gerald jenkins 06/04/2018 gerald jenkins 06/04/2018

Dough Lover 99 Trafalgar Street Brighton BN1 4ER

Recently I was approached with the most amazing request from a Chef - Ronke Arogundade who was opening a cafe in Brighton 'Dough Lover' which she described as a Cafe from the Future.

After a very short time during our first initial conversation it was apparent that Ronke was a visionary and she had debilitated as to what she wanted her Cafe to say in terms of philosophy and human expression.

She had carefully directed the textiles and fittings and now it was time for visuals. Her instinct had answered to have images of the Sun Ra Arkestra and she found me on the web. From our conversation I created a layout from her wall dimensions and things evolved quickly from there.

Portrait of Atakatune - Sun Ra Arkestra photographed in 2013 at The Barbican in an Oak Box Frame with an Ivorine Title Plaque

Marshall Allen - Sun Ra Arkestra photographed in 2013 at the Barbican Centre

We had a lot to say to each other and the White Peacock image became an addition due to the significance of the symbolic meaning of White Peacocks - of enlightenment,and incorruptibility . When I suggested to image transfer a motif of the birds feathers onto the frame we both knew it had to be done.

'Knowledge Without Love is Lifeless' 50 inches by 60 inches Giclee in an Image Transfer Box with an Ivorine Title Plaque

James Stewart & Cecil Brooks - Sun Ra Arkestra photographed at Islington Town Hall 2015

Developing the Installation further Ronke discussed her other musical influences and instead of just petering out with the same material we wanted to create a 'snug' feel to the room as the viewer travelled through. Two names came up. That of Gil Scott Heron and Mark E Smith.

For the smallest panel of the Installation Two Contact Sheets were printed with Lyrics to significant songs by the Artists. These being 'Hexen Definitive'

Gil Scott Heron with Lyrics to 'B' Movie

Ronke also wanted to have reference to her childhood in West London included and so the next panel became an overview of my Notting Hill Carnival work.

7x Black Box Frames w/ Giclee prints and Ivorine Title Plaques

The final panel has direct reference to Brighton itself and one of it's most famous residents Nick Cave. Ronke had met Nick on several occasions and my portraits of Nick and Kylie and an additional Studio session I shot with Nick were comissioned for the wall.

This became the most technically intricate installation work I had ever attempted.

Work Bench for Image Transfers to the frames

Two of the frames have image transfers of a picture I took of the Ceiling of the Taj Mahal

Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' Nine Giclee Prints mounted on Black Velvet in an Image Transfer Box Frame with a Distressed Mirror and Ivorine Name Plaque

The Red Velvet needed to be 'Casino' Red

Nick Cave 'HQ Session' 3x Giclee Prints mounted on Red Velvet in an Image Transfer Box Frame with Distressed Mirror and Ivorine Title Plaque

Two samples of the image transfer frames.

The main Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue frame is an image transfer of Rose Thorns

My heartfelt gratitude to Ronke for such a wonderful commission. This is a permanent installation.

gerald jenkins 20/08/2006 gerald jenkins 20/08/2006

There Is No Culture Is My Brag

Mark E Smith - The Electric Ballroom 2002

“If you’re in the business of the pursuit of novelty then you’re limited .

We’re not”

‘Mark E Smith’.

The following is an excerpt from my chapter on Mark E Smith from my (work in progress)

book titled 'Bathing Whiskey' It was 2002.....

The gig was at ‘The Electric Ballroom’ in Camden. Getting out of the ‘tube’ I was hounded by street dealers, a constant tirade “ you want Skunk?…Coke ?..Crack?”

‘No I’m alright thanks..’ I was meeting a friend outside the door. A real grumpy northern bastard. Perfect company. No sign of him. I call him. He’s still in his bar and by the sound of his voice he’s completely bombed. Great.. I tell him I’ll meet him inside. When I get my pass I find there’s a problem. There is no plus one, so I plead in order to get a concession for my wasted friend. Inside it’s relatively empty and the average age is old.

I’d never been to the famous ‘Ballroom’ before … looks like they let it rest on it’s past glories .. fuck’n tip .. The support band are on and I’m upstairs watching from a distance. Finally my arrogant mate shows.. sure he’s bombed alright and he ain’t got a nice thing to say about anything… His entrance begins with ‘arrrh Gerald fucking Jenkins the famous twat..can’t even get his mate into a Fall gig for free! Six quid I had to pay! ‘I tell him to shut up and calm down..’ look I’ll pay the fuck’n ticket and here money! Go and get some beers.’He’s not letting off though he’s so wasted he thinks he’s real clever going on and on about the fact he actually had to pay something to get in.

The show is fairly uncomfortable for many reasons.. Mark E’s malevolent posturing disinterest, compounded by my interpretation that the crowd all seemed fried and my companions constant jibber about the glory days and how they could never be matched for intensity, guile and err you know.. ‘The Golden Age’… He’s in my ear about his ex girlfriend who was at the last ever Joy Division gig blah.. Suddenly it picks up and Mr. Pharmacist is played. For the first time I am certain I am in the right place.. As John Peel has stated ‘You don’t know what you’re going to get . You might decide it’s not what you wanted but they’re The Fall it’s what you need!’

Yeah I’m happy alright, watching Mark up there being an awkward git, my friend being critical of everything. The world is crap… Fuck’n celebrate!

The energy in the band dissipates again and it goes into some sort of murky raw sound with funny singing over the top. Thankfully my friend seems to be coming down and manages to go to the bar and bring back beer. He hands me my can and tells me about how twenty years ago he was a massive Fall fan and would travel all over to see them, how he saw them here in the ‘Ballroom’ supported by The Smiths and half knew Karl Burns (Fall Drummer) .He had played bouncy tennis atari all night on drugs with him at some hotel in Lancaster Gate sometime in 1985 while Nick Cave flitted in and out of the room snorting offerings . I find this dead interesting as Karl must be the most sacked drummer in the history of a band. His Fall membership reads as –May’77 to Dec’78 split ,Oct’81 to Jun’86 split ,Jan’93 to Dec’96 split ,May ’97 to Apr’98 where the infamous onstage bust-up occurred in New York-Karl pushing Mark offstage, Mark pulling Karl’s kit apart and hurling abuse at him over the P. A . while the audience jeered the whole pathetic scene. Mark has been quoted as saying it is the best thing that ever happened to the band, they were all just old gits like him that were crap. My friends enthusiasm for tonight’s performance peaks as ‘The Classical ‘ from ‘Hex Enduction Hour’ is played, he looks at me and says this is brilliant ! (see attached lyrics) .