Judy Blame for i-D in 1990
Heaven is a super-club in central London that gets packed at the weekend with the city’s most flamboyant and creative crowd, but this venue wouldn’t be the destination for creative freedom that it still is today if it wasn’t for Judy Blame. The British creative director helped define the visual language of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and styled stars including Neneh Cherry and Björk.
It was in the early 1980s while running the club night “Cha-Chas” at Heaven, that Judy Blame started doing styling for the Face and i-D magazines. Assuming a female name, Blame’s non-conformist attitude set him apart from the clubbing crowd of the time, especially with his unique jewelry. Bottle tops, cutlery, plastic bags, and found objects were only a few of the elements that Blame incorporated into his era-defining jewelry and other accessories.
His DIY and punk approach questioned established material hierarchies, which reflected the harsh realities of a society in cultural and economic turmoil. It was during this phase that Blame also found support from other creative legendary individuals such as Derek Jarman, Anthony Price, John Maybury and Leigh Bowery.
Judy Blame for i-D. Left: 1986, right: 1988
The Face cover by Judy Blame
While doing iconic fashion editorials for the most cutting-edge publications at the time such as the Face and BLITZ, Blame worked with a range of renowned photographers including Mark Lebon, Mark Mattock, Jean Baptiste Mondino and Juergen Teller. Blame’s instinctive ability to create symbolic images led him to style pop stars such as Boy George, Massive Attack and Kylie Minogue.
Throughout his career Blame has honed and reinvented his repurposing technique and artistic foundation, which became an inimitable trademark that still inspires today. In 2005, Blame was selling his work through Kawakubo’s Dover Street Market, while also providing designs for Gareth Pugh and to this day he is still working with i-D magazine.
A comprehensive overview of Judy Blame’s oeuvre opens next week at the ICA in London. Presented as a montage, the exhibition brings together an arrangement of his artifacts, including clothing, collages, jewelry, fashion editorials, sketchbooks and T-shirts. And for those who would like to take piece of Blame’s thought-provoking aesthetic home, there will be a limited-edition zine compiled by Blame himself.
Courtesy of Judy Blame
Courtesy of Judy Blame
“Judy Blame: Never Again” is at the ICA, London, from 29 June until 4 September 2016