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Six Flowers for Valentines. (That Aren’t Red Roses.)

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Don’t be boring and give your Valentine a bunch of red roses this February 14th, put some thought in to it and get them something different this year. You know, something that shows them that they stand out of the crowd for you – unlike red roses. Bella Verrechia, florist at Johnny’s Little Sister, gives you some ideas.

Chrysanthemums Blooms.
Floral meaning – Light of hope
Chrysanthemum blooms are bold and beautiful, if you’re looking to make a statement and overwhelm your Valentine a big bunch of these is all you will need.

 

Red Tulips
Floral meaning – Perfect love
In Persia to give a Red Tulip is to declare your love, the black centre is said to represent the lovers heart.

 

Narcissus/Paper Whites.
Floral meaning- New beginning.
Valentines Day falls perfectly for Narcissus. They represent new beginnings, perfect if you are trying to start/relight a relationship. A gift of Narcissus is said to insure happiness. Paper Whites also have a beautiful fragrant.

 

Anemones
Floral Meaning – Forsaken, expectations.
Anemones are perfect for someone who loves a natural, rustic feel. I have chosen the Anemones because it gives a very relaxed feel, but still bursts with colour.

 

Ranunculus
Floral Meaning – I am dazzled by your charms.
I have chosen the Ranunculus because of their prettiness. This dainty, delicate flower is suitable for everyone, it grows in many colours and so can portray a variety of messages.

 

White Rose
Floral meaning – Purity and virtue
When you need to convince that your affections are straight from the heart use a white rose. One of the meanings for a white rose is ever lasting love. The white bouquet had been a tradition since Queen Victoria’s wedding in 1840.

Head to Johnny’s Little Sister’s facebook page here>

 


Murdock London’s Guide To A Successful Valentine’s Day.

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No matter how big or small your Valentine’s plans may be this year, the effort is in the detail and we want to help you to make the most of your day.

Here are a few of our barber-recommended tips to guarantee a more dapper and sharper you. Whether you’ve a special evening planned with a loved one or are heading for a night on the town in the hope of finding that future love, let our fantastic range of products and services be your guide.

Ditch the dirt

Nobody appreciates dirty nails on Valentines, so put the time in to cut and file your fingertips with one of our excellent Dovo Manicure Kits. If you’ve got the time, why not pop in to one of our stores for a quick shoe shine or manicure. Both are swift services that will make all the difference to your appearance on the night.

Keep it classy

Our colognes cover a broad ground of inspired scents. Whilst targeting men, you may prefer the more vintage, sweet Bright Leaf. The ladies on the other hand have been known to fall hard for our spicy and raw Black Tea. The moreish fragrance of which will ensure your aroma remains fresh all night.

Stay Confident

For a more unique and interesting blast of post-dinner freshness, you could consider a flavoured Marvis toothpaste.

For the bearded amongst you

As it’s Valentine’s Day there’s simply no excuse to not be displaying a well-groomed beard for the occasion. Beardsley’s Shampoo and Conditioner will collectively treat your beard, leaving it tidy and fresh. The berry fragrance will also go a long way in maintaining that fruity, fragrant aura. Soft whiskers are also a must for potential close encounters so don’t go slacking on the combing!

Play it smooth

Exfoliating too close to meeting your date could be a risky move for those with sensitive skin. With time in advance however, our Facial Scrub will deeply cleanse your face with its refreshing, renewing ingredients. In addition, our Daily Facial Moisturiser will provide your skin with a smooth, awakening layer of protection. For a soft skin tone to admire, this will help you look and feel completely fresh long into the evening.

Dutch courage

For that extra piece of nerve quashing, keep your inside pocket occupied with one of our Leather Hip-Flasks. To be used subtly and responsibly of course.

 

Dovo Leather Manicure Set

 

Black Tea Cologne

 

Marvis Jasmine Mint Toothpaste

 

Beardsley Conditioner

Daily Facial Moisturiser

Small Hip Flask – Brown

 

 

 

 

Murdock Interview With Artist Peter Georgallou.

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Peter Georgallou is a fascinating artist currently occupying the CHARLIE SMITH london gallery. This name should ring a bell, as it is ran by Zavier Ellis – a keen MurdockMan who we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing before.

Peter recently popped into our Shoreditch branch for a haircut and beard trim with Gwen. As he arrives, bicycle polo stick in hand, he is instantly strikes curiosity. After his appointment we sit down and attempt to get to grips with what this compelling artist is all about. Turns out, rather a lot…

You went to Kingston University and studied Fine Art, how was that experience?

Really great. I think I caught the end of university being really fun. I really enjoyed it. I made some really good friends who I still speak to.

Is going to university something that you would recommend to fellow young artists aspiring to grow into the industry?

Yeah definitely. I think because Kingston’s not a very prestigious university, I got much better teaching and much better service and really great facilities. Also more space because it’s not in central London. It’s a good place to be at, but not as good a place to have been, if that makes sense?

I feel that because I went to the Royal College afterwards and that was the opposite. It was a horrible place to be but a really great place to have been… It was such a pressure cooker. I don’t think I made as much work that I’m happy with there as I did at Kingston.

Tell us about some of your exhibition highlights so far.

I had a few shows in Spain. I’ve also got a show in Cyprus at the moment on top of a mountain, in a monastery. No one’s going to see it, but I sort of love that.

How on earth does something like that come about?

I did a work exchange with an artist in Cyprus who has a museum, on a mountain, in a monastery… so that’s on for the next two years there. They don’t change the show very often. My work in Spain was also really different because I really enjoyed working there. I felt much freer.

Is that due to the general environment?

