I love listening. It is one of the only spaces where you can be still and moved at the same time. — Nayyirah Waheed — Monday July 27th — —

The idea is to die young as late as possible. — Ashley Montagu — Monday July 27th — —

“What art does — maybe what it does most completely — is tell us, make us feel that what we think we know, we don’t. There are whole worlds around us that we’ve never glimpsed.” Greil Marcus — Monday July 27th — —

Reading 78 by Gil Rigoulet

Last week, on the 22nd of July, a great exhibition opened in the Parisian bar Ground Control, curated by the interesting young Mayday Mayday Mayday art/street culture platform. In the show named ‘Reading 78’, the still quite unknown but greatly talented French photographer Gil Rigoulet transports the spectator into the universe of the uncompromising British punk movement during the late Seventies. One year after the release of the now legendary and paradigm shifting ‘Nevermind the Bollocks’ record by the Sex Pistols, the English youth was having great fun, dancing like never before to the rhythms of the ever-hardening furious riffs. Taking place in the city of Reading, during its legendary rock festival: in the series a lawless zone is revealed in all its glory, portrayed in grainy black and white photographs – showing that in 1978 everything seemed to still be possible.

Imagine a place that dares to mix art and a selection of products, offering an allround new experience which is accessible to all. Forget the traditional pattern where photography is only the mercantile relay ready-to-wear, within the vision of Mayday Mayday Mayday photo reportage becomes the centerpiece of a totally immersive universe.

Mayday Mayday Mayday was founded in 2014 as an online platform and temporary pop up gallery/store – which closed its doors on the 5th of January – to create  a whole new way of showing art photography: giving a voice to the young contemporary photography and cutting edge undiscovered gems, so abundant in these times of Tumblr, yet so poorly represented in the traditional analogue world. In many new underground (concept) stores, fashion and art are hybridized, following the road paved by the likes of for instance colette, but Mayday Mayday Mayday founders Lionel Macor, a former member of team Kitsuné and photographer, and Thibaud Kelfa, graphic designer, still see a lot of room for intrinsic growth in this particular area.

As their own space closed its doors in January, Macor and Kelfa have since been creating exhibitions at different locations (like ‘Reading 78’ at Ground Control), with always all of the prints shown during an exhibitions being for sale both off- and online; following the footsteps of the traditional gallery model, yet making it truly available for everyone. At the same time they have been expanding the context of their growing photographic catalogue through their own (clothing) brand, next to creating a collection of vintage sportswear and contemporary streetwear niche brands, all for sale online.

Keep an eye on this promising new platform!

All of the extraordinary the prints in the ‘Reading 78’ exhibition are for sale online in different sizes and both framed and unframed.
See here to order the prints.

‘Reading 78’ will run until the 2nd of August 2015. Find the exhibition in Ground Control at 26 ter, Rue Orderner in Paris.

For more information see here.