George Skeggs Art Exhibition

George was born during World War Two off Brick Lane East London in November 1943 and has lived in Covent Garden since 1963.

George says of his work “In recent years I have become obsessed with the mystique and stories which surround the myths of King Arthur’s Camelot, and have used them as a starting point for a series of Gothic paintings using the words of the poet Tennyson as a stimulus, but applying my own subjective interpretation of the written word.

I also had in the 1980s a passing interest in Pop Retro which resurfaced in 2011. Both styles of painting will be on show at the Seven Dials Club from 20th September.”

George participated in the ‘Arts Laboratory’ scene in the late 60s and 70s at the Arts Meeting Place in Covent Garden which included such a diverse range of work from painting, poetry, improvised music, conceptual art, sculpture and all kinds of happenings. There were the underground filmmakers and the underground press, International Times, which later became OZ, located in Betterton Street. There was also the Acme Gallery in Shorts Gardens and The Garage Gallery on the same site of which was later to become Smith’s Galleries 1 – 2 – 3, The Casbar Coffee Bar and Restaurant where he exhibited regularly with Covent Garden Artists and also on the Covent Garden Piazza in the early 90s.

By the mid 70s Punk had arrived. It was in Neal Street you could find the Mecca of punk at the Roxy Club. Also on the same block as Smith’s Gallery Restaurant and Bar was the Covent Garden Community Centre and Seven Dials Club – on the ground floor of 42 Earlham Street at that time. This was frequented by locals including many well known actors, actresses and musicians from the many nearby theatres plus tutors and students from the London International Film School. In the cellars were the Basement Youth Club started by David Bieda and Christina Smith which was to feature in the film ‘Quadraphenia‘ and contained its own recording studio and rehearsal room. It was in late 1973 that set-up his ‘Scorpio’ Studio on Long Acre in an ex banana warehouse which overlooked the temporary Japanese water garden. This was created by Alan Spence of the Covent Garden Community Association, on the site of Odhams Press along with a loose collective of other artists doing experimental art, on lines of the Warhol factory scene in New York.

It was an exciting time because the old fruit and veg market was moving to a new site at Nine Elms and this meant there were many vacant warehouses which could be utilised as studios and exhibition spaces for people doing their own thing. A lot of the activities took place at Arts Meeting Place or AMP as it was better known.

This was located in an old warehouse that used to house an old brewery and paper manufacturer on Earlham Street close to Seven Dials. We even had our own printing press which printed many things which were occupying our minds at the time including subversive political articles, poetry and diagrams explaining new conceptual ideas in art. All these and much more were printed in our own publication AMP News.

There was always the threat of being raided by the police as indeed happened on more than one occasion as some of the events contained full frontal nudity, which would have attracted the attention of the vice squad. However by the 80s it was all about to end as the whole are was being fattened up for speculative redevelopment. This has sadly left the whole area over commercialised with little character or soul.