Partly the environment but partly because you essentially fall out of the sky, land somewhere and you can do what you like. No one knows what you do, who you are, where you come from ­­- they have no social context of what you are which is really nice. You can just do anything and it’s a lot less tainted by your personality or anything else, so it’s quite liberating. I like the idea of doing lots of international shows. I did a show in Holland recently, that I really liked because I feel like my art doesn’t work as well in London as it does abroad. It’s not very ‘London work’.

With that in mind, do you feel that you come at things with a more ‘continental’ approach?

I just don’t really feel a part of the London art scene at all. And that’s a bit annoying when I’m in London. When you go to other countries you’re just an artist and you don’t have to be part of a scene, it’s quite nice.

You keep a very low-key online presence. Is there a specific reason for that?

I just don’t like it. I think there’s so much value in conversation, and online presence kills that. When Zavier called me about the show that’s on at the moment at Charlie Smith, he was just like ‘what do you do? I don’t really know.’ We had to have a conversation about it and that’s really lovely. You meet some nice people.  I think I probably get less work because of that, but I can also make what I don’t like disappear. It’s not there forever. Artsadmin contacted me about maybe putting forward a proposal for a project and again, it was really great. We had to go and have coffee. I basically live in a coffee shop, and it’s great.

You’ve gone through the transition from being a student to a professional artist, how smooth a challenge was that? Do you feel that you’ve accomplished it now?

I feel like I’m definitely moving in the right direction. I’m getting enough work. I’d like to get more work, and bigger work. At the moment I’m getting enough though, which I’ve never really had before. It wasn’t a smooth transition at all. My last month at the Royal College was a bit of a car crash and so I spent the summer just putting my head back together and then I guess from that point it sort of came around. Every exhibition I’ve had and every bit of work that I’ve had displayed has been achieved through someone nice who I’ve bumped in to and had a chat with and thought ‘oh yeah we can work together’.

What was it about your work that enticed Zavier? And what’s currently on display at CHARLIE SMITH london?

I think the work that Zavier saw of mine that lead him to contact me was a film I made. It wasn’t really a documentary; it was like recreating a story from my life, or the story of my life. I actually live in Surrey and commute into London by bike, which is a lot of effort. It’s nice, I used to do a lot of racing so I’m fit enough to do it, but fifty miles a day gets wearing. It was a film about cycling from my house to my friend Jessica Charleston’s house for her birthday party. I had to pick up a present for her and lots of things happened along the way. Mainly, I stop at a petrol station and buy some petrol, but because I’m in a bit of a rush and I’m quite disorganised, I just forget to pay. The guy who runs the station is an evil wizard who chases me and I have to escape by throwing a piano in a river and sail away on it. When eventually I do get to Jessica Charleston’s birthday party, I’ve broken her present, lost my bike, got covered in mud and everyone is asleep because I get there so late. Then I just have to go home… It really does feel like the story of my life – such an epic failure, but really quite satisfying.

The Royal College built this new Dyson building, which was this really brutalist architecture. There was this bit of derelict land behind it because they hadn’t finished building it by the final degree show. I put up this really small sort of yurt bowing down to this massive, brutal architecture. It was full of canaries, just flying around with a 70-inch plasma screen inside showing this film and that’s the work Zavier saw. (You can view a snippet of the film here).

It’s quite a self-involved practice, but I think every artist has to be self-involved. I do feel like my practice is really genuine, it’s just things that interest me and maybe represent the story of lots of people’s lives. I guess what my practice is, is finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. Like of course, the petrol station doesn’t have a magic wizard running it and bicycles don’t fall out of the sky. But maybe they do you know! That’s where I want to live so I’m building that for myself and that’s the kind of art that makes me really happy.

I have a friend – Phil Hinn, who just does funny crayon drawings of children mixed with really beautiful bits of Victorian etching and has them printed on teapots. I love his practice because it just makes me happy. It’s just like seeing the really ordinary world and finding a childish extraordinary narrative, a mythology, and a fairytale that you can live in inside of that. It’s just building your own matrix. It’s fun!

In terms of what’s going on at CHARLIE SMITH london right now, what can people see and expect?

I built a pedal-powered loom, and the idea is that at some point I’m going to weave tweed with it. I invented a new material, which I hope will one day phase out carbon fibre called high-density tweed composite. So the loom is actually not finished yet. It’s not functioning at the moment, but the structure is there. It will be a machine for building high-density tweed composite that you can build things like racecars out of. The reason for that is because in this country we’ve got a massive excess of wool, but the wool we have you can’t use for jumpers because it’s too coarse and it’s too expensive to handle, but it costs nothing in comparison to carbon fibre. Burning wool is really expensive and that’s how people get rid of it. Because it doesn’t hold a flame you have to incinerate it. So I’m hoping that maybe some things that carbon fibre is used for, high-density tweed composite can be used for instead. It would give a really good economic boost to the country. Good for the world, good for everyone.

How do you come to create something like that?

So I’m super-fascinated with this stuff (points to what he’s wearing). This is woven by Guy Hills and he’s got a company called Dashing Tweeds, who make technical tweed. I was looking at different ways to use wool and I was really inspired by Guy’s tweed. I got some samples off him, played around and thought of different ways I could use the tweed. He’s a very good friend’s brother who’s an architect as well and so I’ve been working on a show with him and I just like this idea of tweed being this architectural material. Wool’s used in building lots, just not in this way. The biggest uses of carbon fibre is skyscrapers and buildings, they have to be really lightweight structures to avoiding sinking into the ground. I quite like the idea of it being used in buildings.

I’ve also worked on a bunch of farms. I used to work for a charity called the Otesha Project who are an environmental charity. I think their views are a bit extreme. I mean they’re all vegan and I think that’s a pretty extreme view. I liked a lot of what they did but I don’t think you have to be an extremist to think about the way that the countryside works and the way that the world works. I think instead of thinking ‘oh these structures are awful, we’ll go against them’, you should find ways of making the world better within the structures that exist. I think that’s my sort of push to try and make the world a little bit nicer, just by making some nice tweed.

