Uncovered works by Peter Blake go on display
Peter Blake in his studio, 1960.
A number of significant early works by Peter Blake are included in an exhibition at the newly opened One Hoe Street Gallery in Waltham Forest. Pop by Design brings together a selection of the most important works from the recently rediscovered archives of DANAD Design, a collective of painters, designers and architects who pioneered the Pop Art aesthetic.
DANAD Design came together in 1958 as the brainchild of several artists who lived, hung out and worked in the dilapidated splendour of Marden Hill – a Georgian country house in Hertfordshire.
Peter Blake was part of the collective who turned Marden Hill into a creative hothouse, producing hand-made art objects and furniture. The exhibition will feature a number of his works, including a painting that when turned over reveals the words: ‘Lemonade – sixpence’, highlighting its significance in connection to the lives of the families that co-existed at Marden Hill during the ‘50s and ‘60s. One of Blake’s earliest Tattooed Ladies made into a table and a print will also be on display.
Blake has remarked that what Danad invented was ‘the setting of art work into plastic – that was the breakthrough’.
This June Peter Blake will celebrate his 88th birthday, but shows no signs of slowing down. In addition to Pop by Design, Blake is currently working on a new whisky project, a poster for Teenage Cancer Trust and a portrait of Glastonbury’s Michael Eavis for the National Portrait Gallery.
