#simon withers

📷 ©️ Iain McKell

Billy Idol & Perry Lister

Princess Julia (Fodor) - DJ and Music Writer

Vivienne Westwood - Fashion Designer

Boy George - Culture Club

Fashion Designer Stephen Linard, Blitz Kid

Billy Idol - Generation X

Dancer, singer and Actress Perri Lister

Simon Withers - Set Designer for Spandau Ballet

Bic Owen - Costume Designer

Drawer from Curio 3, Simon Withers' Rashleigh Jackson Collection, 2012

Drawer from Curio 4, Dr. Lakra 

I visited Nottingham Contemporary's Small Collections Room on February 13, 2013, partly to find inspiration for the table exhibition, and also because I was intrigued by the writeup of the exhibition featured in Issue 8 of the NVA newspaper. 

The Small Collections Room, which really may be described as a small, collection room, was nearly filled with the four antique curios. Both artists used two curios, which alternated to form a circuit of sorts, guided by an infographic on the door. 

The actual act of viewing the exhibition formed a large part of the experience. Bits of the fictional life of veteran and apparently prolific sweet-consumer Rashleigh Jackson were slowly revealed through peering into drawers in the old, and expensive-looking pieces of furniture. This can only be described as a "snooping" action, and I felt that at any moment, I'd be interrupted and asked what I was doing. The room itself adds to this feeling, as it seems to be rather more cupboard than room. This sense of the taboo was brilliant, and intensified further in the curios belonging to Mexican (tattoo)artist, Dr. Lakra. Elements of pop and consumer culture were combined with tattooed, found objects, and highly sexualised figurines (see photo, above). Interestingly, this method of display also added a sense of unfulfilled curiosity (ha ha), as, because of my height, I was unable to view the top drawers of three of the four curios. Everyone knows, of course, that the top drawer always contains the best or juiciest bits of information, and my inability to find out what was in them without climbing the furniture resulted in a niggle that lasted some time after I left. 

Although I was aware that the persona of Rashleigh Jackson was invented by the artist, and was in fact, partially autobiographical, I found myself wondering why Jackson would have collected and preserved such objects. The juxtaposition and layering of objects, bits of writing, sweet wrappers, and pop-culture elements also prompted an attempt at in-depth reading to understand how they related to each other. In my opinion, perhaps the most intriguing drawers featured images of wounded and scarred soldiers with coins placed over the eyes, supposedly referencing Jackson's own horrific facial injury sustained during the Great War. Withers has created a persona quite effectively, and together with curator Abi Spinks, has devised an ingenious method of exhibiting it in an intimate and fascinating manner that sucks the viewer in completely.