 

What can people expect from the exhibition itself? Is the loom in the gallery?

Yeah, the loom is in the gallery as well as a tall bike, which is wedged between the floor and the ceiling. I built the bike to be the exact size of the gallery and then when you pump the tires up, it just wedges itself in and can’t come out. I quite like that as a little nod to something architectural, but that bike will be powering the loom once it’s all connected up.

It sounds quite interactive?

No, I totally wanted the opposite of that because stringing up a loom takes flipping forever and if people are messing around on it, it’s all going to get broken. This is the first show I’ve had where I’ve had the sense to just make the object look like the object, but not work. It’s going to work at some point but for exhibitions purposes it can just not.

Has this been your main focus for a while then? And what else can we expect to see from you in the near future?

It has been for a while; I’ve got a few projects on the go. I’ve got my first high-density tweed composite prototype that I’m going to use to try and make enough money to pattern the material. The first object that I’m making is a rim for bicycle wheel. It’s a really good way to show a lot of different strengths of the material, it needs rigidity but also torsion strength because it’s under a lot of stress in a lot of different directions. I think that’s a good start. I’ve been working with a mould maker to build wheels of high-density tweed composite.

I’m also working on something with Fortnum & Mason which is a really big nice project; I’m casting lots of bronze for it. There are a few bits and pieces coming up in Utrecht and Nijmegen in Holland. I love Holland; it’s really fun and a good place to buy clothes. Best flea markets ever.

It’s clear that your art comes from the everyday things that you do. Bike polo is certainly an extremely interesting hobby to have, so what else keeps you occupied?

I think that was my realisation of this year. The three P’s ­– polo, partying and planning. I’m happier if I do those three things more. My quality of life improves… No, I’m a bit of a lunatic I guess in the things that I do. I don’t really sleep very much ever, I never really have. I try to get jobs doing strange things. I’ve done quite a lot of farming. I’ve done quite a lot of cataloguing of antiques. I used to be the guy who holds stuff up at the front of auctions – that’s quite silly. I don’t know. I feel like the big project is to just ‘get it’. We’re all here right? I think the more angles you can come at getting it, the better. So I just try and do as much as I can, even if it’s really boring. It’s got to be constructive; you can’t just be doing something and not thinking about what you’re doing. I think that’s quite a way to gain a good general overview of what’s going on. My dad owns a chip shop, I’ve worked there quite a lot and that was fun. I mean working with your Dad is always going to be mental but that’s fine. I quite want to work on an oilrig maybe too. I think oil is really horrible, but maybe I just need to work on a rig for a bit. I haven’t done that yet. What do the people that work on them do? What do they think? Imagine being on an oilrig. You’d just be on there with a bunch of men, churning out oil. It’s like pure evil basically.

 

Peter’s show at CHARLIE SMITH london ends Saturday 16th February 

Forget the Brits. Here’s 5 of the Best of Jamie Lidell.

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We’re not very interested in whoever won last night’s Brit awards (we’re guessing it was probably the Skyfall lady) we’re more interested in the release of Jamie Lidell’s new album this week. The oft bespectacled British musician originally from Cambridgeshire now resides in the current cool music capital of the world Nashville and we think that his mix of old school soul, modern r’n'b and electronica deserve more attention. So the least we could do was shine our humble light in the vast expanse of the internet ocean on a few of our favourite tracks of his.

 

Song: What a Shame. Album: Jamie Lidell. Year: 2013.

 

Song: Multiply. Album: Multiply. Year: 2005.

 

Song: Another Day. Album: Jim. Year: 2008.

 

Song: I Wanna Be Your Telephone. Album: Compass. Year: 2010.

 

Song: Big Love. Album: Jamie Lidell. Year: 2013.

Oscar Nominated Les Mis Costume Designer Paco Delgado.

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It’s the Oscars this Sunday, and whilst many viewers will be paying most of their attention towards things like the sharp suits and dazzling dresses being worn by the stars and also who happens to win what, our eager barber eyes will be fixed to the screen awaiting the sights of any lavishly groomed beards and slick hairstyles on display. The more effort and daring the better, and if the Baftas are anything to go by, then we’re in for a treat.

We were actively involved in the styling duties for the Baftas ourselves, and one of our visitors in the Murdock chair was Paco Delgado, Costume Designer for Tom Hooper’s epic screen adaption of Les Misérables. Our Master Barber Alex did a fine job in trimming the Spaniard’s epic beard and he was kind enough to offer us a few words regarding his Oscar nod afterwards…


Les Mis star Anne Hathaway with Mr Delgado at the Costume Designer’s Guild Awards

What first drew you towards getting in to costume design?

It was a sort of detour, I used to be a set designer in theatre, but the productions I used to work on sometimes required me to design the costumes as well. Since I wasn’t worried by it, it became a natural process and little by little I got more and more engaged with it.

What’s been your biggest career challenge yet?

I think every movie I have worked on has been a big challenge in my career, but Les Mis has been a very big challenge for a lot of obvious reasons.  The dimension of the film for a start, because it has been such a tremendous success in the west end for more than 20 years and also for the amazing cast.


Eddie Redmayne starts in Les Mis in one of Paco Delgado’s designs

Has the response to Les Misérables met/surpassed your expectations? 

I think we have all been very surprised by the whole thing, but I think the expectations were set very high anyway.

How does achieving such acclaimed recognition feel?

I’m extremely happy. It is a recognition by the cinema people that I take with immense pride.


Russell Crowe in Paco Delgado Les Mis costume

How did you find working under Tom Hooper having spent your career working for mostly Spanish directors?

I found it very easy I think. Tom wanted me to design the film and he was very supportive during the whole movie.

