Bit of bovver

With the roaring success of Shane Meadows’ This is England 86 series, there’s a growing fascination with the gritty Thatcher years and the artforms spawned by the social unrest, poverty, and youth subcultures of the decade.

So, many folk will be delighted with news that an exhibition of photos by renowned ‘Skins and Punks’ photographer Gavin Watson will open next Thursday at the Studio55 Gallery in central London.

The exhibition, entitled Neville, pays homage to Watson’s brother and muse, giving viewers an insight into the life of Neville, while offering a rich visual narrative of the skinhead youth subculture.

At the age of 14, Watson immersed himself in the skinhead subculture spearheaded by Madness and two-tone, and set about documenting the antics of his friends and brother with his camera.

Shane Meadows, director of This is England, commented of the photos, ‘What makes Gavin’s photos so special is that when you look at them, there’s clearly trust from the subject towards the photographer, so it feels like you are in the photo rather than just observing.’

The exhibition is part of the 10.55mm series of shows, which will see photographs given the creative freedom to customize a t-shirt with a photograph of their choice.  Watson’s image is the icon snap of Neville, bovver boot-footed and two-fingers defiantly raised to the camera lens.

Neville is showing from 4  – 21 November, Studio55, 55DSL London Flagship Store, 10A Newburgh Street, London W1F.