Paul Gorman

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Paul Gorman is a British-Irish writer and curator.

Gorman's journalism has appeared in many of the world's leading publications and his books include The Life & Times of Malcolm McLaren , The Story Of The Face: The Magazine That Changed Culture, Straight with Boy George , Nine Lives with Goldie and Totally Wired: The Rise & Fall of The Music Press.

Contents

Gorman has also staged art, design and pop culture exhibitions in the UK, Denmark, France and the US.

Early life

Gorman was born in St John's Wood, north London, and attended University College School in Hampstead.

Journalism

From 1978, Gorman worked on weekly news for trade publications and in 1983 won the Periodical Publishers Association award for campaigning journalism for a series of investigative food industry articles. In 1990 he was appointed west coast bureau chief of Screen International, based in Los Angeles.

Between 1993 and 1998, Gorman was contributing editor at Music Week , reporting on executives and artists such as Madonna's manager Freddy DeMann, Creation Records founder Alan McGee and U2 manager Paul McGuinness. Between 1994 and 1999, Gorman was contributing editor at Music Business International. During this time he contributed regularly to magazines such as Mojo and conducted the first published interview with the Spice Girls. [1]

Gorman continues to contribute to magazines and newspapers including GQ , [2] The Daily Telegraph , Mojo and Vice .

Television and film

In the mid 1990s Gorman worked with production company Channel X on developing the trash culture TV series The Strip he created with partner David Knight for Channel 4.

In 1999 Gorman directed the documentary Las Vegas Grind for Channel 4. This was hosted by Mexican-American artist El Vez, who Gorman subsequently signed to Alan McGee's record label Poptones, which released two El Vez albums and the single Feliz Navidad in the UK.

In 2012 Gorman produced and presented The Kings Road Music & Fashion Trail, [3] a series of short films for Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea council on addresses which housed significant boutiques, including Mary Quant's Bazaar and Granny Takes a Trip.

Fashion

In 2008, Gorman launched fashion label The Look Presents through Topman with three collections based on artist and designers featured in his book The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion : T-shirts by Wonder Workshop; T-shirts by Granny Takes a Trip founder Nigel Waymouth; and Priceless – a menswear range by Antony Price, designer for Roxy Music and Duran Duran.

Exhibitions and curating

In 2010 Gorman curated the exhibition Process: The Working Practices Of Barney Bubbles at London's Chelsea Space. [4] The show attracted the largest attendance of any exhibition held at the gallery. [5]

In 2011 Gorman consulted on, and sourced material for, the British exhibitions Postmodernism: Style & Subversion 1970–1990 [6] and Snap Crackle & Pop: British Pop Art Meets The High Street In The Swinging Sixties. [7] In September 2011 Gorman staged a dedicated Barney Bubbles exhibit at Mindful of Art, a group show at London's Old Vic Tunnels. [8]

In 2012 Gorman curated the exhibition Lloyd Johnson: The Modern Outfitter, presenting the work of the London fashion retailer whose boutiques provided clothing for a variety of performers including Fred Astaire, George Michael, The Clash, Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. [9]

Gorman consulted on and sourced material for British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age, which ran from March – August 2012 at the V&A. [10]

Also in 2012, Gorman curated The Past The Present & The Possible, a dedicated section presenting 300 artworks by Barney Bubbles as part of the group exhibition White Noise: Quand Le Graphisme Fait Du Bruit at Les Subsistances, Chaumont, Champagne Sud, France. [11]

Gorman consulted on and sourced material for Glam! The Performance of Style, an exhibition about the visual, social and creative aspects of the 70s glam rock genre which opened at Tate Liverpool in February 2013 [12] and moved to Frankfurt's Schirn Kunsthalle in June 2013 [13] and Lentos Kunstmuseum in Linz, Austria, from October 2013 to February 2014. [14]

In 2014, Gorman co-curated an exhibition about Malcolm McLaren's engagement in fashion with Young Kim of the Malcolm McLaren Estate. Staged as part of the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, it was entitled Let It Rock: The Look Of Music The Sound Of Fashion. [15] The exhibition was based around six sections dedicated to the retail outlets McLaren operated with Vivienne Westwood in the 1970s and 80s. [16]

The exhibition received a positive response from the media. Financial Times fashion editor Charlie Porter noted "the hang of the garments is exceptional" [17] while prominent style blogger Susie Bubble greeted the exhibition as "an incredibly detailed and well-put together overview specifically about McLaren's fusion of music and fashion". [18]

In autumn 2014 Gorman was one of the curators of Art In Pop, an exhibition about the engagement between the worlds of art and popular music at the Centre National d'Art Contemporain gallery Magasin in Grenoble, France. [19] Overseen by Magasin curator Yves Aupetitallot, Art In Pop included a large space curated by Gorman and Young Kim dedicated to McLaren's work and including clothing exhibits, a soundtrack and photographs of his student paintings executed in the late 60s. Marie France described it as "an invigorating exhibition not just to see but hear as well". [20]

In 2017-18, Gorman curated a series of exhibitions for home leisure specialist Sonos on The Face magazine and David Bowie at the company's stores in London, [21] New York [22] and Berlin. [23]

In 2018 Gorman curated Print! Tearing It Up, an exhibition at central London's Somerset House about the resurgence of independent magazines in the digital age. [24]