How does the approach to costume design for period films compare to modern-day movies?

I always want to create characters and I think it is very important to pay attention to that in period. I find contemporary very complicated and not very rewarding , but I love to work in both of them.

Who has been your favorite character to design for?

In Les Mis, les Thenardiers have been a lot of fun.


Les Thenardiers

Are there any movies that you wish you could have worked on?

Definitely I would have designed all Buñuel movies.


Paco Delgado winning his Best Costume Design award at this year’s Goya awards in Spain for Blancanieves

As a magnificently bearded man yourself, who are the best-bearded characters/actors that you’ve worked with? 

Hugh Jackman looked very handsome with a beard, and Antonio Banderas as well.

Finally, what’s next in line for Mr. Paco Delgado: Oscar-nominated designer?

At this moment I have a couple of projects but I don’t want to talk about them, since I’m very superstitious and I don’t think it will be very good luck if I talk about them whilst they are not completely secure.

 

 

The 5 Point Guide To Opera In London For Novices.

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Murdock client Ed Lyon is one of Britain’s leading young tenors who has sung principal roles at the world’s greatest Opera houses. So who better than Mr Lyon we thought to give advice to the uninitiated Opera-goer. Here then, is his 5 Point Guide To Opera In London For Novices. 

Where better to sport your fine Murdock barnet and beard trim than at the Opera.  But it’s a minefield of preconceptions, worries and misinformation, and you’ll probably want to leave your cape and cane in the cupboard.  Here’s a 5 point guide to the world’s greatest art form in the world’s greatest city.


Ed Lyon on stage at the ENO

1. Where to go.

London has an internationally regarded opera scene centered around two main houses: the Royal Opera House (ROH) in Covent Garden and The English National Opera (ENO) on St Martin’s Lane.  The former, easily ranked as one of the best in the world, brings opera’s biggest stars, directors and conductors to the capital.   It also houses the Linbury Studio, which produces smaller scale and often more adventurous, contemporary work.  ENO is considered our ‘national’ company.  The performances are always in English (though still surtitled for that odd missed word) and sometimes more experimental in production concept.  At the other end of the scale, the Kings Head Theatre in Islington plays host to Opera Up Close, a critically acclaimed company who produce full operas with piano accompaniment in a tiny theatre-pub space.  The constant availability of alcohol there doesn’t hurt proceedings.  Also worth mentioning is Opera Holland Park, a summer festival in a covered, outdoor theatre and a great place to spot up and coming British talent.

 

2. Seating and tickets.

There is a great misconception that opera is expensive.  The truth is tickets start at £3 at the Royal Opera House and £12 at ENO.  While it’s all well and good being stalls centre (and broke), in my experience the sound balance is often better in the cheaper balconies.  It’s also a good trick to ask on the day, particularly at ENO, as such a massive theatre rarely sells out.  My favourites are the side front of the dress circle at ENO and the same on the grand circle at Covent Garden, for a balance of price, acoustic and view.

 


The trailer for the ENO’s current production of Medea. 

3. What to wear.

Not a subject the Murdock Man will have to worry about.  If I’m honest, I never dress up at all for a show.  Black tie is not de rigeur, unless you are in a large group making an evening of it but people do tend to make a little more effort for the ROH than ENO.  In fact, the latter are encouraging their audience to dress down as a part of a drive to bring a new and younger audience to the opera.  The main point, I suppose, is that there is NO dress code.  Check your preconceptions in at the door.  Wear a boiler suit.  With that haircut, anything’ll do.

 


The trailer for La Boheme. Showing at the Royal Opera House this March.

4. Which opera to choose. 

For opera virgins, it’s worth remembering that the famous operas are usually famous for a reason.  It’s likely that if you’ve heard of it, it’s probably a good place to start. Revivals are a often good choice as it is usually a sign of a decent, successful and audience pleasing production.  If you’re going for one of the less expensive seats, then almost anything’s worth a punt.

 


The trailer for Written on Skin. Premièring at the Royal Opera House this March.

5. How to get the most out of it.  

Opera, like any art form, benefits from a bit of background knowledge.  Of course, just turning up and watching is enough but background knowledge of the story and a passing familiarity with the music, will add so much to the enjoyment of the evening; some homework is definitely worth the effort.  20th Century repertoire has a tendency towards more challenging musical forms but also more ‘theatre’, while earlier music has a formality which can be alienating if not prepared for it.  The opera house websites are mines of preparatory information and there are often informative, free, pre-performance talks.

 

 To find out more about Ed, visit his website edlyon.info or follow him on twitter @ed_lyon

Mad Men Season 6 Teaser.

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They’re back and they’ve still got great hair. Except that the 70s seem to be ominously encroaching on Pete Campbell’s sideburns…

The Best Facial Hair of Brand Mascots.

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Brands generally rely on well-designed, familiar logos & slogans to attract an audience and thus establish their existence. Some go that extra mile in terms of gaining instant recognition and familiarity however when they introduce us to their friendly, warm and often outlandish mascots.

We’ve picked out our ten favourite bearded & moustachioed brand icons that do a damn fine job of representing their companies with the striking appearance of their facial hair alone. Like them or loathe them (Go Compare guy, we have your annoying moustache in our sites), you can’t knock a good upkeep of facial hair when you see it.

 

The Bialetti Man

This classic black and white cartoon design is as likeable and fun as the man himself is stylish.

 

 

The KFC Colonel

This man needs little introduction. A genuine icon to many. Fantastic facial hair albeit essentially a silhouette.

 

Captain Birdseye

A little more creepy than we remember.. However still a true icon to his brand. You can’t knock that.

 

Nintendo’s Mario & Luigi

These guys have been representing their brand globally throughout several gaming generations of audiences. It’s good to know their grooming upkeep isn’t slacking in the age of HD.

