We explore Julie Verhoeven's eclectic South London studio
Julie Verhoeven is one of London's most innovative and instantly recognisable artists, renowned for her dreamy and provocative illustrations, sculptures and installations that explore the complexity of womanhood. Her pencil studies and assemblages are soaked in colour, underpinned by both fashion and feminism. Drawing inspiration from the 1970s, with a strong appreciation of popular culture, rainbow-painted girls dance topless through Verhoeven’s work, exuding sexuality and a heady dose of punk.
Verhoeven graduated in 1987 from Medway College (now Kent Institute). She worked as first assistant to John Galliano, followed by Martine Sitbon in Paris, before being given her own fashion label by Italian manufacturers Gibo in 2002. She has since released several books and has exhibited internationally since 2002, including solo shows at Vera Gliem, Cologne, ZINGERpresents, Amsterdam and The Economist Plaza, London, while The Victoria & Albert Museum hold over 100 of her illustrations in their permanent collection. She has also worked as a tutor on the MA fashion course at Central Saint Martins since 1996, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Verhoeven’s new exhibition, Whiskers Between My Legs, is set to open this December at the ICA in London, exploring female identity through an immersive experience described as a “grotto of visual excess.” Ahead of the show, we visited her studio in South London to explore the eccentric world of Verhoeven.
On knitwear…
“It is a simple pleasure – touch and texture. My late Auntie Dais, my grandmother’s twin, taught me how to knit when I was young. The only thing I have ever knitted is a lilac scarf for my teddy Verhoeven in plain and pearl.”
On her studio…
“It is an ever-increasing explosion of stuff, slowing eating me up. Floor space framed by excessive amounts of everything: art materials, paper, fabric, books, magazines, CDs and dust. My favourite thing in my studio is a stuffed fabric sculpture, which has identity issues – is it a buck-toothed gherkin? Or a buck-toothed neck rest?
On memories of art college…
“I remember the revelation that a tear sheet from The Sunday Times of a burnt forest could be deemed as research. I was happy from that point on. The first thing I ever made was a hybrid pylon/cactus dress.”
On her favourite piece of knitwear…
“My favourite piece of knitwear is a one-armed, black cobwebbed, knitted fringed wrap from the 1980s by John Galliano – quite something.”
On why she enjoys her job…
“Short bursts of frenzied output, and no two days being the same, if I so choose it.”
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Text by Mhairi Graham
