And so artist and writer Toby Mott, last seen at this year’s Art Car Boor Fair in Kings Cross with suitcases of his paintings, had his latest book launch last Wednesday at the Horse Hospital here in London, the evening featured a fantastic DJ set from Lith Li (in her big black horns) as well as a revolving slide show of some of the images and a flavour or two of what you might find in Toby’s latest publication Transgression in the UK and well, as we reported last week, ““Toby Mott’s new book delves into the archives to explore the UK fetish scene’s collisions with fashion, presenting a new visual archive of vintage material from The Mott Collection. The book highlights the pivotal role of publications like Skin Two magazine, which promoted the fetish movement’s aesthetics and ethos, and iconic clubs such as Torture Garden, where fashion, music, and art collided in a space free from judgement. These materials trace how leather, latex, punk, and goth came together to create a subculture that moved from Soho’s shadows to mainstream fashion runways. From London’s Kensington Market to Manchester’s Affleck’s Palace, Prelude offers a rare glimpse into the alternative culture that challenged societal norms and reshaped ideas of self-expression. This isn’t just history—it’s an immersive, visual celebration of a movement that continues to defy convention”.
Mr Mott has now followed up the rather buzzing launch with a week-long pop up in an old and recently closed down Soho bookshop, the shop is a piece of art in itself, part book shop, part art installation or performance, the shop is there until this Sunday December 22nd, you can find a number of Toby’s publication as well as vintage copies of Skin Two and other ‘interesting’ publications…
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Do click on an image for a flavour of the shop and last week’s launch…
THE ORGAN 