 

The Pringles Face

You just can’t go wrong with a straight, simple, bushy moustache.

 

Papa Dolmio

He may be a puppet, but he’s certainly no muppet in the moustache department.

 

Father Christmas for Coke (but more importantly Christmas)

It doesn’t get more iconic for facial hair than this. Apparently it’s Coke’s fault that he became red, at least they didn’t strip him of his magnificent cloudy white fuzz.

 

Captain Morgan

An icon of spirits, an icon of brand-related facial hair! You simply can’t avoid catching his striking appearance on the bottles whilst queing at the bar.

 

Burger King’s Throne Bearer

Another slightly creepy looking choice, but you just can’t fault the shiny appearance of the slick beard and ‘tache combo.

 

And the award for the worst facial hair of brand mascots unsurprisingly goes to…

The Go Compare bloke

Annoying character. Annoying adverts. Annoying moustache.

 


Dead Famous. Hugh Mendes’ Obituaries Exhibition at Murdock.

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Artist Hugh Mendes at Murdock Shoreditch. His show will take place in the shop and Murdock Covent Garden from 27th March until the end of May. 

Hugh Mendes’ career as a painter all changed when walking along Brick Lane a scrap of newspaper with a photo of an Arab terrorist pointing a gun was blown onto his foot. He picked it up, took it back to his studio and painted it as part of a composition where the terrorist’s gun was directed at George W Bush. A week later 9/11 happened and the terrorist in the painting turned out to be Osama bin Landen. That fortuitous breeze that blew the paper into Hugh’s path led him to his series of portraits based on newspaper obituaries. Having achieved widespread acclaim and success for his Obituary paintings we’re delighted to announce that Hugh will be continuing our partnership with the CHARLIE SMITH london gallery by exhibiting his works in our Covent Garden and Shoreditch stores this Spring.

He came in to 46, Redchurch St last week for a haircut with barber James Redfern and to give us the background into his thought provoking portraits.

What would you say to people who perhaps can’t understand why you would want to paint a picture that already exists?

I do get asked that question and that’s one of the main reasons I do it. They appear in the newspapers and the next day they’re a piece of trash. They’re gone. Literally, the picture’s a piece of trash. If I paint it however, that elevates it to non-trash status. It’s also a very different experience looking at a painting to looking at even a photograph, let alone a piece of newspaper that has a photograph in it. It’s three steps removed from its original, photographic source if you like. It does something very different to an image – painting it, because there’s two weeks of my own attention embedded in the paint. That does convey itself when you see a painting.

Have you ever worked for a newspaper?

No, never directly. I had a working relationship with the Independent to start with. They’ve been to my studio, I’ve been to their offices, we’ve talked a lot and I’ve been through all their archives. The people that used to work for the Independent jumped ship and all work at the Guardian now so I’ve stayed with them. The Guardian still has a pretty decent budget and a big spread for obituaries so I’m working with those guys – we still have a correspondence.

 

Hugh Mendes in Murdock Shoreditch. 

Death is about as strong as a subject for art comes. What kind of impact does that have upon the tone of the work and your approach to it?

Death is compelling isn’t it? Some of them are kind of funny, quirky and odd. It’s a memorial piece. They are within a context of still life – Vanitas, which is one of the great traditions of painting. For the past five hundred years people have been painting objects and often, as reminders of death. That’s the context. It’s a painting of an object, and it’s an object that reminds you of your own demise. But it’s also a sort of celebration of somebody’s life. It’s a memorial piece and I try and do the best job I can to memorialise that person and make them alive in a sense.

What is it about certain individuals that makes you choose to paint them?

The obituaries are all dominated by the image. A photographic image doesn’t always work in paint and I have to transcribe it into paint. I can usually tell what’s going to work. They all mean something personally to me too. Whether it’s a filmmaker whose films I like, or a musician whose music I like – there’s something that really makes me want to paint them. It takes me a couple of weeks so I’m spending a good amount of time with this person, so it has to be somebody that I admire. Sometimes it’ll be a person that I don’t know at all but the image might be really compelling.

 

 

In terms of pure imagery, how do you feel a lack of text impacts the painting from your perspective?

I used to have and do occasionally have additional bits of text in the painting. It says ‘obituary’, it’ll say the person’s name, sometimes there’s a little sub-header about the person. The filmmaker that made Death Wish, Michael Winner died recently and I’ve been painting him. I’ve just cut out the words ‘death wish’ and stuck it on his head. That’s another thing about painting, you can play with the images and the text and I can put a different piece of text in that wasn’t there before.

Does something like that ever feel like a huge risk?

I take a lot of risks, you know. And also in some of them there will be fuzzy lines that look like text, which the Dutch were doing in the 17th century that eludes to text. There’s a story there that you can’t read. So you look at it and think ‘there’s nothing there, it’s just a fuzzy line’. There are different things I can play with. People don’t know whether that was there originally or not. People think that they are faithful copies from the newspaper – which often they are, but not always. It’s another thing about painting – you can do anything.

 

 

Since the growth in popularity of the obituary work, have you had any particularly interesting or unique private requests?

The first one I had was really early on. I started doing them in 2003 and almost immediately an old lady phoned me up. She said ‘Johnny Cash has just died I’m a lifelong fan of Johnny Cash, are you going to paint his obituary? I know about your work. If you do, I want that painting.’ She had just traced me and she came to my studio three weeks later. I said ‘yeah I’ll paint your painting.’ I would have done it anyway. He meant something to me, Johnny Cash. It was a great image – black and white contrast, the man in black. She came with her husband and they were about 90. They came to the studio with cash, bought the painting and went home happy.

Were you happy enough to let it go?

I thought it was great. But that happened almost immediately. I also get texts the day people die. Like when Michael Jackson died I got a number of texts saying ‘I want that painting when you do it.’ One person got it. That’s the thing, only one person gets them.

