What London Culture Means To Me

I love the fact London's Southbank is the largest strip devoted to the arts anywhere in the world. And I love the fact London is the most ethnically diverse and most linguistically diverse city on the planet. I love all the theatres and galleries that London has to offer. It's great to breath the fresh air and see all the beautiful trees in Greenwich Park as I make my way to the Record & Tape Exchange and the Indoor market. The overstuffed Walrus at the Horniman Museum and the ceiling of The British Museum never fail to make me smile. I love seeing bands play in The Lexington and comedians do their thing at The Leicester Square Theatre. It's great to have a Won Tun soup at the Wonk Kei in Chinatown before seeing a classic old movie at The Prince Charlies Cinema. We're spoilt for choice.

Londoners have a distinctive sarky and ironic sense of humour. I remember many moons ago being in The South London Gallery and George (from Gilbert & George) told me if you live in London, you never need to go on holiday. He explained that every lunchtime he would look out of his window and see some pigeons, outside an Indian off licence, eating the sick that a Scotsman had thrown up the night before when he had enjoyed a Chinese take away and drank too much Belgian beer. Recently in South London I saw a local person make their feelings on gentrification known by wearing a T-shirt with a slogan that read: "Make Peckham Shit Again." 

In the 1970s working class people could come to London, live in a squat, and receive a full grant which would get them through art school. That doesn't happen anymore and going to Art School and forming a band is only an idea you can entertain if you come from a wealthy background. If you are a painter or musician in 2022, I would say it is pretty much impossible to survive very long in London. As the capitol gets more expensive, the creative people are forced to flee to Kent and put their work on Instagram rather than in an artist run space. The people you meet in London are not chirpy like the character Dick Van Dyke played in the film Mary Poppins. William Blake was closer to the mark when he wrote about Londoners having faces etched with weariness and woe. Shane MacGowan came to London and he wrote songs about rainy nights in Soho. Linton Kwesi Johnson got a job with London Overground and concluded that "Inglan (sic) is a Bitch."

Most people you meet here are struggling but the difficulties they face inspire poetry, wit and empathy. The song Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks is very unusual because it's a song that is both happy and sad at the same time. In the film Paddington, the rare bear from Peru is told by Mrs Brown that in London, everybody is different and that's way anybody can fit in. The streets of London are not paved with gold but there's always someone trying to convince themselves that this time next year they will be a millionaire and that the world will be their lobster.

Someone once defined 'Culture' as being anything that makes life worth living. I meet friends at The Three Stags pub which has a little Charlie Chaplin booth, and on my way there I smile as I walk past Lambeth Walk as it makes me think of the famous song. I like the old red phone boxes which people turn into little libraries and donate books to. I love the Turkish food and hairdressers you find in Stoke Newington. I love Lewisham's Sparrow restaurant ever changing menu. Little things mean a lot and there are a lot of little things about London that make life worth living. 

www.harrypye.com

Harry Pye graduated from Winchester School of Art in 1995. Over the years Harry’s paintings have been selected for shows at; The Barbican, Calvert 22, The Discerning Eye Mall Gallery, The Bankside Gallery, The Creekside Art Gallery, and festivals such as; Elefest and Deptford X. Pye’s work featured in two group exhibitions at Tate Modern; Save Our Souls, and Inside Job. His paintings have also been exhibited in galleries in; Australia, Brazil, China, and Denmark. Pye paintings have been sold to raise money for charities such as Art Against Knives, Break Through, Action For Children, Kids & Co, CARA, Depression Alliance, Friends of the Earth, and The National Brain Appeal. His paintings have appeared on record sleeves, posters on the underground and the cover of the Tate Staff Handbook. His work has appeared in numerous publications including; The Times, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, Frieze, and Turps Banana.  The Week magazine said of Harry’s work, “Pye's apparent naivety is accompanied by a strong sense of construction and design. Their directness and humour are appealing” And the critic Ana Finel Honigman described him as one of “London's premiere puckish artists and curators.”