July 11th – Stephen Ellcock at Treadwell’s

British artist Jamie Reid (1947–2023) is most famous for creating the ‘the single most iconic image of the punk era’: The Sex Pistols’ 1977 debut album cover. However, his latter work was heavily rooted in paganism.

In this illustrated lecture, author, curator and image-collector Stephen Ellcock takes a Treadwell’s audience through the full spectrum of Reid’s work. This includes not only his pre-punk, Situationist-inspired agitprop but druidry-inspired pieces created later in life. Reid observed the eight pagan festival dates, holding rituals at his allotment in Liverpool. Druidry also ran in the family – his great uncle was the famous Druid chief George Watson MacGregor Reid, who ‘put Druidry at the heart of the Stonehenge summer solstice’. Afterwards, there will be an informal soirée on the shopfloor with signings for the accompanying new book on Reid’s art.

Time for Magic: A Shamanarchist’s Guide to the Wheel of the Year – co-authored by Stephen Ellcock, John Marchant and Philip Carr-Gomm – is a full-colour 216-page survey of art, memorabilia, reminiscences and analysis. It features key Wheel of the Year artworks alongside famous earlier pieces (including his work for the Sex Pistols).

11 Jul 2024, 19:00 – 21:30

London, 33 Store St, London WC1E 7BS, UK

Tickets: £10.00 – £22.00

BOOK HERE

About Time For Magic:

Time for Magic offers an entrancing overview of Jamie Reid’s incredible art, structured around the eight seasonal festivals of the Wheel of the Year (the equinoxes and solstices plus Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh and Samhain). Jamie observed these festivals, holding rituals at his allotment in Liverpool, and focused on this theme in his later paintings. This book features key Wheel of the Year artworks as well as famous earlier pieces, including the pre-punk, Situationist-inspired agit-prop and the work he produced for the Sex Pistols. Curator Stephen Ellcock has selected the art and in his own inimitable creative style arranged it into season-themed chapters, as well as finding images of Druidic ceremonies held by Jamie’s great-uncle, Chief Druid George Watson MacGregor Reid.

Stephen Ellcock in conversation with John Marchant introduces Jamie’s life, legacy and love of making trouble; John Marchant provides captions giving deep insight in Jamie’s work; and Philip Carr-Gomm writes about the Wheel of the Year and how it can help us find a new way of being in this era of climate crisis.

About Stephen Ellcock:

Stephen Ellcock is a London-based online collector and curator of images, writer, researcher and former musician and bookseller who spends most of his time nowadays creating an ever-expanding, virtual museum on Facebook and Instagram. His ongoing attempt at creating the ultimate social media ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ has so far attracted more than 350,000 followers and increasing media attention, not all of which is unwelcome.