Do you keep those works more private once they’re finished?

No, they all go out there and get exhibited. I’ve got this show coming up in LA at the beginning of April and it’s all obituaries of Hollywood people. That’s what they wanted. They’ve also got a few going into another show, which is a human rights show. I do all this other work as well about terrorism, war and cloning and various other subjects – it is interesting to me that the obituaries are the ones that are most popular. I don’t know why, but they are. It’s a simple idea, and that’s often the way it is, if you nail a simple idea and people like it then that’s great.

So LA is your main plan right now?

There’s Charlie Smith, this here at Murdock and then Los Angeles. I’ve just shipped about 25 paintings out there. I’ve got about maybe 8 or 10 for here and the Covent Garden store once I’ve worked out the space.

 

 

Catching sight of an image from a scrap of newspaper in Brick Lane inspired your obituary work – highlighting how entire bodies of art can be so simply influenced. Could that potentially mean a new artistic direction for you awaits any day now?

It could do, it could. It happens. I’ll go with things like that, you know. I just started painting bits of newspaper when I found that picture of an Arab with a gun on Brick Lane. I didn’t know it was Osama Bin Laden, but I painted him pointing his gun at George Bush and then within a week or two 9/11 happened and that was my graduation day. It was just this weird thing that happened. It nailed me to that story, and to painting newspapers and that’s how it’s continued. Two years later I started painting obituaries and the first one I did was Princess Margaret. This is now known as ‘SS Margaret’ though because I ripped the piece of paper, the word princess was gone and it just said ‘SS Margaret’ like some sort of battleship.

Is there anybody you’re already looking forward to painting?

I’ve been waiting for ages for Fidel Castro to die. I’ve got Hugo Chavez which is second best, but I’m just waiting and waiting. He’s really lasted a long time that guy, but you know he’s a typical one for me. He’s kind of edgy and looks good. He’s got a nice beard, a big cigar, he’s loaded with meaning, Castro has got everything I like to paint. Dark glasses – the lot… I also wouldn’t have minded if Clint Eastwood had died in time for the LA show, but he hasn’t. That’s fine.

What does having opportunities with shop environments like Murdock offer your work?

It’s different isn’t it? I tried to look for images that I thought would work in this environment, so I’ve got a few beardy guys. I’ve got George Melly with his zoot suit on and a few stylish things that I thought would work basically. I’ve got a really nice image of Merce Cunningham that is already connected to Murdock via the blog. I saw it there and thought I’d better use that one. Also there’s a very nice one of Richard Hamilton – he’s got a beard, crazy hair, looks good, very cool. Those are sort of things that I think will really work. The first thing I spotted in here was the Polly Morgan. Zavier (owner of CHARLIE SMITH london) must have thought the same. He picked out the Jacksons and now me. With our work, it’s more about the style.

 

 

How did the relationship with Zavier come about?

He’s an ex-student of mine actually. That’s one way. Actually, even before that he ran a gallery in Clapham and I showed within there. I think he found me rather than the other way around – It was a long time ago. I didn’t really teach him much directly but I think the relationship just developed from there. He’s very good at being busy in Europe and at art fairs. He’s placed my stuff very well all over so that’s been nice.

When compiling the pieces, is there any response that you are already thinking you’d like to gain from critics? Is there something in your mind that you would love people to take away from them?

I’ve had a lot of really good responses over the years. What I really like is when writers write eloquently about them and I’ve been very fortunate that that has happened. There’s a guy called Ben Street who wrote the last essay about my work for the Charlie Smith Show. He was just asked to pick anything from the Saatchi site and write about it and he picked out my stuff and he wrote really insightfully about it. He wrote things that I didn’t even think about necessarily. That’s the best thing that can happen you know, when somebody picks up on the work independently of me and writes meaningfully and eloquently about it. There are a few of those on my site that you can see under reviews. I think I’ve been fortunate. I haven’t had a lot of trash written. It doesn’t appeal to trashy writers, it seems to appeal to people who are thinkers. It’s existential!

 

 You can see Hugh’s work at Murdock Shoreditch 46 Redchurch St and Murdock Covent Garden 18 Monmouth St from Thursday 28th March until End of May. 

John Grant. Not Your Average Beardy Musician.

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Most critics, when talking about American singer-songwriter John Grant’s second solo album Pale Green Ghosts (which was released last week) praise the electronic turn he’s taken from his first record Queen of Denmark. We on the other hand like to talk about the most important thing in music: appearance. So we praise the dapper turn he appears to have taken.

 

Queen of Denmark (i.e. less dapper) era John Grant. 

Sharp haircut, trimmed beard and tweed waist coat – this is how we like our hairy musicians. Grooming aside, we will say that Grant’s mixture of lyrics that are at times both humorous and pain-stricken over synth-pop melodies is rather wonderful.

 

Hugh Mendes Opening Night in Murdock Shoreditch.

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Last Wednesday night (yep, we know, that’s like a million gazillion years ago in blogging time but we’ve been busy eating chocolate) our Shoreditch store on Redchurch St played host to a private viewing, unveiling the newly displayed artwork courtesy of the greatly talented Hugh Mendes in collaboration with the CHARLIE SMITH london gallery. We previously introduced you to Hugh’s Obituary collection when we interviewed him post-trim with our now Covent Garden based barber James Redfern.

The beers were put on ice (making good extra-curricular use of the barber’s sinks) the floor had been swept clean of hair and at 7pm, eager fans of Hugh’s work (and we like to think our shop too) soon arrived.

There are further pieces being displayed in our Covent Garden store too. So if you happen to be nearby, do pop in, say hello and admire the fantastic art that Hugh has produced. For now, here’s some photos from the event.

