Event category: Exhibition

Architect and designer Philip Webb (1831 to 1915) was sometimes known as the Father of Arts and Crafts Architecture. He was a champion of “the art of common building” and a business partner of William Morris. This exhibition celebrates their work.

This exhibition explores the relationship between William Morris and Thomas Wardle and their experimentation with natural dyes and printing techniques and how their interest in colour led them to the textiles of India.

Thomas Wardle, who lived from 1831 to 1909, owned a family silk dyeing business and in 1897 Queen Victoria gave him a knighthood for his services to the silk industry. His collaboration with William Morris, famously known as leader of the Arts and Crafts Movement, flourished into a friendship that lasted until Morris’ death in 1896

The centrepiece of the exhibition at the library is the magnificent Peacock and Bird carpet, donated to the Gallery in 2010 by The Monument Trust.

Distributed is an installation of everyday objects in public buildings around Waltham Forest, including The Mall, Priory Court housing estate, shops along Hoe Street and the William Morris Gallery. These beautiful and functional door sculptures will activate a dialogue with the local community and explore our relationship with the urban environment that surrounds us.

Distributed is a new public art project for Frieze Projects East, and has been commissioned by CREATE and The London 2012 Festival. This series aims to bring the best artists to east London in 2012 by working with each of the six Olympic host boroughs.

‘Consumerism is very lazy. It’s a sort of sugar rush, like eating sweets… Luxury goods are dangled in front of us because people can make money out of them, not because they give any lasting satisfaction.’

On 2 December 2003, Grayson Perry (born 1960) accepted the coveted Turner Prize wearing a lilac babydoll dress. Equally famous for his ceramics and his cross-dressing, he became a celebrity overnight. A self-confessed lover of ‘beautiful things’, his work delights in the possibilities of the decorative surface. Colour, texture and pattern are all used to attract the eye and draw us in. The power of his work lies in the deliberate clash between form and content – between beautiful objects and the challenging, often disturbing subject matter they address.

This exhibition features one of Perry’s most powerful works, a vast tapestry (3m x 15m) exploring the impact of branding and advertising on our everyday lives. Chronicling man’s passage from birth to death ‘via the shops’, Perry captures all the humdrum details of our daily lives. His exploration of the corrosive powers of consumerism throws up some interesting parallels with William Morris, who expressed similar ideas over a century earlier. Both also share a connection to the Walthamstow area, where Perry has had his studio for many years.

With insightful contributions from the artist himself, the exhibition will explore the motivation and inspiration behind the creation of the Walthamstow Tapestry.  In a world where it is seemingly impossible to escape the power of advertising, this work encourages us to consider the feelings and emotions that different brands evoke in our own lives.

Image shows detail from The Walthamstow Tapestry © Grayson Perry

Photographer Paul Tucker captures fleeting moments of the William Morris Gallery in transition, the Forest Poets create new work inspired by objects from the gallery’s collection, and printmaker Anna Alcock displays her winning cover design for this year’s E17 Trail Guide.

Image: Anna Alcock

‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’

In this famous statement, William Morris summed up his belief that art should be part of our everyday lives. He argued that well-designed and expertly-crafted objects could lift the spirit, and inspire both the maker and the eventual owner. Functional items could be made to carry stories and tell tales that enrich daily life. By slowing down and not taking the ‘everyday’ for granted, we can see and experience new things.

Today’s designers and makers continue to explore the role of craft. The William Morris Gallery invited members of the Society of Designer Craftsmen to create new work in response to Morris’s rallying call. This exhibition brings together an extraordinary range of objects which explore the potential of materials, decoration and narrative.

The Society of Designer Craftsmen is a multi-disciplinary society with roots stretching back to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.  Twenty-eight members have been shortlisted for this exhibition to present textiles, ceramics, mixed media, metal work and the book arts. They range from the Society’s most prominent names to individuals just starting out in their careers.

List of exhibiting artist: Adam Aaronson (glass), Judith Battersby (ceramics), Amy Cooper (ceramics), Sara Fell (glass and precious metals), Jenny Ford (textiles), Kirsten Glasbrook (textiles), Marion Hewitt (glass), Simon Jewell (furniture), Debbie Lyddon (textiles), Armando Magnino (furniture), Peter Moss (ceramics), Amarjeet Nandra (textiles),  Sandra Owens (ceramics), Sumi Perera (book art), Caroline Rees (glass), Niru Reid (textiles), Sally Reilly (ceramics), Rosalind Roberts (mixed media), Waring Robinson (furniture), Pam Schomberg (ceramics), Diana Springall (textiles), Kate Standen (ceramics), Teresa Strachan (textiles), Sass Tetzlaff (textiles), Susie Vickery (textiles), Jeanne Werge-Hartley (metalwork), Molly Williams (textiles), Stephanie Wright (ceramics)

Image: Nacre by Judith Battersby

The delicate ceramic milk bottles on display in the Tea Room carry a strong message. They represent one of the most infamous government cuts of the 1970s: the withdrawal of free milk from schools.

The bottles are inscribed with people’s personal views about the cuts, drawing parallels with the present day. The bottles are made by Raewyn Harrison, who lives and works in Waltham Forest.

David Bailey’s iconic photographs immortalised 1960s London. When he turned his camera east, he photographed the part of London he grew up in. As he expressed it recently, ‘London’s East End is in my DNA’.

This exhibition brings together intimate portraits of the characters, faces and streetscapes he encountered in the East End during the 1960s.

Image: David Bailey

In this series of paintings, David Mabb champions the history of political protest by bringing together slogans from recent and historical demonstrations. Removed from their context and framed in Morris & Co fabrics, this exhibition presents an opportunity to experience their messages afresh. On display in the Discovery Lounge.