09 Friday Oct 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Brighton, Music, Poetry, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Violets, Flamingos and Heroes in Autumn
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Brighton, Christine Keeler, David Bowie, Dreadzone, Emily Capell, Flamingo, Flamingo Club, Geoff McCormack, Lana Del Rey, Mercy for Christine, NHS Heroes, Rosie the Riveter, Roxana Halls, Seymour Platt, The Skatalites, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass
On New Year’s Eve, I wrote here of my fears over where the world is heading. Little did I know that only a few weeks later we would be facing up to a pandemic. 2020 has been a strange, lonesome year for many of us. Continue reading
13 Wednesday May 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Dear Christine: A Tribute in Art, Poetry and Prose
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Alan Olley, Amanda Coe, Arthouse1, Barbara Howey, Bo Gorzelak Pedersen, Caroline Coon, Catherine Edmunds, Cathy Lomax, Charlotte Innes, Charlotte Metcalf, Christine Keeler, Claudia Clare, David Astbury, Dear Christine, Elysium Gallery, Fine Cell Work, Fionn Wilson, Guinevere Clark, Helen Billinghurst, J.V. Martin, James Birch, Jeni Williams, Jo Mazelis, JoWonder, Julia Maddison, Julie Burchill, Kalliopi Minioudaki, Kathryn Gray, Lewis Morley, London, Lucy Cox, Mandy Rice-Davies, Marguerite Horner, Mari Ellis Dunning, Murray's Cabaret Club, Natalie d'Arbeloff, Newcastle, Pal Hansen, Patrick Jones, Pauline Boty, Poetry, Profumo Affair, Rebecca Fairman, Roxana Halls, Sadie Hennessy, Sadie Lee, Sal Jones, Sarah Caulfield, Sarah Shaw, Seymour Platt, Shani Rhys James, Soho, Sonja Benskin Mesher, Stella Vine, Swansea, Tanya Gold, The Keeler Affair, Vane Gallery, Wales, Wendy Nelson
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler first took root in 2014, when Fionn Wilson painted a set of four portraits in black and white, based on 1960s photographs by Lewis Morley and others. Like myself, Fionn first discovered Keeler in retrospect. She asked other women artists, some of whom had lived through the Profumo Affair to contribute works about Christine. For many of us, her story represents a rite of passage. As Fionn notes in her foreword to the exhibition catalogue, the scandal “let the genie of sex out of the bottle” and “dealt a death blow” to class deference. At the same time, it unleashed a brave new world of tabloid exposure. “Never had the press been so bold and it has never looked back.” Continue reading
03 Monday Feb 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Periodicals, Profumo Affair, Television
≈ Comments Off on ‘Dear Christine’ Steps Out in London
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Arthouse1, Bermondsey, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Fionn Wilson, Her Edit, Julie Burchill, Keeler Profumo Ward and Me, London, Profumo Affair, Seymour Platt, The Trial Of Christine Keeler
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler has just begun the final leg of its tour at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey, London. The opening night was attended by, among others, Christine’s son Seymour Platt, and her close friend, Desmond Banks; Geoffrey Robertson QC; and the writer Julie Burchill. (You can view Julie and Seymour’s speeches here.)
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this exhibition has been postponed until further notice – more info here. (18/02/2020)
24 Tuesday Sep 2019
Posted in Books, History, Non-Fiction, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Christine Keeler’s ‘Secrets and Lies’ Redux
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Christine Keeler, Dennis F. Evans, Desmond Banks, Douglas Thompson, Eugene Ivanov, Gisela Winegard, Jeremy Hutchinson, John Profumo, Lucky Gordon, Mandy Rice-Davies, Profumo Affair, Secrets and Lies, Seymour Platt, Thomas Grant
“I never met Christine Keeler,” Seymour Platt writes in his foreword to the latest edition of her memoirs, Secrets and Lies: The Trials of Christine Keeler. (This is a paperback reissue of her 2012 book, itself an update to her 2001 autobiography, The Truth At Last.) His mother changed her name, he explains, “to get away from being Christine Keeler. In our house Christine Keeler was talked about in the third person – who would want to be associated with Christine Keeler? Christine Keeler would get the blame for a lot of things that happened. Friends, family, relationships that soured, all that would be Christine Keeler’s fault.” Continue reading
12 Friday Apr 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair, Television
≈ Comments Off on Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler
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Amanda Coe, Arthouse1, Caroline Coon, Cathy Lomax, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Ellie Bamber, Elysium Gallery, Fionn Wilson, Julie Burchill, Newcastle, Profumo Affair, Sadie Lee, Seymour Platt, Shani Rhys James, Sophie Cookson, Stella Vine, Swansea, Tanya Gold, The Trial Of Christine Keeler, Vane Gallery, Wales
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Christine Keeler. She’s almost a mythical character, like folklore …
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler, a new multi-media exhibition of women’s art curated by artist Fionn Wilson, will open in Newcastle next month before moving on to Swansea in October, and London next February. Among the talented contributors are Caroline Coon, Cathy Lomax and Stella Vine. I have contributed some writing alongside Julie Burchill, Amanda Coe, Tanya Gold and Christine’s son, Seymour Platt, which will be published in an exhibition catalogue. Artists Shani Rhys James and Sadie Lee have talked about Keeler’s impact in this trailer, presented by Fionn and released today. Continue reading
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