Plagiarism case against Vivienne Westwood, Ian Kelly and Picador

In October 2014, following the publication of the authorised biography Vivienne Westwood by the fashion designer and her co-author Ian Kelly, Gorman accused the authors and the publisher Picador of plagiarising substantial sections of material from his book The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion . Gorman also described the Westwood biography as "sloppy" and "riddled with inaccuracies" and claimed it contained serious libels against two individuals, one of whom was pronounced to be dead by Westwood when in fact the individual was alive and practising as a therapist in west London. [25]

Picador publisher Paul Baggaley told The Bookseller: "We always take very seriously any errors that are brought to our attention and, where appropriate, correct them." [26]

Subsequently, the paperback edition included 27 new citations to Gorman's book. [27]

Books

Catalogues

Guides

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barney Bubbles</span> English graphic artist (1942–1983)

Barney Bubbles was an English graphic artist whose work encompassed graphic design and music video direction. Bubbles, who also sketched and painted privately, is best known for his distinctive contribution to the design practices associated with the British independent music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. His record sleeves, laden with symbols and riddles, were his most recognisable output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk fashion</span> Fashion of punk subculture

Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm McLaren</span> English artist and musician (1946–2010)

Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, who combined these activities in an inventive and provocative way. He promoted and managed the bands New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols.

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Sex was a boutique run by Vivienne Westwood and her then partner Malcolm McLaren at 430 King's Road, London between 1974 and 1976. It specialised in clothing that defined the look of the punk movement.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granny Takes a Trip</span> Psychedelic boutique in 1960s London

Granny Takes a Trip was a boutique opened in February 1966 at 488 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, by Nigel Waymouth, his girlfriend Sheila Cohen and John Pearse. The shop, which was acquired by Freddie Hornik in 1969, remained open until the mid-1970s and has been called the "first psychedelic boutique in Groovy London of the 1960s".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acme Attractions</span>

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The Look: Adventures In Rock & Pop Fashion is a 2006 book by Paul Gorman about the inter-connected developments of style and popular music from Elvis Presley to the present day.

Reasons to be Cheerful: The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles is a book about British graphic artist Barney Bubbles.

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Mr Freedom was a clothing boutique in London which sold fashion by a number of young designers commissioned by the owner, designer Tommy Roberts, and his partner, Trevor Myles. Celebrities such as Freddie Mercury and Didi Kempot wore designs from the shop which was at 430 King's Road in Chelsea, London from 1969–70 and then at 20 Kensington Church Street in Kensington 1945.

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References

  1. ↑ Paul Gorman. "Taking on the Britboys: Spice Girls. By Paul Gorman : Articles, reviews and interviews from Rock's Backpages". Rocksbackpages.com.
  2. ↑ "GQ Icon: David Parkinson". Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "King's Road Music and Fashion Trail". Rbkc.gov.uk. 17 September 2009.
  4. ↑ "Process: The Working Practices of Barney Bubbles". Creative Review.
  5. ↑ "#34 Barney Bubbles – PROCESS:The working practices of Barney Bubbles". CHELSEA space.
  6. ↑ "Closed Exhibition – Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990 – Victoria and Albert Museum". Vam.ac.uk. 2 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Pop Art " Paul Gorman is…". Paulgormanis.com.
  8. ↑ "MINDFUL EVENT – Curated by Stuart Semple. ArtHertz to host screenings on 26th September". ArtHertz.com.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Lois (11 January 2012). "Lloyd Johnson: 'My designs were pure rock'n'roll'". The Guardian. London.
  10. ↑ "Closed exhibition – British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age – Victoria and Albert Museum". Vam.ac.uk. 12 August 2012.
  11. ↑ "CIG – Chaumont". Cig-chaumont.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014.
  12. ↑ "Glam! The Performance of Style". Tate.org.uk. 9 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt | Exhibition". Schirn.de. 22 September 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013.
  14. ↑ "GLAM! The performance of style (2013/14)". Annebean.net. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  15. ↑ "Malcolm McLaren Is the Subject of CIFF's New Fashion Exhibition". W Magazine. 6 August 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Jones, Matt (5 August 2014). "Four ways Malcolm McLaren revolutionised the style scene – GQ.COM (UK)". Gq-magazine.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014.
  17. ↑ "At the Malcolm McLaren show in Copenhagen, the hang of the garments is exceptional". Charlie Porter.
  18. ↑ "Moving Still". Style Bubble.
  19. ↑ "David Bowes, Daniel Johnston | Art in pop | Grenoble. Le Magasin". www.paris-art.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "Art in Pop : l'art pop dans tous ses états à Grenoble". Mariefrance.fr. 8 November 2014.
  21. ↑ "Exhibition: The Story of the Face x London at Sonos Seven Dials until April « Paul Gorman is…".
  22. ↑ "SONOS Song Stories : Bowie in NY free event".
  23. ↑ "Sonos Song Stories: Bowie in Berlin photographic display of rarely seen images « Paul Gorman is…".
  24. ↑ "Print! Tearing It Up". Somersethouse.org.uk. 1 February 2018.
  25. ↑ Adam Sherwin (16 October 2014). "Vivienne Westwood accused of plagiarism over book on her life" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  26. ↑ Evaristo, Bernardine (17 October 2014). "Gorman claims Westwood biography plagiarism". Thebookseller.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  27. ↑ Grierson, Jamie (2 September 2015). "Writer accusing Vivienne Westwood of plagiarism claims win". The Guardian.
  28. ↑ The Independent, 15 January 2008
  29. ↑ Mojo, January 2010
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