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“Recently we received an unexpected letter advising that we need to remove our beloved Jealous rooftop sign. As you can probably understand, we are devastated to receive this news. The rooftop sign has stood as a symbol of the company and has been a landmark in Shoreditch for almost a decade. We have created a petition to gather signatures, as we hope to overturn the decision to have it removed. Your support would mean the world to us. Let’s keep our beloved sign shining bright!”
We’d say it was lot more than just a (relatively small and rather quiet) company sign, do we even think of Jealous as a company? Surely their gallery and the space it offers to many East London-based artists is a positive part of the Shoreditch fabric? And the tasteful sign, as fine as it is is up there high on the roof way out of the way and not imposing on anyone, what harm is it doing? All this while Hackney Council has just imposed some awful corporate so called “Street Art” at the foot of Mare Street, something about parking Tickets that no one wants or likes, painted on the side of a residential block of flats without anyone being asked if they wanted it there or not, a massive sign and a blight that looks like is was designed by some thirteen year old doing (and failing) their graphic design school project. I mean it isn’t like Shoreditch is all thatched rooftops and hanging baskets. There’s corporate noise everywhere in the form of advertising boards, estate agent signs, lime bike blocking wheelchairs, there’s some awfully corporate “street art” advertising being imposed on us (anyone involved in painting any of that should be ashamed of themselves), way too much in terms of road signs, council signs imposed (imposed is the word here) on the pavement. Ask most Hackney residents what they think of the Jealous sign and they’d have no clue what you were asking them about, meanwhile people are flooding in to the area to see the art, the galleries that still hang on and let’s be frank here, unless your name is Stik (and nothing against Stik), Hackney Council are not the least bit interested in art or supporting it in any kind of positive way.
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The jealous sign is a positive, it has become part of Shoreditch, it is a piece of the area’s recent history, I imagine no one has said a word in terms of a complaint in the last ten or so years it has been there adding to the skyline in such a positive way, it really is more a piece of art than a sign. A positive part of what is mostly a cluttered and rather negative East London cityscape. those of us who even know it is there think it a rather fine sign, a fine landmark, something Hackney Council and East London should be proud of. Hackney Council should be encouraging culture, encouraging art galleries, especially the East London spaces that work with East London artists as Jealous has constantly done 9and we should note Jealous is open to anyone, no one is charged, you can just walk in a look at the art at any time). If the sign has to go then can we have all the greedy Foxton signs removed? All the corporate billboard adverts on the side of buildings, all the signs for teeth rotting fizzy pop on the front of shops? All those dreadfully painted adverts masquerading as “street art” that are blighting Shoreditch and Hackney in general at the moment. We like the Jealous sign up there on the roof, it imposes on no one. (sw)
The petition / Jealous website
Previously on these pages
ORGAN THING: Lee Eelus at Jealous East, the work feels stronger now, a bolder fingerprint…
ORGAN THING: Jealous Needs You, a strong show, a slick exhibition, not too slick though…
THE ORGAN 
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