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Shoreditch Exchange, Hackney Road, E2.

416 Nazrul Street E2

Annka Kultys Gallery is pleased to present Pie ’n’ Mash, an exhibition of new paintings by the British artist Dominic Dispirito.  Pie ’n’ Mash is Dispirito’s second solo presentation with the gallery following his successful 2018 debut show In the Garden, Council Housed and Violent.

Ostensibly, the paintings in “Pie ‘n’ Mash” focus on Jackie, a figure renowned across the East End of London as the “Pearly Queen of Hackney” or simply “Pearly.” Jackie is the latest in an illustrious line often referred as “London Royalty,” her forebears first being crowned pearly kings and queens of Hackney in the second half of the nineteenth century. The pearly tradition, primarily associated with wearing clothes decorated with mother-of-pearl buttons, grew out of the habit of London costermongers or street traders wearing trousers decorated at the seams with pearl buttons found in the markets.  The first pearly king (a gentleman called Henry Croft, 1861-1930) adapted and built on this practice to create an entire pearly suit to draw attention to himself and his charitable activities of collecting money for the poor of London’s East End.  The charitable nature of pearly culture continues to this day and Jackie’s daughters and grandchildren will inherit the pearly title, maintaining and keeping strong the tradition of helping local communities through performance and song. But beyond the immediate focus on Jackie, the works in Pie ’n’ Mash bear witness to Dispirito’s continuing exploration of issues facing the working class culture he grew up in.

The exhibition is on view from 14 March - 13 April, 2019 at AKG, London.                                                                                                                      ANNKA KULTYS GALLERY                                                                               472 Hackney Road | Unit 3, 1st Floor | London E2 9EQ | T +44 20 3302 6070  www.annkakultysgallery.com

OPENING TIMES Thursday – Saturday 12 – 6pm or by appointment

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Pictured: Dominic Dispirito ‘She’s lost her marbles’ (2018), © Dominic Dispirito.