Organised by Camden Arts Centre
Join us to celebrate the launch of Stephen Ellcock's highly anticipated book, Underworlds.
About this event
Ellcock will be in conversation with musician and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker to discuss the creative process, inspirations, and the concept behind his latest publication.
About the book: A darkly evocative compendium of images exploring natural, constructed, imaginary and subconscious underworlds, curated by renowned image collector and social media figure Stephen Ellcock. From the burrows and secret bunkers beneath our feet to imagined hellscapes and surrealist dreamscapes, the disquieting, alarming, and wonderful visuals span natural and constructed subterranea and imagined and subconscious worlds. A personal introduction by Stephen, together with a contextual chapter, introduces and establishes the key themes, while supplementary texts elucidate essential concepts, historical events, and figures. Thought-provoking literary, philosophical, and spiritual quotations punctuate the intriguing images. Together, the images and authoritative text highlight the interplay between the real and the imagined, revealing how the real has fed our fears and hopes and informed our imagination – and conversely, how our imagination has depicted the esoteric, the abject and the unknown.
Biographies:
Stephen Ellcock is a London-based curator, writer, researcher, and online collector of images who has spent the last decade creating an ever-expanding virtual museum of art that is open to all via social media. His ongoing attempt at creating the ultimate social media ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ has so far attracted more than 600,000 followers worldwide. He is also the author of The Cosmic Dance, All Good Things, The Book of Change, England On Fire, with text by Mat Osman, and Jeux de Mains, a collaboration with Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi.
Jarvis Cocker is an English musician and broadcaster. He is best known as the founder, frontman, and lyricist for the band Pulp, where he was the only consistent member, thereby becoming a prominent figure in the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. After Pulp's hiatus, Cocker embarked on a solo career. Additionally, for seven years, he hosted the BBC Radio 6 Music show, Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service.