Artist Hugh Mendes in our Redchurch St shop 

Murdock Shoreditch Head Barber Vincent Vincent and Store Manager Chris Oliver

Richard Hamilton by Hugh Mendes

Mr Brendan Murdock, Zavier Ellis of CHARLIE SMITH london and artist Peter Georgallou

 

This is what a barber’s sink gets up to in its spare time

Murdock Shoreditch Senior Barber Tom Harrigan

Merce Cunningham by Hugh Mendes

 

Vidal Sassoon by Hugh Mendes

 

Murdock barbers Gwen Jansen and Stephen Martin

Murdock barber conference

Murdock Covent Garden’s Kial Pound and Senior Barber Tom Harrigan of Murdock Shoreditch

Loughran Gallery Pops-Up With Big Names On Redchurch St.

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Just a few doors down from our Redchurch St shop, the Loughran Gallery have made the journey from what the motorway signs call The North to host a Shoreditch Pop-Up. The MurdockMan attended the opening on Wednesday and we can officially report that there’s some very impressive work from some very big names in modern British art on show. Damien Hirst, Dave White, Marc Quinn, Harland Miller and Lara-Carew Jones have all provided pieces for the exhibition. Anyway that’s more than enough about all that amazing art because what the evening was most notable for was the surprising number of British boyband members present and the excitement that this caused my girlfriend.

Dave White’s Warrior. 

My indifference at being in the same small, arty space as members of McFly, One Direction and Busted was in sharp and clearly-noticeable-to-watchful-PR-girls contrast to that of my girlfriend. Yes, McFly, One Direction and Busted. It was like the ghosts of boyband past, present and so-past-I-can-barely-remember-but-have-a-very-good-memory-for-these-things all in one room.  A sure cause for a rift in the time space continuum of manufactured pop. And who from One Direction, I hear you not asking as you’re not at all interested, was in attendance? It was, of course, the Dalston party boy and teen lothario Harry Styles. You don’t really care about that fact, and neither particularly did I until I suddenly realised I was being used as a shield for sneaky iPhone photos. I obviously wanted nothing to do with such acts of blatant fandom. So I told my girlfriend not to act in such a manner, moved away before she (or so I thought) had had a chance to take any and played it cool. (So cool and blasé that I then used most of this blog post ostensibly about a gallery pop-up to talk about it….)

Damien Hirst in the window.

On leaving though, I discovered that she had ‘succeeded’ in attaining a photo of young Harry. And here it is in all its excitedly shaky and out of focus glory…

12 year old girls on Twitter have killed for less.

Loughran Gallery Pop-Up is on at The Gallery, Redchurch St until 7th April.

David Bowie Is All Yours Concept Store at Selfridges.

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It seems like the nation wishes for another celebration of Britishness this summer like the one that cheered everyone last. Without a once in a lifetime sporting event or significant reason to wave flags and watch boats for a significant old lady though, the country’s focus has moved to the one living British icon who was heavily prominent in the Olympics without ever actually being there. Mr David Bowie, the greatest pop star of all, was a major feature of both the opening and closing ceremonies as well his anthem Heroes being played at every medal ceremony. However, he never left New York, likely because he was working on his stealthily released new record The Next Day, and thus the mystery of Bowie grew in tandem with his iconic status. The new album and record breakingly successful David Bowie Is V&A exhibition have been the hook for much further Bowie mania across the media in recent months and this shows no sign of abating as Selfridges have just opened the doors on their David Bowie Is All Yours concept store in collaboration with the V&A.  Truly, 2013 is the summer of Bowie.

David Bowie Is Concept Store at Selfridges.

Hairstyle Icon: Robert Redford.

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Robert Redford is the epitome of a true Hollywood icon. As a movie legend with a career spanning decades, you might have somehow not seen any of his films, but his name would still ring true.

As founder of the Sundance Festival, which conquers London for its second UK running at the end of this month, we dedicate this post to some of the iconic hairstyles sported throughout his film career. Turns out that despite covering four decades, they’re not actually all so different…

 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

 

The Great Gatsby (1974)

 

Indecent Proposal (1993)

 

Spy Game (2001)

 

We couldn’t not include a beardy one..

 

Our Covent Garden barber Lachlan Watson has been able to provide the right professional tips and barber advice in order to attain such styles with his industry wisdom:

“Achieving any of these hairstyles is more or less technically the same in terms of the cut. It’s really the styling and products used that’s making the difference.

The hair should be slightly tapered through the back, leaving it to float over the ears with loose edges. It should be left slightly longer through the top section.

For the Sundance Kid look, towel-dry the hair and apply a slight amount of Sachajuan Hair Wax or Paste. Depending on your hair type, choose the wax for a firmer hold. Blow-dry this into the defined parting line to finish the shape.

To achieve the shorter and sharper Gatsby look, style the hair with Sweet Georgia Brown Red pomade through blow-dried hair. You should use a firm, slightly wider-toothed comb for crafting the crisp, clean shape. The Medium Kent would be ideal.

For Mr. Redford’s longer and wavier looks, simply tell your barber to leave the layers longer through top section and the same for the loose hair over the ears. Begin the styling by spraying some Ocean Mist through towel-dried hair to create texture and volume. Get more hands on with the styling and shape to achieve the looser look using Matt Putty.

Again, these are all essentially the same haircuts, simply styled differently.”

 

 

     
Sachajuan Hair Wax Sachajuan Hair Paste Sweet Georgia Brown Red

 

                                                     

     
Medium Kent Comb Ocean Mist Matt Putty

                                               

You can view the full 2013 Sundance Schedule here.

The Particular Paris Hair of the Prada Films by Wes Anderson.

