents were once walking around in these garments. This 15-year project proved an excellent way to engage a local audience, both in terms of presenting my work and in supporting their local Museum.
The work allowed visitors to reflect on historic local garment manufacturers such as CHARNOS and DAKS, also shops that no longer occupy the High Street including Burton, Woolworths and Adams. Context lies within the detail of the work. Not only in the design of superseded labels in which we can observe the passage of time, but also in the unexpected detail which tells a story.
The award winning ‘Dairy Cow’ made up of 5,000 used garment labels, was on display in the window at Sue Ryder to accompany the exhibition. At age eight Sue Ryder was given two Jersey cows and subsequently began her own dairy herd, which grew to twenty-four. Young entrepreneur Sue sold the milk and butter from the door and scrubbing her dairy was her favourite job.
What would Sue Ryder think of this Dairy Cow assembled from 5000 used garment labels, all generated through charity donation on the High Street? ‘Dairy Cow’ has been described as ‘an extravagant rescue of fashionable waste’ and in the current global milk crisis offers the viewer a strong sense of community.
Joy Pitts.
Joining our Lalanne friends is a specially commissioned artwork by UK based artist, Joy Pitts. Joy has created her Bespoke Merino of Savile Row from over 1000 Huntsman labels......... ..........READ HUNTSMAN BLOG HERE
At age eight Sue Ryder was given two Jersey cows and subsequently began her own dairy herd, which grew to twenty-four. Young entrepreneur Sue sold the milk and butter from the door and scrubbing her dairy was her favourite job. I wonder what Sue Ryder would think of this Dairy Cow assembled from 5000 used garment labels, all generated through charity donation on Ilkeston High Street. ‘Dairy Cow’ has been described as ‘an extravagant rescue of fashionable waste’ and in the current global milk crisis offers the viewer a strong sense of community.
The exhibition ‘20,000 Used Labels’ continues at The Lally Gallery, Erewash Museum, Ilkeston, DE7 5JA from 11th Sept – 30th Oct 2015.
The Museum is FREE to enter and is open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am until 4pm and is situated just off the Market Place.
READ BBC NEWS - NOTTINGHAM WOMAN MAKES ART FROM LABELS
The Campaign for Wool, led by patron, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, are bringing the sheep pasture back to Savile Row in October 2015. I am assembling a Merino Sheep to celebrate UK Wool Week in partnership with tailoring house Huntsman, 11 Savile Row. The 1.3 metre canvas will be displayed as part of the celebration to showcase the beauty and versatility of wool. The work in progress will be posted here and on twitter @JoyPitts11.
Thank you to everyone who came to visit my Exhibition - 30,000 Used Labels at Lace Market Gallery, Nottingham. It was a huge success. This work is touring to Erewash Museum’s Lally Gallery from 11th September until 30th October 2015. I will also be in Residence during the Exhibition when the Museum is open, please see previous post for the full details. Many thanks also to the BBC GET CREATIVE participants in completing the 450 MERINO Sheep labels. Exciting news, the work is going to be exhibited at HUNTSMAN bespoke tailors on Savile Row, London during WOOL WEEK 2015.
I have also been invited to exhibit a new piece of work as part of the Wirksworth Festival, September 2015 in the Bookshop Window.
More details to come, or for up to date information please follow me on Twitter @JoyPitts11 or like my page on Facebook, Joy Pitts - Contemporary art from people and their garments.