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Candy Episode 1 by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola 

Have you seen the new trilogy of short films for Prada’s Candy L’Eau fragrance? Chances are that as they were made by indie auteur extraordinaire Wes Anderson and his regular partner in 35mm Roman Coppola (and also as they were released last month) that you have. So instead of highlighting how much we love Anderson’s dry humour dialogue (‘Qu’est-ce que c’est banana split en francais?’ ‘Banana split.’), fantastic use of 60s music (Jacques Dutronc in this), that signature studio design and pan whip camera movements, we thought we’d concentrate on what we know best, the hair.

There is a particular type of Parisian hairstyle featured on the good looking heads of the two male leads starring alongside Mademoiselle Lea Seydoux. It has been the main style for a certain type of very Parisian Paris boy for the best part of this century. Born and bred in the affluent central arrondissements with boho parents they study lettres at the Sorbonne. They love The Rolling Stones but unlike the hundreds of thousands of their compatriots they would never move to London. For why would they ever leave Paris? They exist in a cinematic ideal of the City of Lights. This description may lead some to believe that this hairstyle is the French version of an English public school floppy fringe but this would be to mis-sell it. It emphasises a gallic creativity and romance that the floppy fringe does not. It is an oxymoron of a haircut. Carefully crafted to demonstrate a laissez-faire attitude. Worn, as in the film, with the best tailoring. In this respect it is more closely related to the well-groomed beard. Perhaps one would now describe it as the Louis Garrell hairstyle, made famous by the wavy locks of the poster boy of French indie cinema.

 Candy Episode 2 

 

 Candy Episode 3

 

Louis Garrel

Monsieur Louis Garrel

 

The Candy L’Eau shorts are not too dissimilar from Anderson and Coppola’s other commercial work for Stella Artois. Whether it’s fragrance or beer, it seems that a quirky French film parody is the magic ingredient:

 

And while we’re on the commercial work of Mr Anderson, here’s the American Express advert he did a few years back starring another of his cinematic cohorts, former MurdockMan Hairstyle Icon and Mr Coppola’s cousin, Jason Schwartzman:

 


Covent Garden Top 5 Playlist

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We asked barbers Matt Hughes and Stephen Martin, as well as sales assistant Nick Jordan in Murdock Covent Garden what tunes they’ve been delighting the ears of the customers with in the past week. Their 5 most played is an eclectic mix of the Best of British guitars new and old, and some classic US soul.

 

Kissin’ My Love by Bill Withers

 

Monday, Monday by The Mamas and Papas 

 

What I’d Say by Ray Charles

 

Milk by Theme Park

 

Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks

Keith Vaughan Exhibition at Agnew’s Gallery

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To celebrate a century since the birth of British artist Keith Vaughan (1912-1977), and tying in with a major show at Pallant House in Chichester, Agnew’s gallery in Mayfair are presenting a retrospective of the painter’s work.

Starting as Neo-Romanticist in the years following the war, Vaughan gradually moved more and more into abstraction.

 

Vaughan is most well known for his painting’s of male figures, many of which are shown at the Agnew’s exhibition on Albemarle Street.

 

 

 

The Keith Vaughan exhibition runs at Agnew’s Gallery, 35 Albemarle Street until 15 June.

First Trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby

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The first thing you hear at the start of the first trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby is ‘No Church in the Wild’ by Kanye West and Jay-Z, taken from their  Watch the Throne album, released August 2011.  Be in no doubt then, this is a modern sounding and looking 1920s New York Luhrmann has created. Full of the vibrant colours and almost cartoonish style with which the Australian director fills every frame of his films. Going for a glamour galore aesthetic, there’s certainly no shortage of fantastic clothes and wonderful hair on display but being rather big fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, we’re perhaps slightly anxious at the rap video style of the trailer. And the fact that it’s in 3D seems slightly ridiculous but maybe we’ll be proved wrong.

Mario Balotelli and the Nike Barber Shop

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Nike launched a new interactive app this week as part of their Euro 2012 promotional activities, and they’ve jumped on board the good ship barber shop. The commercial for the app features one of the most entertaining men in world football, Mario Balotelli, try some classic international tournament haircuts from Ronaldo’s 2002 short front, bald everywhere else look to Carlos Valderrama’s USA 94 afro while PSG stars Mamadou Sakho and Javier Pastore watch on. It also has a little dig at his infamous inability to put on a bib.

The app itself allows you to take a pic of yourself with the choice of rather more boring hair styles of current players (excluding Neymar’s ridiculous cartoon hair) and can be found at the Nike Barber Shop on Facebook.

Mr Vincent Vincent’s Top 5 Summer Playlist

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Mr Vincent Vincent was a man of many punk bands back in his native Canada. He may have now swapped his bass for scissors but as well as moustaches he very much still has music on his mind. And he got so excited with the recent arrival of the flaming ball of gas in the sky that he compiled a smashing summer playlist with which to delight your sunburnt ears.

 

Meet Me In The City by The Babies

It’s ten pm. It’s just got dark. The air is balmy. You’ve been sitting in a city park all day getting tipsy with your friends. Now you’re running around the streets, happily not knowing where you’re going next but with the sense that, wherever it is, it will be an amazing night. This is the song you’re listening to.

 

After The Moment by Craft Spells

The video doesn’t look that sunny but the song certainly sounds it.

 

It’s Real by Real Estate

Real Estate follow that boring tradition of lo-fi bands having incredibly dull names (Pavement)… but there’s nothing dull about this sunny track! Da-dum!

 

Sunny Sundae Smile by My Bloody Valentine

I’m guessing Vincent’s thinking here is it has the word ‘Sunny’ in the title. Grammatically acceptable for a summer playlist.

 

Myth by Beach House

I thought it was the guy singing on this new single from the Baltimore boy/girl duo. It’s not. It’s Victoria, the girl. That’s one husky voiced française  right there. A perfect summer sunsetter of a tune.

 

 

 

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